Sir Mark Todd hits horse with tree branch 

The way that everyone just laughed as he just continue to keep hitting the horse is just upsetting

I was this young rider once, and this happened to me once too. Not by a famous trainer, but just the same, at an event I had just invested a lot of time and energy into preparing my previously abused horse for. Like this young rider, I was "offered help with my refusing horse" when I didn't ask for the help and was kindly asking her to do something I knew was hard for her, when a abuser decided to come up and "help" me by beating her for me. So instead of having a good event with my horse, I spent the ride home crying my eyes out and feeling terrible, and my horse was re-traumatized. NO-ONE has the right to come up to another person's animal and beat it, under ANY circumstances. We don't know what this rider's story is. We don't know what this horse's story is. There is no excuse for this behavior. Disgusting. My sympathy to this horse and rider.

This isn't the first time he has done this just that someone was filming How disgusting and laughing shameful

That’s horrible. He clearly lacks empathy, respect and humility.

Look closely and you will see that the branch was many pronged and leafed which Todd could have used to tickle the horse's rump to encourage it forward. However, he decides to strip the branch of all leaves, back to a forked stick and then whip the horse nine times. Disgraceful, but so typical of many professional horse people through the generations. Brings back memories of Harvey Smith.

You can only imagine how many times this sort of abuse has happened and to what extent hidden from the camera over the past 50yrs... A man that had a role as a patron for World Horse Welfare..

I had only seen the short video. The fact is he has picked this branch up for over a minute before using it, indicates this is a practice used before.

Hate him! How could people laugh at this???? Horrible, horrible horsemanship!

The members of the crowd who continue to laugh and cheer as this horse gets threatened and then whipped need to be held just as accountable. Absolutely appalling.

I will never understand why people find scaring a horse funny. I'd rather have a horse that trusted me when going XC rather than one that only did it because they were scared.

The only thing Todd is sorry about is that he got caught

What I find sad is the amount of people defending his behaviour. It isn’t acceptable.

Why are people laughing at this disgusting behaviour?

Absolutely loved Mark Todd and considered him a great horseman; what a damn shame.

Lost for words. Olympic Champion eventer now Race horse trainer is not the person we thought he was. Sir Mark Todd so that's how u pay the animals back who made u who u r.

Not surprised by Mark Todd’’s behaviour. Back in mid 1980’s I had the ‘privilege’ of serving him at a small shop at Auckland International Airport and decades later I still remember him as being one of the most arrogant, rude, and obnoxious person I’ve ever come across.

I used to have driving ponies for years who were trained to just listen to my vocal commands… that’s it… just the voice and reins… they were always willing and amenable… no brute force or fear. This is a sad exhibition by a person I’d admired in the past, whilst watching him ride around Badminton with just one stirrup. Hitting a horse whilst your pupil rides… what the hell?!?! Unfortunately the rest of the group probably felt unable to intervene in the presence of such an experienced, world renowned rider, the nervous laughter says it all. I wonder how the girl on the grey felt afterwards? The horse was actually doing well & getting more fluent and confident up until this point. The trust of her horse shattered, I’d be furious 🤯 Fear will not make a horse willing.

Disturbing that everyone is laughing about this. Shows what power this jerk holds.

Beating the poor horse really worked. Proven by the fact that you had to beat it even more the second time round. Adding pain to a fearful situation, just increases the fear. Mark Todd should know better!

Oh yes, training your horses with fear and violence 🙄🙄 such an old "classic". I am flabbergasted by people never learning. I used to whip my horse when I was teen, because I was taught it was better to "whip once" than keep using aids etc. Now I would never whip my horse, I touch them gently and always think twice. I have learned so much since then and I am ashamed of how I sometimes behaved back then. Never again. This was 20 years ago by now and I am so glad I opened my eyes to how gentle and beautiful horses are.

He should lose his knighthood. He only apologised after video went public.

You can hear him telling the rider to ‘hold him there’, so that he can whip him??? The rider says something like ‘he probably won’t go for that’ before exclaiming “I’ve got it, I’ve got it!” Suggesting that she’s got this and wants him to stop with the whiping. What makes this worse is that the pony was being compliant and building confidence until this point. Utterly shocking behaviour.

That was a shocking example of terrible horsemanship, and the students reaction was surprising. It seemed that no one stood up for the poor animal. I would have left if I were there. He is the type of trainer that would be more abusive behind the scenes.

The crowd laughing and cheering shows exactly the mentality of the horse world

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. However, he has proved himself to be a proper bell-end.

I had a lot of admiration for Mark Todd’s ability to ride any horse and excel at Cross Country…not anymore.

I used to ride many years ago when I was in the Household Cavalry. Had any of us been seen using a crop/whip on a horse like that, we would have been dragged off and given a slap. That's not horsemanship. That's completely unacceptable. I hope he faces similar consequences to that primary school teacher who punched her nag, and that footballer who played keepy uppy with his cat.

Thanks for posting this Chloe Terrell!!!!This happens too often and we need more people like you who are willing to call out this sickening lack of compassion, and true understanding and respect for horses. He does not deserve to have horses. He is only sorry he got caught.

I am so glad that so many are finally giving horses a voice, its the very best thing about the internet

This's an extremely sad day for the world of equestrian sports. Is there no one we may trust anymore to be doing the right thing by the horse, no one!? No one that young riders may look up to with confidence to set an example? Time and time again riders and trainers are exposed for abusive training methods. I can only imagine Todd has spent too much time in the racing industry where beating horses is fully sanctioned. We can say that he should of course know better but unfortunately we can't even say that anymore. It's people like him who are rapidly relegating equestrian pursuits to the history books. Soon it will be illegal to even sit on a horse, never mind compete at the Olympics. It would seem this wont come as any great surprise either to anyone in the industry as the public will be able to safely assume it's endemic in all equestrian pursuits. Todd needs to be punished for this, he needs to be urgently and publicly banned from coming anywhere near a horse. We simply cannot tolerate this, for our horses wellfare or it will be the end for all of us. An apology simply will not do.

In my opinion, the sad part is, it was going quite well at the beginning. After an erratic jump at 0:48, at 1:10 the horse made a rather calm one. Probably the best idea would be to accept it and give the horse some time to relax and process the new experience. But then was a repetition and a startling noise at 1:28 that frustrated/scared the animal. All that could have been avoided if one didn't want too much too quickly.

I don't think there is anything 'alleged' about this, he clearly is comfortable using this tactic to intimidate a horse, and it's disgraceful how others witnessing this can just stand by and laugh. Eventing, show jumping, racing, sadly any pursuit that involves the use of a horse have all been proven to have this ugly, abusive side behind the scenes to force the horse into doing something it doesn't want to. I find it offensive that riders are deemed great and successful sportsmen when it's the horse that does all the work, usually against it's will as demonstrated here.

I worked in the event world as a career groom for a little while. For 99.9% of ALL riders that compete for a living and for money, this is normal. I had to bute a beloved Olympic dressage riders horse on more than one occasion after it had had a "training" session. It went against every grain in my body to treat sentient beings as commodities to bend to our will via any means necessary, and I lasted a little over 6 months. If I could have afforded to be unemployed, I'd have gone a lot sooner. Far too many people watch professional riders only when in the public eye, become enthralled with a desire to achieve the same, and when a video like this is leaked they're full of denial and excuses. That's one of the main reasons this behaviour in equine sport is not only condoned by many, it's practically the norm.

Mark Todd's behavior was deplorable but that rider paid good money for the training and allowed him to repeatedly abuse her horse and endanger her in the process. Shame on them both.

As an owner of three senior equines one of which was abandoned at a sanctuary front entrance. This group of flesh sacks should be treated better then the way this frightened horse was treated , that should suffice . This man should loose his ability to ever be around another horse again.

The horse had already went through the water! Disgusting behaviour Mark!!

What an absolute beast and I don’t mean the horse. Cruelty is not the way when training horses.

Eponatv thank you so much for posting this video. These animal abusers need to be exposed and be expelled from the horse world

But these are the types of people that get called proffesionals. They're basically the ceasar millan of the horse world. (The highly abusive yet popular and loved by many dog trainer for those who don't know)

That is just downright cruel and disgusting that people treat horses like this

Probably nothing to what goes on behind the scenes.

Disgusting. Using all his force to do that. Poor horse.

It's so sad seeing this as a kiwi who looked up to him growing up... Absolutely shocking.

Dude I can’t help tears from falling. Panic was in that horses mind, being scared to go in and then also being beaten. This man Mark Todd is an abuser, an emotion killer, and panic riser. I STRONGLY dislike Mark with my soul. My heard is full of sorrow for that horse. Other horses nearby were obviously stressed as that was what was going to happen to them next.

This is not acceptable training.The horse did this well before the hitting why o why can this be okay to hit the horse in that manner.

I recently learned that horses have a thinner layer of skin than we do and more tightly packed nerve endings. So if getting hit with a stripped branch hurts like hell to us, like lashings perhaps, imagine how this horse feels.

the people cheering was the shocking part to me it was nuts

I heard the poor girl tell him that she was trying to go, she sounded pretty worried from what I heard and I can’t imagine how stressful that situation was for both horse and rider. I’m absolutely disgusted by him, and so am I disgusted by how people carried on laughing and didn’t utter a word about what he was doing. I’d be strait out of that place after that. Cannot believe this, I can’t imagine how much trauma that horse has gotten aswell.

You can tell by the way he prepared the branch and started to prowl that this is his party trick and that he has done it many times before. Those hard hits at the end were shameful. I hope he gets the maximum penalty allowed.

The most disgusting thing is you can see him lose his temper, but the horse is showing clear signs of discomfort and few equestrians can recognise it. Also talk about learned helplessness!

His apology is an absolute joke. His whole it was out of character jibe doesnt fly. This looks like its a regular thought out occurance.

And just like that I no longer see mark Todd as a positive for the horse world. That is appalling and disgusting.

the last person who hit my horse whilst i was riding never got a second chance!' how dare any one hit a horse like this at ANY time but to do so whilst some one else riding is beyond me, as an instructor if you resort to this rather than thinking outside the box you have NO place in our industry!!

if i was on that horse i would say: "here hes not listening let me try" *he gives me the stick* *i start hitting mark with the stick* "how's that feel! poor horse" "STOP ABUSING HIM OR ILL ABUSE YOU BACK"

I don't even see why it was necessary. The horse was going through the water all this time. A few more rounds and it would've been used to it and not needed any force at all

Anyone notice how the bay horse in back doesn't freak out at any of the other times he wacks the ground but when he hears the smack of that branch against the horse he spooks out of fear.

Terrible behaviour - hope he gets banned he is already disgraced

it gets worse, the rider actually told mark that her horse had leg problems and got a bit nervous when it jumped before the lesson.

No excuse to ever hit a horse . Makes me sick .I am wondering why no one immediately did not address what he did as abuse . At the least , the lady riding this Sweet Horse should have told him to stop ! This is horrible.

The horse should have been allowed enough time to figure out that it was ok to jump into the water. Having a non-rider attack from the rear isn't a good learning experience.

Sad to think that horses thought process before each jump is if I don't jump someone will beat me with a tree branch. Just sad...

Who are the people laughing and cheering as he whips the poor animal?

The first time he did it I though “oh he just hit the ground to encourage the horse forward” which first off is rather questionable in regards to training a horse, especially as a renowned trainer, but otherwise he didn’t make contact and I was just like “hmmm okay questionable but go on”. Imagine my surprise when he proceeds to hit the horse on the hindquarters, not once, but multiple times! Not to mention with a sharp branch that has multiple spikes on it. Deplorable behaviour from you mark todd, and deplorable at the people laughing and cheering. Is this really the mentality of the horse world?! I have been out of horses for about 6 months and have only ever owned horses and done cross country, I have never been a horse trainer, but if this is the standard for horse trainers today I am glad I am not in the horse world anymore!! Disgusting. And the sad thing is that he’s only sorry that he got caught, not that he did it. Shame on you!

😨😨 Not okay from anyone, especially our prized NZ champion. Shame on Mr Todd.

The proper way to achieve the desired result here, ie. to get the horse willingly entering the water from the higher level, is to give her a lead by following a more experienced horse and rider. But she was still nervous about entering from the lower point, so that exercise should have been repeated several more times, also with at least one other involved, before progressing to the bigger challenge. Your mount must be confident with each stage before moving up to the next, and this one was clearly not yet ready. Take your time with skill development and you get a more reliable and safer ride, with a lower risk of refusing in future. Refusals, in particular at water jumps, have killed and injured so many riders and horses - let's not rush the training.

everyone laughing in the background is absolutely revolting.

This is disgusting behavior from the trainer and the crowd, poor horse

This looks almost like a dog getting punished for something they didn’t do which is sad

I wonder if the crowd would laugh if they were being whipped?

I am a horse rider and have NEVER seen this much abuse to a horse before,picking up a tree branch and start hitting a horse for no reason is Disgusting!! The rider should've done somthing about it and same goes to the people recording this video!! I feel bad for this horse 💔

Never is animal abuse acceptable! You can train a horse without that kind of behavior. He should never be allowed to work with horses again. What if she had been thrown off the horse, because of his actions and had a serious injury? Unacceptable! This is a good example of what not to do!

Sadly, I think this is more common than we know ...

Shame hitting a beautiful animal! You have no right to abuse these majestic creatures!!

If anyone ever tried that with my horse, that would be the day I would go to jail. Absolutely deplorable behaviour from someone I used to hold in the highest regard. Shocking :(

Why are people laughing! That’s disgraceful

Shame on you. It is SO obvious this poor horse needed support not aggression

What a stupid guy, no respect whatsoever for the horse ! And he thinks he's funny ? "Sir" ? What a shame ... No respect for the young rider as well, I wonder if he'd acted the same with a man of his age riding a horse !?

Should be banned for life

Should be criminal charges laid! There is video evidence, these cowards cannot hide.

Disgusting. That is absolutely terrible! And the fact that everyone laughed and cheered, just disgusting.

Absolutely disgusting all these supposed horse lovers laughing and watching on.

This happened in front of the camera. Imagine what happens behind the scenes. Honestly, I feel so sad for the animals-the four legged kind.

Absolutely APPALLING. What a 'triumph' for that person. NOT

That’s the worst thing I have ever seen! NO ONE has the right to whip that horse! If it was my horse I would have gone ballistic!

I'm happy to see you're finally posting videos again. I've missed your content a lot. I see the same old "methods" of "encouragement" is alive and well. I can tell that the same excuses exist too. I'm following a dressage channel where it's astounding how ignorant or stupid people are , willfully or otherwise. The "but the horse loves it" excuse is just as alive and well as these "methods".

Poor horses with a disrespectful guy like Mark Todd around them

I wonder if the RSPCA will take his horses away from him, as they did with Zouma,s Cats ?

I’m beyond disgusted with this once revered rider!! He should be suspended from teaching, training and competing! I’m so over the entire horse sport world! From dressage and rollkur to racing and soaring! It all needs to stop. We need to stop giving our resources to people who train this way and DEMAND change! 🤬🤬

The fuck. He was my idol. That's so messed up.

Todd was itching to have an opportunity to go beyond striking the ground. He absolutely relished striking that horse and the people all Laughing

He should be banned and all staff thinking it funny if poccess racepass have it revoked

See how he’s prepared the branch just for such an action. Premeditation. And they laughed. Someone kindly wallop him, repeatedly. Perhaps an owner or 2? Subbed.

Outrageous. Sadly, it doesn’t look like the first time this technique has been used. Shame on him and also on those who can be heard cheering and laughing. Why not show positive encouragement and reinforcement to get the horse through?

The vast majority of y'all don't know the whole story and it shows.

I can just imagine how many times he beat other horses when there were no cameras around. Hopefully he will not get his training license back. Just one of the many ignorant people who think abusive dominance over innocent animals is necessary. Wrong!

Let's ban horse racing

This is simply disgusting. And everyone around just laughs. This is how much, way to many riders, love their "best friends". Amazing in a very very negative way. Not surprising though. Absolutely shameful, him, the crowd around... A pure disgrace.

What an absolute disgrace. Disgusted

Yes that was really funny ……..Take his knighthood away.

Horrible treatment towards the horse.