Annika Schleu pentathlon

Rider’s horse incident at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, and video showing her coach punching the horse in its backside

[xxphosphene]

That horse is terrified. He's freaking out because she's having a meltdown and giving him way too many signals at once, he has no idea what he's actually supposed to do. The fact that he's being beaten constantly and hasn't thrown her off just shows what a patient horse that is. They should have never allowed them to go into the parkour like that. What happened there was absolutely disgusting and I hope they all get charged with animal abuse.

[louiselang]

She gave so many mixed signals like she pulled on the reins so violently but she was kicking and when she got going she was hunching over and completely unbalanced and she was crying like grow up.Horses refuse all the time it is normal and only a professional rider would know.whipping the horse and yanking the reins whilst giving meaningless kicks into his gut is so wrong, she should take a step down if she rides like this

[coolcucumber]

he took the jumps SO WELL! she completely messed up the strides and he saved her so many times- what a good horse

[derruffian]

She got the distance wrong at the first oxer, left him no choice to refuse at the second oxer, he would have plowed that one as well, if he hadn't refused. I guess he's the kind of horse that doesn't like hitting his legs against poles. If he would have had a good rider on his back, he would have put in a good, clear round.

[SilverstreamPJ]

Idk why everyone feels bad for her. Horse refuses multiple times? Give up. Doesn't matter your level of competition, it NEVER justifies beating the shit out of an animal.

[stellablu]

Saint Boy said "I'm done with your shit" like one hundred times

[Otis_TheHxllHound]

Dude, this horse truly is a Saint Boy.

She is jabbing his sides with spurs and beating him with a whip repeatedly, as well as yanking on his face.

I was so surprised that he didn’t just buck her off or rear up and over on her.
Massive props to Saint Boy. I hope he’s doing ok ❤️

[AbbieM]

From what I’ve seen/heard/read, these athletes train the least amount of time in the equestrian portion of the pentathlon. I actually can’t believe that this doesn’t happen more often. For a sport as dangerous and unpredictable as riding, you’d think they would take more care in training for it.

[pfroggo]

To all the people commenting how she isn‘t a bad person, yes, she is. In the interviews following the incident she blamed everything on the horse and in one article, she stated that what she did „wasn‘t abuse because her whip and spurs had been safety checked by the committee“. That‘s like saying „I had my car checked recently, the child I just ran over can’t be dead.“
Taking your frustrations out on your horse is abuse. End of discussion, stop trying to make up excuses for Annika Schleu, Kim Reisner or the olympic committee. Pentathlon is a sport that is fucked up to the absolute core.

[viro]

the fact that his name is saint boy tells you how sweet he must actually be and it just makes me want to cry looking at him getting hurt like that

[marycanary]

i’ve just never see such bad riding in my life. it’s like she’s never had to troubleshoot on a horse. she literally does not know how to take a breath and listen to the horse. it’s unbelievable. so much kicking, hitting, and shoving with zero riding or communication with the poor horse. and why is she so far back in the saddle. take the martingale off with a rider so weak. i’ve never seen someone over the age of 10 cry on a horse.

[eya]

This is blatant horse abuse, I honestly have no idea why the olympics allowed this

[logangreen]

seeing the faults go up was extremely satisfying

on a serious note, so glad they're removing showjumping for the pentathlon. All the riders in it suck.

[aylitinaruz]

How is the “Pentathlon” even a sport ? She’s not even an equestrian, let alone a show jumper !! Why is this so-called sport in the Olympics ? This is outrageous.

[Beainkle]

Poor buddy is in so much pain. The tail swooshing, open foamy mouth, refusing, mini rears, are all tell-tell signs. On top of that he is absolutely mortified. Everything happening at one time has his brain at 110% and his stress through the roof.

[MissMaishka]

Disgusting way to treat a horse…. The trainer should be ashamed, hitting horse from the sidelines like that. Crying and throwing a tantrum didn’t help the horse calm down at all, very unprofessional way for a rider to act.

[sommerrose]

Poor baby was protecting them both, he knew he had a sack of potatoes on his back and didn’t want either of them to get hurt. What a saint boy❤️

[lilly-jdpv]

i feel so bad for the actual owner of saint boy… must be so hard to watch someone abuse your horse like that just to win

[b.a.]

This is just awful. What is the horse supposed to do, if she pulls the reins and (at the same time) hit him in his belly with spurs? Girl, these are mixed signals. Hand without legs, legs without hands. People should learn classical dressage education before sitting on a horse. This drama is definitely not the horses fault, but a result of bad riding. I mean, she almost has her hands on the bit. How is the horse even supposed to jump? Lol

[lottesamarah]

what the actual f*ck was wrong with this woman? That horse is an absolute saint. she treated him awful and yet he saved her on almost every jump... her body language, her energy and the abuse she puts this horse through... bloody disgusting