Charlotte Dujardin's mistreatment of horse in a leaked video that saw her pull out of the Paris Olympics was condemned by a group of leading dressage riders, including her long-time Team GB teammate Carl Hester, on Wednesday.
Dujardin, 39, withdrew from the Games just four days before the opening ceremony after a whistleblower submitted a video to competition organisers showing her repeatedly whipping a horse.
She has been provisionally suspended for six months by equestrian's governing body, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). UK Sport has confirmed that it will no longer fund Dujardin, describing the video as disturbing and not in keeping with the high standards expected of British athletes.
In a statement, the board members of the International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC) said that they "universally condemn" Dujardin's actions.
"The Board members are resolute that equine welfare must always be placed uppermost and at all times," they said.
"The IDRC Board supports the actions taken by the FEI, the British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage to provisionally suspend Ms Dujardin."
Hester, who is preparing to compete in his seventh Olympics in Paris, was among the statement's 10 signatories.
Dujardin and Hester formed part of the dressage team that won gold at London 2012, silver at Rio 2016 and bronze at Tokyo 2020. He was due to compete alongside Dujardin once more in Paris at the team event that begins on July 30 at the Palace of Versailles.
Dujardin's withdrawal from the Games ended her chance to go ahead of Laura Kenny and become the sole British female athlete to win seven Olympic medals -- she is tied with the retired cyclist on six.
FEI president Ingmar de Vos said Thursday that he was confident the sport will remain on the Olympic programme after animal rights group PETA demanded that the IOC remove equestrian sports from the Games amid several cases of horse abuse.
"I was very upset, I was surprised and very upset [when I saw the footage of Dujardin's actions]," De Vos told reporters.
Despite the outcry, De Vos believes equestrian events -- eventing, dressage, show jumping -- will be at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.
"I'm very confident because we've been doing so much for horse welfare. We will be on the programme in Los Angeles and we will also be in Brisbane," he said.
The FEI woke up to the challenge of improving horse welfare after the Tokyo Olympics severely harmed its image.
In 2021, one horse died in a cross-country accident while another one suffered from severe nose bleeding from jumping and spectators were shocked by scenes of abuse in a modern pentathlon competition.
FEI chief veterinarian Goran Akerstrom said the FEI has released an action plan with 37 measures to protect horses, including rules for the tightness of nosebands and flexible cross-country obstacles designed to prevent severe accidents.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report