British eventer Tom McEwen has admitted his “shock” over a video of dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin – but insisted Team GB’s horses are treated like “kings and queens”.
Dujardin withdrew from the Paris games after footage of a training session from four years ago showed her repeatedly whipping a student’s horse.
The 39-year-old, who has been banned for six months by equestrian’s governing body pending an investigation, has said it was an “error of judgement”.
McEwen, 33, who won gold in Tokyo and is competing at this year’s Olympics on JL Dublin, described the video as “deeply sad” for equestrian sport.
“I think it was a shock for all of us, but at the end of it we’re here to portray our sport in a positive light,” he said.
“I believe eventing is one of the greatest sports – we’re the triathlon of the horse world.
“I would be more than happy to let anyone come into our yard and see how well those horses are looked after. I think our sport is amazing and these horses are treated like kings and queens.
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Video shows British Olympian Charlotte Dujardin whipping horse in training session
“I do believe that this week, all of us here can show the sport to be the amazing sport that it is.”
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McEwen said he thinks the disciplinary process should now be allowed to come to fruition, adding: “We are 110 per cent behind horse welfare.
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“I definitely don’t condone at all Charlotte’s behaviour, but she has put her hands up to it, owned it and it’s not for me to say, it’s for the course, the process and the people to decide what punishment she should be getting for her actions.
“She is a human being at the end of it, so we have to respect her rights as well.
“It was a shock, but we have come here to do our job as an eventing team, so we have our focus and with eventing, you don’t really get too much time on your hands.
“We’ve seen the news, we’ve read it, it’s deeply sad for our sport, but at the same time I don’t believe our sport is like that and we move on.”
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Dujardin, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, was due to compete in both the individual and team events in Paris.
Multiple major sponsors have cut ties with her after the video emerged, which has initiated a wider debate about the future of equestrian sports at the Olympics.
She has said what happened was “completely out of character”, and that she was “deeply ashamed” and “sincerely sorry”.
