Horse Abuse and Sexual Assault
I know I am not the only one being sick and tired of hearing and reading about equestrians abusing animals and or people. In the land down under, in Australia, dressage rider and eventer Heath Ryan has been suspended for alleged horse abuse.
First of all I cannot see how anything this graphic could ever be considered alleged in the first place.
Second of all I am not sure what is worse. The fact that I watched the video, down below on X, or hearing his defence for whipping the poor creature: I was trying to save it from the slaughter house!
Imagine that, 42 brutal strikes on record, with Ryan defending it as "saving a life."
Come again what!!!!!
As always I also wonder why the person who filmed this abuse choose to sit on the footage for this long.
Technically I already know what people will say about this, cause it is basically always the same answer to that question. Cause in cases like these, people often refer to abuse of power over someone in a dependent position or any other kind of vulnerable position due to an imbalance of power and such.
In this particular case the footage is reportedly around two years old and filmed at Ryan’s New South Wales property, presumably without his knowledge [surprise...] and was recently released by someone he refers to a disgruntled former employee. Dressage Hub picked the story up, and here we are!
Equestrian Australia suspended him, the FEI also did their deed and put him under a provisional suspension. Personally I feel we don't need him nor his likes in the sport what so ever.
Another ‘expert’ & renowned Olympian Heath Ryan.
— Minnie1602 (@Minnie1602) June 12, 2025
He was only trying to ‘save’ Nico from the slaughter house & this was part of the rescue mission.
42 strikes, that’ll teach him alright. pic.twitter.com/ITvzNdY2ag
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Buy Me a CoffeeThe worst part of the story?
Ryan isn't unique!
He’s just the one who got caught. All the while huge parts of the equestrian world seem to believe and or accept it indeed was a "one off".
AS IF!!
Maybe it’s time we stop giving benefit of the doubt to people who treat horses like enemies to be subdued.
If you have to break a break a horse to keep your reputation intact, you really don’t deserve that reputation.
What you do deserve is the full weight of scrutiny that comes along with betraying the trust of the animals that make this sport even possible.
Meanwhile in Scandinavia
Meanwhile the story of Heath Ryan unfolds down under, another story unfolds in a complete other part of the world, Scandinavia.
In Sweden a "world famous" horse artist have been arrested for two counts of sexual assault.
Pure horror, and at a very early stage of investigation. But, this case woke up a complete other story. The story about a groom who was sexually assaulted by another groom at a private party some years back.
Both grooms worked for top names.
The story goes that the boss of the assaulting party made it clear to others that his groom could do whatever he wanted during his free time.
All this while the boss of the assaulted groom pointed out "it would be bad for business if this became a public affair" and that was the end of it.
No official report, nor investigation or conviction!
Problem is, this kind of behaviour seem to be the norm amongst the top level riders in the sport.
A rider beats a horse and calls it a rescue.
A coach facing sexual assault allegations still collects a pay check.
In the end of the day it doesn't make a difference if it is a horse or a person being abused. Few, if any, of the top names make or take a stand against it when these stories emerge.
So instead of rejecting actions like the ones described above, people stay silent and pretend it’s not happening, which in turn allows such atrocities against both horses and humans to continue.
At least until the next [low-level] whistleblower raises their voice.
When they do, it’s rarely met with gratitude.
Cause what the equestrian establishment fears most isn’t cruelty or corruption being exposed, but being inconvenienced by accountability.
Do you have any thoughts on this? Don't forget to forward it to a friend and share your thoughts in the comment section. Promise not to bite 🤗
