Huge fuss about a dead horse at the largest horse show in the world!
After the gelding “Allstar B” was put to sleep at the CHIO Aachen due to an irreparable injury, a highly emotional discussion about animal welfare in equestrian sport broke out.
On Saturday afternoon, the British eventing rider Rosalind Canter (36) encountered a high long jump obstacle in a cross-country test with the 17-year-old horse. “Allstar” injured his leg so badly that the owners at the veterinary clinic decided to put him to sleep.
After the drama, the animal protection organization PETA is now even calling for the abolition of equestrian sports!
Specialist Peter Höffken explains: “The tragic events at the CHIO were not isolated cases. Again and again horses are ridden to death at tournaments because the riders regard them as mere sports equipment. Nowadays, equestrian sport has lost all legitimacy because it is carried out on the backs of involuntary participants.” RUMMS!
In addition to dressage and show jumping, Höffken was particularly critical of cross-country riding. “There, the animals are forced into particularly breakneck courses with the whip. They would never go into this voluntarily because they often don’t see the obstacles properly,” says the PETA man, and fumes: “The discipline used to be called military for a reason.”
The veterinarian Gerardo Grotsch from Madrid, who specializes in equestrian sports, classifies the risk of injury in cross-country riding for BILD, says: “We shouldn’t judge this discipline. Incidents like this are sad but can happen in all forms of equestrian sport – even at a light trot.”
The vet explains: “The risk of injury always depends on the quality of the surface, the quality of the rider and the condition of the horse.”
As far as the various courses are concerned, there was a lot of praise at least from the riders at the CHIO. Among others, the eventing team from Great Britain, which won the Nations Cup on the unfortunate cross-country course, described the course as “fair for horse and rider”.
Foto: Jenny Musall/DeFodi Images
” data-zoom-src=”https://bilder.bild.de/fotos/allstar-mit-seiner-reiterin-canter-bei-einem-wasser-hindernis-76991b1642844d04a406ae434a27dfbe-80588154/Bild/4.bild.jpg” /> Allstar with his rider Canter at a water obstacleFoto: Jenny Musall/DeFodi Images
The quality of the riders is also unquestionable in Aachen – only the best in the industry come to the self-proclaimed “Wimbledon of equestrian sport”. As the world champion of 2018, this also includes “Allstar” rider Canter.
The criticism of dressage, show jumping and cross-country riding, which has now been intensified again, cannot slow down all of this…