When the irrepressible Australian eventer (there’s a redundant description) Shane Rose appeared practically undressed for a “fancy dress” class at a horse show, the national federation, Equestrian Australia, took immediate action.
Its leaders responded to public reaction over Shane wearing nothing but what amounted to a thong, called a “mankini.”
He was suspended while the organization looked into the situation. It finally concluded that he did not breach the code of conduct by barely wearing the item. That cleared the way for him to point toward his fourth Olympics.
“The panel took into account the community event that Mr Rose was competing at, and that Mr Rose had already made a public apology,” said a statement from the federation. Going forward however, Equestrian Australia will work with clubs and stakeholders to assess minimum dress standards for future events.
A female rider might decide to wear the equivalent of Shane’s outfit–it would have been interesting to see if anyone objected to that.
Equestrian Australian CEO Darren Gocher explained his organization “has an obligation to look into any concerns of this nature that comes from the community. Having now thoroughly reviewed the incident and spoken to relevant parties, Equestrian Australia has confirmed that there was no breach of the code of conduct by Shane Rose.
“Shane has reflected on the incident, has apologized and understands the high standards expected of everyone involved in our High Performance program.”