Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or just busy running a boarding barn) you must be aware of the Tokyo Olympics modern pentathlon controversy, where German athlete Annika Schleu lost her cool when the horse she was riding refused to jump during the final event of the competition. The video of Schleu sobbing, spurring and striking Saint Boy, a 15-year-old gelding, went viral. In the video the German coach, Kim Raisner, can be seen giving the animal’s haunches a hefty punch to “encourage” it to move forward, as well as instructing Schleu to whip the horse harder.
