Olympics 2024: Another equestrian, Max Kuehner, accused of animal abuse, hitting horse with bar

Max Kuhner competes in January 2024. Photo / Getty Images

The Paris Olympics have been hit by fresh claims of equine abuse, with show jumping medal contender Max Kuehner of Austria subject to criminal proceedings in Germany for allegedly hitting his horse’s legs with a bar to make it jump higher.

Kuehner, the world No 3 in jumping, stands accused by the Munich II public prosecutor’s office of violating the German Animal Welfare Act by engaging in “active bar jumping” or “barring”.

The technique is more commonly known as “rapping”, where a pole is used to smack the horse’s legs over a practice jump, forcing it to lift. It has been banned in Germany since May 2023.

According to the Austrian Equestrian Federation, Kuehner, 50, who is scheduled to compete in Versailles in the individual and team jumping competitions, denies wrongdoing. “We can confirm, based on everything we have observed during the years of working with Max, that the way his horses are kept, trained and presented is of the highest quality,” the governing body told German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“Due to his impeccable attitude towards his horse as a sports partner, there is no reason whatsoever to assume that he uses methods in training that are contrary to animal welfare, or that he has used them in the past.”

It also insisted Kuehner would participate in the Olympics as planned.

Ingmar De Vos, president of the FEI, equestrianism’s global governing body, said in Paris that the Austrian federation had been asked to provide further information.

Kuehner, who runs a tournament and training stable in the Bavarian town of Starnberg, has previously competed in Nations Cups with the Germany team but switched to representing the Alpine nation in 2015 “for sporting reasons”, a team spokesperson said.

Kuehner has faced allegations of animal cruelty before, in 2008. In an anonymous letter, the show jumper was accused of using a wire to make his horse jump more carefully. While the Bavarian Riding and Driving Association criticised the training method allegedly used by Kuehner, the disciplinary commission was unable to establish behaviour that contravened animal welfare laws. The case was discontinued with a ruling that was described as “minor guilt”.

The incident comes just a day after three-time British Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin was given a provisional six-month ban over horse welfare allegations.

A video showing the London 2012 gold medallist whipping a horse allegedly 24 times emerged on Wednesday morning, just one day after she announced her shock withdrawal from Paris 2024.

The six-time dressage Olympic medallist said she was “deeply ashamed” by her actions in the video and withdrew from competition before she was suspended, with an investigation by the FEI ongoing.

She has also seen her UK Sport funding scrapped pending the result of the investigation, and been dropped by a horse and donkey charity and two equestrian sponsors in a scandal that has raised questions about the future of the sport at the Olympic Games.