Olympian to face hearing over hitting a horse

Mark Todd, a two-time Olympic champion in equestrian and now a notable racehorse trainer, will face a disciplinary hearing on Thursday after a video on social media showed him striking a horse with a branch.

The British Horseracing Authority temporarily removed the 66-year-old New Zealander’s training licence last month, preventing him from racing horses in Britain or internationally.

In a video posted on social media, Todd is seen repeatedly striking a horse that was refusing to jump into water during a training clinic in August 2020.

Todd accepted the suspension from the BHA and apologised. The hearing will determine whether he engaged in “conduct prejudicial to the good reputation of horse-racing in Great Britain by striking a horse multiple times with a tree branch,” the BHA said on Tuesday.

Todd is one of New Zealand’s most famous Olympians. He competed in seven Summer Games from 1984 to 2016, winning gold medals in eventing in 1984 and 1988, as well as three bronze medals.

He was given a knighthood in New Zealand’s New Year’s Honours in 2013 and has since become a racehorse trainer, based in Wiltshire, England. (AP)