Warning: some readers may find the video below disturbing.
An Olympian has been suspended after a graphic video showing him striking a horse more than 40 times shocked social media users this week. Heath Ryan, 66, represented Australia in dressage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The video, which sees Ryan repeatedly striking a horse named Nico, was filmed two years ago. Ryan said the footage documented his “rescue mission” as part of training a problem horse. “The most awful video of me on a young horse has just surfaced,” Ryan said, stating that the 6-year-old horse had been dropped off with him before being sent to the slaughterhouse. He said the previous owner had been hospitalized after an accident on the horse. The Olympian said he “felt obliged to the horse to see if it was possibly salvageable” and he had “never ridden anything like it”. Ryan is a member of Equestrian Australia, which said it was “extremely alarmed and concerned” by the footage and had suspended him while it undertakes a formal investigation. “I am so sad this was caught on video,” Ryan said. “That video was a life-or-death moment for Nico. I felt I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options.”
