CDJ withdrawn from paris

SaddlePsych'D

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On Facebook an equine vet made a post saying they're going to boycott buying Charles Owen helmets because she 'made them successful', and therefore they were wrong to drop her. This is the definition of idol worship to me, utterly astounding coming from a vet, but then again we all know that not every equine vet puts welfare at the top of their priority list :rolleyes: It's just so disappointing to equine professionals of all people, trying to shift focus from the core of the issue, which is systematic abuse of horses in the industry.

We have a culture of riding helmets in this country, to say that CDJ popularised wearing a helmet is utter nonsense. I am a non-competitive rider, my choice to wear a CO helmet is nothing to do with any kind of celebrity or top rider, they're quality helmets with a good design, as are Champion helmets and I'm happy to wear both.

Endorsements work, otherwise companies wouldn't spend thousands of pounds on sponsoring sports stars.

The CO thing is so annoying! People seem to forget that it's not an altruistic endeavour on CD's part. It's business, she will have benefitted from the partnership too.

I'd like to think I've done a lot of good in my job, which is not horse related, but if a video pitched up online of me abusing an animal like that I would not expect to hold on to my job for much longer!

Where do we find the name of the woman that reported it? Not asking for anyone to mention it here but just where it is posted as I assume it is?
Worth mentioning that the Australian woman people are talking about has denied via her Insta that it is her videoing or that she is the whistleblower.

ETA - oops, cross posted!
 

irishdraft

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It is posted, yes but it's not that interesting. I know curiosity gets the better of all of us but it's no great revelation. She's not a name. Just an ordinary dressage rider.
Actually she does have an interesting background especially in Australia but now in the UK with a different surname.
 

Kat

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Charles Owen have been one of the top helmet brands since before Charlotte was born and have plenty of high profile riders wearing their helmets.

The images of her with her medal wearing that distinctive helmet with the red piping may have been very high profile but without them CO would still have been one of the most visible brands.

Just look at their list of riders, Zara, Yas, Ros, WFP, Michael and Jack Whitaker, This Esme, loads of others. They will be fine.
 

JenJ

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Charles Owen have been one of the top helmet brands since before Charlotte was born and have plenty of high profile riders wearing their helmets.

The images of her with her medal wearing that distinctive helmet with the red piping may have been very high profile but without them CO would still have been one of the most visible brands.

Just look at their list of riders, Zara, Yas, Ros, WFP, Michael and Jack Whitaker, This Esme, loads of others. They will be fine.
I remember in the 80s/90s it was THE brand for kids/teens
 

JenJ

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I don’t understand the last point re the business relationship?
I don't know, but I'm *assuming* she perhaps had some monetary dealings with CJD that haven't been unravelled by the media yet?

Eg she was apparently the 'sponsor' of this lesson, presumable that wasn't a one-off interaction.

Hearsay only, and I probably possibly shouldn't spread it further, but it has been suggested that a training relationship existed until the last week or so. I have zero evidence of this.
 

Pearlsasinger

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The post from the vet suggested that she popularised CO as a brand:

"It’s also worth noting that Charlotte has lost her sponsorship from Charles Owen helmets, a brand she popularised in my opinion. She is the reason Charles Owen remains a top choice for riders across generations and disciplines. Very dissapointing to see how easily discarded she was and I’ll always keep this in mind when purchasing a helmet."

Nonsense in my opinion. But goes to show how much fame and popularity can murky the waters.
What a load of rubbish that is! I was buying CO riding hats before CDJ was born! With hindsight, I'm not sure how much use they were tbh but my instructor was very safety conscious and wouldn't have allowed anyone to ride without a hat. She wouldn't allow us to ride with bare arms, either.
 

tristars

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They are all shxte scared to stand up and do anything positive, hardly mention the word HORSE, spout emotionless twaddle when what is needed is outright condemnation, never a mention about the pòor horse in that video, welfare wise, how is it now, would a horse ever recover fully from that experience, the veneer is shattered into a million pieces, beyond redemption, dressage should scrapped and restarted under a new regime headed by those known to put the welfare of HORSES above anything else, because its not just there, I remember 40 years ago someone saying they had to beat up the horse the get it to do dressage! We have known what goes on in Horse sport and racing all the time and frankly it's got worse! The use of warmblood horses has added to the problem, the sheer carnage, that BHS release is pathetic!
 

Mrs. Jingle

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Charles Owen have been one of the top helmet brands since before Charlotte was born and have plenty of high profile riders wearing their helmets.

The images of her with her medal wearing that distinctive helmet with the red piping may have been very high profile but without them CO would still have been one of the most visible brands.

Just look at their list of riders, Zara, Yas, Ros, WFP, Michael and Jack Whitaker, This Esme, loads of others. They will be fine.

Charles Owen was my first ever riding hat in the early 50's and I had a few more over the years. Therefore it must be me that has made them so popular don't you think? ☺️ I am sure they will still remain one of the most popular makes of riding hat despite no longer using CD to promote them.
 

JenJ

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Charles Owen was my first ever riding hat in the early 50's and I had a few more over the years. Therefore it must be me that has made them so popular don't you think? ☺️ I am sure they will still remain one of the most popular makes of riding hat despite no longer using CD to promote them.
I totally bought mine because of you.
 

EternalVetBills

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They do, however, understand the tone of voice and body language that go alongside. I really dislike hearing animals spoken to in that way. And it is counter-productive.

Completely agree. I did call my mare an effing b*tch last night, but that was after her back foot landed squarely on my backside whilst I was trying to poultice her, so I do feel it was somewhat justified. She was also busy stuffing her face with treats at the time so I doubt she paid me much attention.

However, I don't feel that attitude has any place during a training/warm up session. The only time I ever recall swearing whilst schooling is at myself if I'm cocking something up, never directed at the horse. I might give out a bl00dy hell after a particularly violent spook or something, but always in a good humour.
 

SkylarkAscending

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Charles Owen was my first ever riding hat in the early 50's and I had a few more over the years. Therefore it must be me that has made them so popular don't you think? ☺️ I am sure they will still remain one of the most popular makes of riding hat despite no longer using CD to promote them.

I bought mine because it fitted me best…. did I get that wrong somehow 😱 Should I have gone for the brand with the best celebrity endorsement 😱

I thought you either have a CO shaped head or a Champion shaped head and I was in the first category 😊
 

Miss_Millie

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Someone quoted one line from Pammy Hutton but I think it's worth putting in context.

"We need to ride into the future.
I do not condone the behaviour. I will fight for riding.
If riding stops; horses are unnecessary; too expensive to keep for pets. Let the cull begin.
We all must work for a future with kindness and teach fair communication with our horses.
Welfare must come first.
Dressage is a French word for “training” these methods are not training.
However; punishment has happened .
Let us all hope next week in Paris puts “ease and harmony” back on top priorities.
And it’s not what we can do for horses, they help us.
Mentally and physically healers par none.
Please join me in working towards a future with horses paramount."

If she wants to fight for riding, she could have said on national TV that high level modern day dressage is an abusive perversion of what dressage is meant to be, which is harmony between horse and rider. Instead she said that Charlotte's behaviour in the video was out of character, which IMO how can she possibly know unless she has been present for every single training session the woman has done since the start of her career.

'Out of character' is an emotionally dis-regulated person acting out for a split second in frustration, not someone calmly and purposely striking a horse for one minute straight like she could do it blindfolded. People put on fronts, it has already been established that CDJ has never let people film lessons, that this video technically should not have been made to begin with.

If competitive horse riding was completely abolished, people would still own horses and ride. There are millions of 'happy hackers' who have no interest in winning ribbons and medals, and it is arguable that the competitive element is what pushes people to disregard their horse's feelings, because winning is more important to them. Similar to trail hunting, if people within the sport want to save their sport, they should be calling out any abuse and illegality from the rooftops, regardless of how high-profile the person is, rather than making up feeble excuses for them.
 

SAS56

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I wonder if there has been too much of a general acceptance of the way that horse sport has evolved over the years. The continental breeding of these huge powerful warmbloods have meant stronger tack, stronger methods and strong handling have followed as a consequence. Some of the showjumpers seem to have half a tack shop on their poor horses. It is a real pleasure to see a horse ridden in a snaffle bridle.
I have always enjoyed dressage whether watching, training or competing but lately I have started looking out for the signs of bad training rather than the test itself. This is not what sport should be about and I do hope we can go back to the dressage and classical, soft riding so many of us grew up with.
 

maya2008

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Cars kill people. Shall we ban them? Motorbikes are widely known to be even more dangerous. Them too? Because obviously if a few people do something dangerously, no one should do that activity/use that equipment at all.

And again…farming practices. A far bigger welfare issue. I eat meat, I am allergic to too many vegetables to survive well without it. But that means I accept that an animal died so I can live. I try to eat my eggs from the free range farm up the road where I can SEE them outside. To be aware of where the rest comes from.

And welfare - there was a post on Facebook this morning by a welfare charity about a young horse found in a horrible state. Why are people going all out for this - a few minutes of unpleasantness for an otherwise cared for horse, when they don’t seemingly care about the rest? Yes she should be punished - she is being. Yes her sponsors should drop her and people shouldn’t book lessons with her.

But should we throw the baby out with the bathwater? No, that’s just hysterical. Change the rules? Oh yes. Be more transparent? Definitely. But ban keeping horses and competing at any level? Not a terribly rational response.
 
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