German rider Isabell Werth, who has won more Olympic medals than any other equestrian, issued a statement about the “discussion” among “horse lovers, riders and animal welfare activists” in the wake of the Cesar Parra controversy.
Parra has been provisionally suspended by the FEI (international equestrian federation) after videos emerged of him whipping horses and other training practices that have been widely criticized.
Here are Isabell’s thoughts, edited for punctuation and with a few explanations:
“There have been very ugly pictures, which need consequences. I am, however, worried that it is a controversy that divides us, although actually, there is one thing that combines us and that is the love of horses. That is why we should sort a few things out.
It is good that we set ourselves a high bar. I try, however, not to make quick judgments of events from afar that I have not witnessed personally. In the past 35 years, I have won many medals and have brought fantastic horses into the sport. After their careers, they have spent many years and still spend their time with me as pensioners. However, I have also made many unintentional mistakes on the way and I try very hard, through personal development and good training, to keep these mistakes to a minimum. Those who know their boundaries have more humility when criticizing others.
Isabell Werth and Bella Rose at the 2014 world championships.
I went to Andreas Helgstrand’s yard for the first time four years ago. (After videos of horses with whip and spur marks surfaced from one of his stables, the Danish equestrian federation barred him from competing on the country’s team until at least January 2025.)
Thanks to (horse owner) Madeleine Winter-Schulz , Joshua then came to me. Since then, I have been there many times. During these visits, I have never seen any form of incorrect riding or any form of incorrect behavior. Actually, the opposite is the case. In the meantime, my students and I have bought quite a few horses from him that are all healthy and some are already successful in sport. We are very happy with all of them. (Isabell has been competing the former Helgstrand mount Queenparks Wendy, now owned by Winter-Schulz and known as Wendy de Fontaine, who won at Le Mans).
I was also surprised about the published scenes and the statements (about mistreatment) made by former employees of Helgstrand Dressage. Although this did not happen at the establishment where Andreas Helgstrand trains himself, it remains his responsibility. I have spoken with him openly and in depth about this. There is, however, one thing that needs our attention: he was not pictured on any of the horses.
It was a personal, and not a financial, decision to give a clinic at Helgstrand’s establishment in Wellington (Florida) USA (in January). While I was there, I taught a few good horses with their riders and I rode one horse The video of this has been seen and commented on by some of you: No, I did not use the so called “Rollkur” nor did the horse suffer in any way. I was just not able to keep the horse, during the first time I had ridden him, properly in front of my aids and in front of the vertical. His slightly short neck did not help the situation.
At the same time as this video was being shown, a 10-year (old) video of Bella Rose (the Tokyo Olympics silver medal horse) also surfaced. Bella is now 20 years old and is enjoying her pension with me. Her son is also happily growing up with us. Perhaps she will, which last year was not the case which I quite understand, like to get pregnant again this year?
Some of you have known for a long time that the O-tone on the old video does not belong to the pictures that are shown. (O-Tone stands for original tone, often referring to interviews in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.) A chance to criticize this film was not given to me. The WDR (a member of the German public broadcasting consortium) were ordered by the court to remove this video from circulation because the wrong impression was made. This court order is still in place for anybody publicizing it.
It is important to me that in the future we can have an honest and fair discussion, which will show the difference between bad riding and animal abuse. Mistakes in riding, however, should and must be discussed — this is the core of my sport and the prerequisite for the improvement of the horse and rider. But please, it has to be factual, objective and fair.
This is not so for cases like Cesar Parra, these are — as has already happened – a case for public prosecution.”