The United States was delivered quite the blow on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics.
The country’s dressage team was eliminated from competition after judges discovered a cut on a horse’s hind leg.
Marcus Orlob was set to make his Olympic debut with his horse, Jane, but the horse was “spooked at the crowd,” U.S. Equestrian said.
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Marcus Orlob and horse Jane of Team United States compete in the Dressage Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateau de Versailles on July 30, 2024 in Versailles, France. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
When that happened, Jane “[stepped] on herself in the process, and nicking her hind right fetlock. The judges saw the trace amount of blood and were forced to eliminate the combination due to the FEI Blood Rules for Dressage,” according to the organization’s website.
U.S. Equestrian said Jane is “currently back in stabling, relaxing in her stall, and the cut is no longer bleeding.”
“I was happy, excited to go down centerline; clearly Jane [was] too,” Orlob said. “It was a little bit of a, I would say, explosive entry. I believe she may have nicked herself in the entry, because I never have had this issue. She felt in the ring amazing. I was super happy with her. Once she went down centerline, she settled nicely. Once I got going, she felt more and more relaxed. I was really happy. I said, ‘OK, I got this now.’ And then I was, like, really, really sad to hear the bell, because I knew something’s not right.”
A general view as Patrik Kittel and horse Touchdown of Team Sweden compete in the Dressage Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateau de Versailles on July 30, 2024 in Versailles, France. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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Added USA chef d’equipe Christine Traurig: “This was very unfortunate because in fact the beginning of the test was beautiful for a horse that is just 10 years old and has done this at this level for [a] very short time, only since February. [Jane] is amazing. That was very unfortunate because up until that point, they were running around a 73%, and it would’ve gone up higher with the canter work and the last centerline.”
PETA, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, has now called for the banning of equestrian events.
“We need to listen to the horse because while we applaud officials for eliminating the U.S. dressage team from the competition, the horse’s message is what the International Olympic Committee must now pay attention to: She reared up because she didn’t want to enter the competition,” the organization said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “These horses aren’t ‘partners’ — they’re subjugated and coerced to submit to authority and to behave in ways that aren’t natural. The Olympic Games are about the excellence of willing participants, and the equestrian events must go.”
A general view as Corentin Pottier and horse Gotilas Du Feuillard of Team France compete in the Dressage Grand Prix Team and Individual Qualifier on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateau de Versailles on July 30, 2024 in Versailles, France. (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)
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The ruling comes a week after Great Britain equestrian rider and three-time gold medalist Charlotte Dujardin withdrew from the Olympics after an alleged video of her “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare” emerged — Dujardin said the video was “from four years ago” and it was an “error of judgment.”
Two other American riders, Adrienne Lyle and Helix, and Steffen Peters and Suppenkasper, will compete as individuals.
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