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I’m sure many young girls and boys have read, “The Girl On The Dancing Horse,” an autobiographical account by equestrian, Charlotte Dujardin. It ranks in the top ten best seller list on Amazon.

I have not read it. Nor would I.

As an Inspector for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals based in and around Birmingham from 1975 until the mid-eighties I attended numerous show jumping and dressage events involving horses and their often brattish, ego-based owners.

When a horse and rider had performed badly during such an event I made it my business to follow them back to the stabling at a discreet distance. I had occasion to caution a number of riders who took out their anger on the animal with the aid of a whip. I was generally a much hated figure at events like the Horse of the Year Show at Birmingham’s mammoth Equestrian Centre.

Of course, it was always the fault of the horse when things went awry, never the rider, but that was according to the riders. In fact, it’s untrue. More often than not the rider mistimes the approach to a jump, making it impossible for the animal to clear the jump successfully.

There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but in Britain the horsey community are in the main a snooty, pretentious, and somewhat unbearable group of mostly younger people from well-to-do families – known as the County Set.

There are many young children who dream of owning a pony and perhaps one day winning a gold cup in an event like the Horse of the Year Show, or even the Olympics. The reality is frequently very different from the dream.

Charlotte Dujardin won’t be competing with her horse, Valegro, at the Paris Olympics this year, as video has surfaced of her ill-treatment of a horse while coaching a young rider at her stables.

Dujardin has been provisionally suspended by the FEI (Fédération Équestre Internationale) and the BEF (British Equestrian Federation) pending further investigation of the alleged incident. As Dujardin has admitted to being the person in the video there seems little that is ‘alleged’.

Of course the ‘horsey’ mags are quick to her defence, This from Chevalmag:

“The commotion was sparked by a complaint filed by a 19-year-old through Dutch lawyer Stephan Wensing. The video, which is now circulating on social media , shows the British rider repeatedly touching her student’s horse with what appears to be a whip.” [Translated from French. My bold).

The video is quite clear, it IS a whip, not even a crop. As for TOUCHING, watch the video and judge for your self. The horse is patently up against the wall in an effort to avoid the whiplashes.

When faced with the video evidence she called it, “an error of judgement,” on her part. To use a long whip so skillfully proves she must have made this ‘error of judgement’ many times.

Unfortunately, smartphones and videos were not available during my years with the RSPCA. I wish they had been. There may have been a few more riders hauled over the legal coals had video evidence been available of what I saw well out of sight of the audiences, at the Horse of the Year Show, and other similar show-jumping events.

A dancing horse, or just to avoid the whip?

 

Okay, so now we’re headed into the murky world of retributions, conspiracy theories and wild distortions. Were there failings by Trump’s security team? Was the assassination attempt sanctioned by Joe Biden? (Hey, no-one likes to be told they’d be a loser on the golf course).

Thomas Matthew Crooks was a kid of twenty years. Presumably, he thought he’d go down in history as the hero who rid the world of Donald J Trump. He only managed to rid the planet of a tiny piece of Trump’s ear.

There followed the usual round of hypocritical outpourings. “My thoughts and prayers are with….” from virtually every politician on the planet. Perhaps a few unspoken cogitations of, “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

Aside from his brainwashed followers, to the world populace as a whole,  Donald Trump is possibly one of the most hated people on the planet. He’s made no secret of the vile things he’ll do to the world if he regains the Presidency of the United States.

Taking a page from the rulebook of China’s Xi Jinping, Trump is hellbent on ensuring the 2024 election will be the last that Americans vote for a President. He intends to be a king for life. He is also one of Vladimir Putin’s  greatest admirers. Escalation of the war in Europe will have his blessing, followed by the disbanding of NATO.

Quickly recovered from his ear piercing, Trump called out to Americans to, “Stand united!” It rang somewhat hollow given that the ex-president is responsible for a greater dis-uniting of the American people  than any other US President since the Civil War of 1861.

The outpourings of disgust, dismay, alarm, and various other sanctimonious utterings from around the world this morning, lead one to consider just how many on this planet secretly harbour some regret that Thomas Matthew Crooks was not a better shot?