Fresh equestrian scandal as Olympic rider accused of 'hitting horse with bar'

26 July 2024, 08:55 | Updated: 26 July 2024, 09:04

A fresh equestrian scandal has emerged after Austrian rider Max Kuhner was accused of hitting a horse with a bar - just days after a controversial video led British Olympian Charlotte Dujardin to withdraw from Paris 2024.

Kuhner, 50, has been accused of hitting a horse's legs with a bar to force it to jump higher.

He is ranked third in the world and is in contention to win a medal in Paris, but has now been forced to deny allegations from PETA, who filed a criminal complaint last year after obtaining information from a whistleblower.

He has not yet given indication on whether he will step away from Paris as a result.

It comes only days after Team GB’s Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Olympics after a video emerged which showed her striking a horse with a whip 24 times.

The Chief of Dressage has claimed that the release of the footage was maliciously timed in order to cause “maximum damage” to the sport and to Dujardin.

Read more: Olympic 'sabotage' claims as British Dressage chiefs question motives behind Charlotte Dujardin video leak

Read more: ‘We universally condemn her’: Charlotte Dujardin’s ‘mentor’ and Team GB teammate speaks out after whipping video

The criminal complaint against Kuhner was filed to the Munich II public prosecutor’s office last September, with penal orders already issued against him and another person working as a trainer in March this year.

He was accused of using “barring”, a forbidden training method wherein a wooden or metal bar is placed over an obstacle so it strikes the horse's leg, forcing it to draw its legs higher when jumping.

The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) considers the banned practise as abuse towards horses.

Kuhner has claimed the allegations have “no basis whatsoever” and requested that proceedings be discontinued.

In a statement to APA on Thursday, he said: “In contrast, we can prove through official veterinary certificates, experts and many witnesses that our horses have always been and are doing well. Animal welfare is our top priority and our entire operation is geared towards this around the clock.”

Kuhner has also received public support from the sport’s governing body in Austria, the Austrian Equestrian Federation (OEPS).

“Due to his impeccable attitude towards his horse as a sports partner, there is no reason whatsoever to assume that he uses methods in training that are contrary to animal welfare, or has used them in the past," the OEPS said.

Vice president of the Austrian Olympic Committee and OEPS president Elisabeth Max-Theurer nonetheless said that an “investigation is necessary”, adding that the “situation is unclear”.

She echoed the words of the British equestrian chief, claiming that the story was “deliberately spread and done quite deliberately”.

“Perhaps it is also because people are jealous of Max because he is number three in the world and has an absolute chance of winning a medal,” she said.

Kuhner was previously accused of animal cruelty in 2008 when he was filmed jumping a horse over a wire at a water obstacle, but the Bavarian Riding and Driving Association was unable to find behaviour that violated animal welfare laws.