Australia’s Heath Ryan, the rider at the centre of a horse abuse investigation announced by the FEI this morning (19 June), has said the training session in which he was filmed repeatedly whipping a chestnut horse was a “rescue mission” of a young horse “on his way to the knackery”.
The 66-year-old rider released a statement on his Facebook page on 11 June shortly after the footage began to circulate on social media.
The video shows him repeatedly whipping the six-year-old horse called Nico behind the saddle while riding him in a training session.
The statement in full
Heath posted the following statement on his Facebook page*:
“Oh my goodness! The most awful video of me on a young horse has just surfaced. This horse was dropped off at my place on his way to the knackery.
“His name is Nico. He was 6 years of age. A beautiful type. He was genetically a result of my best stallions all of which were successful in Grand Prix dressage, so Nico was beautifully bred.
“Nico belonged to a wonderful family friend who had been put in hospital in intensive care by Nico. Prior to this really bad accident Nico had always been a problem child and would just stop.
“This gradually got worse and worse until the accident. The owner of Nico and my friend is a diminutive lady and 100% not capable of being physically aggressive in any way.
“Nico before he came to me always had the best of best homes. He wanted for nothing. He was in wonderful condition, he was always rugged, he had his own paddock, he was regularly ridden and he was loved.
“Here is the question. If a beautiful 6yo horse turns up at your facility and it was bred by your stallion and it belonged to a lifelong friend of yours who had been put in hospital in intensive care by this horse would you just send it to the Knackery??
“Well I didn’t and I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable. Well did I get a shock and so the video.
“I have never ridden anything like it. I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the Knackery.
“That video was a life or death moment for Nico and of that I was very aware. I felt I genuinely had to try my very hardest to see if Nico would consider other options.
“Anyway by the end of that initial ride I did feel Nico was responding. I rode Nico for another couple of days and he responded very well and started to go without the use of excessive driving aids.
“I then called up another friend of mine who is also a Grand Prix dressage rider who is always watching out for a special horse but has very limited resources.
“I disclosed the whole story but said that I thought if Nico could find the right home I thought he was a good horse and maybe a very good horse. So Nico went to a new home.
“Well it turned out to be brilliant and the posted video is Nico thriving in a loving and competitive home with an exciting future. All of this transpired sincerely with the horses best interests the sole consideration.
“Unbelievably it was so successful for everyone except me with the release of this video. What can I say. If you think I did that flippantly you are wrong.
“I hated reaching out in those moments to Nico and asking the hard questions. That was the last place I wanted to be. I have never before ridden a horse that reacted like that and I certainly will never do it again.
“Was it worth it?? Well not for me however I am very happy for Nico. I need to add that this happened about 2 years ago and the video has been posted by an unhappy ex employee.
“All I can say is that this awful video was collateral damage of me from the bottom of my heart launching a rescue mission.”
Equestrian Australia responds
A statement released by Equestrian Australia (EA) the following day (12 June) said they had received a formal complaint about the matter.
“Equestrian Australia is extremely alarmed and concerned by the treatment of the horse shown in this footage,” it said.
The national body handed Heath a provisional suspension of his membership, meaning he may not take part in any events under the jurisdiction of EA.
The suspension will remain in place pending a thorough investigation.
“Equestrian Australia takes matters of animal welfare very seriously. Contrary to commentary on YouTube, we have no information to suggest Equestrian Australia management asked for the footage of this incident to be removed.”
This was followed by a provisional ban by the FEI, which was announced this morning (19 June).
The investigation will be led by the FEI, in close cooperation with Equestrian Australia.
*Statement is unedited
