Tom McEwen ‘shocked’ by teammate Dujardin’s horse sex scandal | Paris 2024 Olympics

At the heart of the Palace of Versailles, the residence built by Louis XIV, Team GB’s Tom McEwen resorted to a royal analogy when asked about the horse abuse scandal that has rocked his sport.

“I invite each and every one of you to come and take a look at my barn for an hour, a week or any period of time,” said McEwen, who won a team gold and an individual silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. “What you see here is the beauty of what goes on every day at our place. These horses are treated like kings and queens.”

The 33-year-old also insisted he was “shocked” when he saw the video of his Team GB team-mate Charlotte Dujardin whipping a horse 24 times – apparently while teaching it the “piaffe”, the slow trotting technique dating back to the Renaissance.

However, it is common to do this by tapping the horse very lightly, to encourage it to lift its legs, and not hard with a long stick.

“It’s obviously a huge shock for all of us,” he said, after leading the three-day eventing competition by just 25.80 penalty points. “But actually I think it’s really important for all of us to shine a light on our incredible sport. I think eventing is one of the greatest sports. We’re the triathlon of the equestrian world.”

McEwen also promised that Dujardin’s behavior didn’t truly reflect what goes on behind the cameras when no one is watching.

“I can only speak to the eventing,” McEwen said. “But if you come see any of the other three girls on my team or any of the others that work here, you can see that these horses are beautifully cared for. And they are very beautiful.”

There was, however, some sympathy for Dujardin, 39, who was bidding to become the most decorated British woman at these Games until she was suspended for six months after the incident came to light.

“We are 110 percent in support of horse welfare,” he said. “And those horses have been treated incredibly well. I don’t condone Charlotte’s behavior in any way. But she did what she had to say and she owned up to it. And really, it’s up to the courts and the process and the people to decide what punishment she should receive for her actions. At the end of the day, she’s a human being too.”

McEwen also promised that the fact that equestrian sports have been in the headlines in the run-up to these Olympics has not affected the team’s preparations. “To be honest, everything is focused,” he said. “It was a total shock at first. We didn’t expect it at all. But really, we came here to do our job, which is the eventing team.

“We have dressage today, cross-country tomorrow and showjumping on Monday. So we have our own priorities and with eventing, we don’t really have a lot of free time. There’s a lot to do with the walking courses and other variables. So we’ve seen the news, we’ve read the news, it’s deeply sad for our sport. But at the same time, I don’t think our sport is like that, so we’ll move on.”