Australian Olympic equestrian Heath Ryan has been suspended from his sport after an old video resurfaced that seemed to show him angrily whipping a horse dozens of times.
The video sparked outrage among animal rights advocates after it was posted to Facebook, showing Ryan attempting to force the horse to move at his command. The video is about two years old, according to TMZ.
Equestrian Australia (EA) announced an investigation, which resulted in a provisional suspension for the national dressage champion and 2008 Olympian, after a frenzy was whipped up/
“Equestrian Australia has this afternoon imposed a provisional suspension of this person’s membership of Equestrian Australia and their rights, privileges, and benefits associated with their membership,” EA said in a statement.
“This means they may take no part in competitions or events as competitor or Official or in the organisation of, or participation in, any event under the jurisdiction of Equestrian Australia,” the group added.
A full investigation is still pending, so Ryan’s punishment could be altered per the outcome.
Ryan, however, is defending himself, saying that he was actually trying to save the life of Nico the horse and was not engaging in any abuse. He pointed out that his harsh method was meant to get the horse to obey commands, and if the horse simply would not take training, it could have been euthanized.
“I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself, I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the Knackery,” Ryan said in a statement.
“That video was a life-or-death moment for Nico, and of that I was very aware. I felt I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options,” Ryan added.
Ryan also noted that the horse was eventually removed from training, and a new owner was located. But he also insisted that he did not act callously.
“Unbelievably, it was so successful for everyone except me with the release of this video. What can I say? If you think I did that flippantly, you are wrong.”
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