Overview

Annika Schleu Horse Incident refers to an event during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games (suspended to 2021 due to COVID-19) in which German pentathlete Annika Schleu's horse Saint Boy refused to cooperate during the equestrian event. Schleu attempted to get the seemingly nervous horse to participate by whipping it a number of times on its backend with a riding crop while sobbing. Her coach, Kim Raisner, then punched the horse in the backend as well, which got her disqualified from the Olympics. Schleu received zero points for the event, lowering her from first place in the pentathlon event to 31st and sparking notable online controversy about her and the coach's treatment of the horse.

Background

Prior to the equestrian event, Annika Schleu, a champion pentathlete from Germany with multiple gold medals under her belt competing for Germany in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics, lead in the previous two pentathlon events, swimming and fencing. This landed her in first leading up to the equestrian event, which took place on August 6th, 2021.

Athletes are paired up with a random horse before the event. The pentathletes have to bond with the animal in a short period of time.^[1] Schleu rode out on the horse, named Saint Boy, who quickly began to show signs of nervousness, backing away from the fences, raising his head in the air and showing his teeth. Schleu begins crying on the horse as she tries to steer him towards the jumps. Schleu then begins whipping the horse on its backend with a riding crop. The coach, Kim Raisner, can be seen shouting from outside the fence. Saint Boy and Schleu then get near Raisner as she punches the horse in the backend with a closed fist. Schleu was ultimately awarded zero points for the event, lowering her ranking in the pentathlon from first to 31st place. A video showing this soon began going around Twitter^[2] (shown below).

Because I stay being messy. Here’s a thread of the full ride of Annika Schleu. It’s not pretty. pic.twitter.com/d4Tox8fEHN

— frankie (@BannedFrankie13) August 7, 2021

Kim Raisner Thrown Out Of Olympic Games

On August 7th, it was reported by The Guardian^[3] that Raisner was "thrown out" of the Olympics following backlash about her treatment of Saint Boy. The International Modern Pentathlon Union reviewed the footage and deemed it was a violation of the rules, noting that Raisner not only punched the horse with a closed fist but also encouraged Schleu to whip the horse harder. The statement was posted to their website that day.^[4]

Online Reactions

Raisner and Schleu's treatment of Saint Boy was criticized highly online, with many seeing it as abusive towards the horse who was in distress (examples shown below). Many praised Raisner's ejection from the Olympics.

The event also inspired a number of memes referencing it. On August 6th, Twitter^[6][7] users @IamHappyToast and @c_sinc_ posted memes referencing the event, gaining over 371 likes and 1,900 likes respectively in three days (shown below, left and right)

On August 8th, YouTuber^[5] Arvi Viva posted a video edit defending Schleu, suggesting it may not be her fault that the horse acted up, but also making it clear he is against horse abuse, gaining over 90,000 views in a day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References