Overview
- The ARD/MDR team.recherche film "Reitsport – zwischen Lieben und Quälen" depicts a rider striking his horse with a crop roughly eight times at a jumping event.
- A show judge told the crew the footage should not air, calling the blows "officially permitted" and citing concern about social media reactions.
- The German Equestrian Federation’s rules require horse welfare to take precedence over sporting goals, and judge Brigit Dammer says excessive crop use and any striking in front of the saddle are not allowed.
- The reporters recorded several competitors riding for extended periods in the controversial rollkur position, yet judges did not intervene at the events observed.
- Trainer and teacher Kerstin Gerhardt warns that such practices harm horses and that failures to sanction them risk a copycat cycle among young riders.