Parallel to the FN’s sports investigation, local law enforcement opened a case under Germany’s Animal Welfare Act (Tierschutzgesetz), specifically §17, which prohibits inflicting significant pain or suffering on a vertebrate animal without reasonable cause.
Dr. Hannah Müller, an equine behaviorist at the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, analyzed the video frame by frame for a German equestrian magazine. Her conclusions were damning:
The incident is not an isolated event. It belongs to a painful pattern of high-profile abuse scandals in dressage, including: Petra Biehle And Horse Hit
In the 47-second clip, the mare is seen refusing a transition from canter to trot, appearing confused or tense. Biehle is then seen delivering what experts later described as “an excessive number of whip strikes” to the horse’s flank and shoulder area. The phrase originates from the description of the event—specifically, the moment where the horse flinches and kicks out after a particularly hard strike.
#PetraBiehle #EquestrianNews #HorseIncident Parallel to the FN’s sports investigation, local law
Defenders of the sport argue that 99% of riders never hit a horse like Biehle did. Critics counter that the pressure to perform—combined with archaic rules that reward hyper-flexion and submission—creates an environment where such “hits” are normalized behind closed stable doors.
Within 48 hours of the leak, the video had been viewed over 2 million times across Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Animal rights organizations, including PETA Germany and the German Equestrian Federation (FN), received hundreds of complaints. Her conclusions were damning: The incident is not
The term “horse hit” is particularly important from an SEO perspective. English-speaking equestrians searching for “horse abuse,” “whip strike,” or “dressage scandal” found the German incident by combining the rider’s name with the blunt, visceral phrase “horse hit.”