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BEV statement

Dear BEV members and vaulting community,

In the aftermath of last week’s shocking and upsetting news, I wanted to send a personal message to you all to share my own thoughts and reflections on behalf of the committee.

This has been a very distressing time for the equestrian community, and everyone involved in horses and horse sport.

I want to be clear: The behaviour and actions witnessed in the video are completely and utterly unacceptable and indefensible. The horse must be in the centre and forefront of everything we do in our sport and its welfare must never be secondary to any other considerations, training aims or human gain.

As BEV, we have subscribed to the Charter for the Horse and have a zero-tolerance policy to any breaches of horse welfare guidelines and policies. Equine welfare must be paramount throughout the horse’s lifetime; before, during and after its competitive life. There is no justification for using training methods that are abusive, cause fear or inflict pain.

The FEI, BEF and BD were able to act swiftly as soon as the allegations were known, and we as BEV fully support the immediate suspension of the rider in question. It is right that a thorough investigation follows, in which the FEI will take the lead. I would urge you all to await the outcome of the investigation and to consider the wider human and equine consequences in all your correspondence on this matter.

This has been a wakeup call for all of us, and it will be a long road ahead to rebuild trust and to gain public acceptance of horse sport. Let us all endeavour to be role models, not only to the public but to our young people in the sport, let us demonstrate the wonderful partnerships of equine and human athletes we develop, and let us be vigilant, never complacent, to call out any breaches to our equine welfare principles.

Let us be ambassadors for the horse.

If you would like to ask any questions or make a comment related to this issue, please do not hesitate to contact me via the email enquiries@britishvaulting.org .

With Best Wishes,

Anne Hardwick

Anne Hardwick

Chair – British Equestrian Vaulting