The Fall Out from Saint Boy: Where Next for Equestrian Competition?

Abstract

The equestrian sports part of the the Tokyo Olympics 2020 Modern Pentathlon generated a great deal of public discourse over perceived cruelty, centered around the treatment of a horse called Saint Boy. This article looks at the way that the videos of Saint Boy’s treatment were used to raise a larger question of welfare for equines in sport and makes some suggestions about how equine sports could be changed to be more sensitive to the physical and psychological needs of horses.