Concerns over equine welfare surrounding the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have led people to scrutinize horse sports closely. But a leading equitation scientist says riders and trainers can seize this opportunity to show the world change is possible. 

A Call for Self-Reflection and Unity 

“I desperately want to preserve equestrian sports, because I think it’s good for horses, and it’s good for people,” said Sue Dyson, MA, VetMB, PhD, DEO, former head of Clinical Orthopedics at the Animal Health Trust Centre for Equine Studies, in Newmarket, England. “So, we have to look at ourselves very carefully and be prepared to acknowledge that we have done wrong and be seen to be putting our house in order, so to speak.” 

Putting the “house in order” requires uniting as an industry—rather than fighting with each other—as we implement education programs based on scientific evidence about how horses learn, their biomechanics, and their signs of discomfort and distress (using her validated ridden horse pain ethogram, for example), Dyson told TheHorse.com. And, most of all, we need to seek to understand horse training from the horse’s point of view, she added. 

“So many people resort to using force with a horse, when what they really should be doing is asking why the horse isn’t doing what we’re asking of it,” she said.  

Public Response to High-Profile Incidents 

Last month British dressage rider and three-time Olympic gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Paris Olympics following the release of a video showing her repeatedly whipping a horse’s hind limbs with a longe whip during a training session. Although the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) suspended Dujardin, the incident spurred growing public criticism of equestrian sports in general just as the first Olympic horses were arriving in Versailles.  

The dressage champion was probably trying to push the horse to have better forward movement, said Dyson, who has studied the performance, biomechanics, and veterinary issues of high-level competition horses extensively. But Dujardin’s method was causing the horse significant confusion and discomfort, as confirmed by the horse’s body language. “Clearly, this horse was distressed,” Dyson explained. 

Two days later, photos surfaced of Brazilian rider Carlos Parro warming up his mare Safira, whose head was in a hyperflexed position, further igniting public debate. The FEI issued the rider a yellow warning card.  

Shifting Training Philosophies 

Dyson said these called-out techniques were based on coercion—which has traditionally been a widespread practice in horse training and not limited to Olympic role models. “It’s what we’ve been taught since (we were children riding ponies),” she said. “They tell us, ‘Kick him! Kick harder!’ And nobody ever asked why.”  

However, coercion is no longer acceptable in modern equestrianism, Dyson said.  

“When a horse doesn’t respond to what we consider to be acceptable cues, we need to be asking why,” she said. “Because, normally, there is a reason why.” Often, the reason is either physical pain or our shortcomings as a trainer, she explained. 

While Dyson said these top riders became “scapegoats” amid this fundamental shift in training philosophy, she noted the reality is many horse people continue to train and ride in ways inconsistent with today’s standards for animal welfare. 

“We all have to look at ourselves very carefully and acknowledge that we’re doing things that are unacceptable in the current climate, and we have to be seen to improve,” she said, adding that she herself has ridden, trained, and treated many high-level horses throughout her career. “Because otherwise, it will be considered unacceptable to ride horses.”  

The Role of Judges in Promoting Good Welfare 

Judges must also adjust their scoring to encourage riding and training that aligns with good welfare, Dyson continued. “If judges are rewarding short neck frames, heads behind the vertical, mouth-opening, tail-swishing, and very exuberant movements created through tension, people are going to train their horses to work that way,” she said. “I saw a lot of that in the Grand Prix dressage tests at the Olympics, and it was not a happy picture for me.” 

In fact, she added, the Olympic eventing horses appeared happier and displayed healthier biomechanics in their dressage tests than the Grand Prix dressage horses. “It was a very different picture compared to what I saw in Grand Prix dressage.”  

Data shows, for example, that there is less mouth-opening in eventing dressage (68% in World Cup qualifiers and championships Grand Prix dressage, versus 45% in 5* eventing horses warming up for dressage. That might be because riders could opt for multiple bridle types, whereas high-level dressage requires a double bridle, noted Dyson, who said she has written multiple letters to the FEI requesting this requirement be removed from the rules.  

But eventing dressage is also less demanding—lacking piaffe and pirouette, for example, which can be particularly challenging physically for horses. Eventing horses also benefit from more cross-training—meaning they work in a variety of ways when training. “There are several factors that may be contributing,” she said. 

A Way Forward—For All of Us 

As for Dujardin, what are smart next steps? “She needs to lead the way,” Dyson says. “And—like all of us—she needs to consider that if a horse is unwilling to do something, it’s necessary to ask ‘Why?’”