With Liberace, it was the candelabras on the grand piano. With Sir Winston Churchill and George Burns, it was the cigar. With Harold Wilson it was the Gannex raincoat and with Charlotte Dujardin, it was the My Ayr8® riding helmet of her sponsor, Charles Owen – a leading British manufacturer of riding helmets with a history dating back over 110 years. Unlike some other dressage competitors Charlotte – aka Mrs Dean Golding – did not have vast funding behind her and was extremely reliant on the financial support of sponsors most notably helmet manufacturer Charles Owen – who had required her to wear one of their helmets and not the traditional black top hat worn by dressage riders (both male and female) – her other more well funded competitors being free to avail themselves of the traditional more elegant headwear. As a result, Charlotte became known by this visual image.
You will note that I am writing in the past tense as it will likely be the case that Charlotte’s equestrian career is over. This because of an incident recorded a considerable time ago and made public only days before her setting off to compete at the Olympics. A Dutch lawyer Stephan Wensing was acting ‘on behalf of a client who wishes to remain anonymous’.
Of course, speculation is obvious that the release was not only an act of spite but also one cynically designed to assist the Dutch equestrian team in their pursuit of Olympic gold by nobbling the chief rival to Gold!
The conclusion of the BBC’s Laura Scott (https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/equestrian/articles/cd16ll5z086o) is one we agree with.
That the British public have the knives out for a woman most were not really aware of (unlike Dame Laura Kenny) is demonstrated in the comments section of the Daily Mail’s report on the story (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13666461/video-charlotte-dujardin-whipping-horse-olympian-suspended.html).
That Charlotte will face the sanction of the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) and British Dressage (BD) is a virtual certainty and if sanctioned after the investigation nobody will be the least bit surprised if the RSPCA (and if not them World Horse Welfare) will take a private prosecution against her in the Magistrates Court. Should she be convicted she will be stripped of her CBE.
Naturally we can expect the supercilious and sanctimonious condemnatory virtue signalling from the politicians – especially from the Master of Humbug, Sir Keir Starmer!
Being so “cancelled” is going to make life very difficult for a woman whose income is so much based from sponsorship. It is the nature of commercial sponsors to sever all ties to those sponsored who fall subject to scandal. Being banned from having contact with animals (and in particular horses) is going to separate her from employment prospects in a sector she is well qualified for.
Of course, what makes this prominent example of our corrupt two tier criminal justice system is that all manner of theft (such as gangs of thugs using wheelie bins embarking on mass shoplifting sprees with impunity) are not investigated and prosecuted whereas the Unfortunate Mrs Golding is.