A second Olympic rider is facing allegations of equine abuse as Austria’s Max Kuhner has been accused of hitting a horse’s legs with a bar in order to make it jump higher.
Just days after Team GB’s Charlotte Dujardin was forced to withdraw from the Olympics over a video that showed her repeatedly striking a horse with a whip, Kuhner, who is ranked third in the world and is in contention to win a medal in Paris, has been forced to deny allegations of abuse towards a horse in May 2023.
After obtaining information from a whistleblower, PETA, the animal rights organisation, filed a criminal complaint against Kuhner with the Munich II public prosecutor’s office last September. Penal orders against Kuhner and a second person working as a trainer were issued in March this year.
Kuhner is accused of using a forbidden training method known as ‘barring’ in which a wooden or metal bar is placed over an obstacle so that it hits the horse’s legs and forces the animal to pull them higher when it jumps.
The practice, which is alleged to have taken place at Kuhner’s training stable in Starnberg, Germany, is banned by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) and is considered as abuse towards the horses.
Kuhner, 50, has denied the allegations and a request has been made to discontinue the proceedings.
‘These are accusations that have no basis whatsoever,’ he said in a statement to the APA on Thursday.
‘In contrast, we can prove through official veterinary certificates, experts and many witnesses that our horses have always been and are doing well. Animal welfare is our top priority and our entire operation is geared towards this around the clock.’
The Austrian Equestrian Federation (OEPS) has also backed Kuhner.
‘The OEPS can confirm, based on all observations during the years of working with Max Kuhner, that the keeping, training and presentation of his horses is of the highest quality,’ a statement from the OEPS read.
‘Due to his impeccable attitude towards his horse as a sports partner, there is no reason whatsoever to assume that he uses methods in training that are contrary to animal welfare, or has used them in the past.’
Elisabeth Max-Theurer, the vice president of the Austrian Olympic Committee and OEPS president, also criticised the length of the investigation into Kuhner, who is set to appear at the Olympics for the first time in his career.
‘It is clear that an investigation is necessary,’ she said.
‘In Max’s case, the situation is unclear and we have to wait to see whether a hearing takes place.’
Asked why there has been no attempt to clarify the allegations before the Olympics, Max-Theurer said: ‘This was deliberately spread and done quite deliberately. Perhaps it is also because people are jealous of Max because he is number three in the world and has an absolute chance of winning a medal.’
The FEI’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Gotan Akerstrom, said on Thursday: ‘We have heard about the legal proceedings in Germany and are currently gathering information.’
Kuhner has previously been accused of animal cruelty in 2008 where videos captured on a mobile phone allegedly showed him jumping a horse over a wire at a water obstacle.
The Bavarian Riding and Driving Association conducted an investigation but while the disciplinary commission criticised Kuhner’s training method it was unable to find behaviour that violated animal welfare laws and the case was discontinued due to ‘minor guilt’.
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