It’s Called Blue Tongue! Covering up Cruelty at Olympic Events With Marshmallow Cream

Rollkur. Blue tongue. Barring. Most people watching the Olympic Games were unfamiliar with these terms, and only those abusing horses in equestrian events – or judges looking the other way – knew exactly what they mean. But because of the mistreatment of horses in the Paris Games, we all now know that they mean one thing: Horses used in such events are subjected to indefensible suffering.

Rollkur is the extraordinarily cruel way that makes a “show horse” look like a Roman statue by pulling the animal’s neck into an exaggerated curve so that the chin almost touches their chest, leaving them desperately gasping for air. Double reins are pulled – extremely tightly – to achieve this painful posture as the horse struggles to breathe. All the while, the animal must carry a human’s weight on their back, follow memorized steps, and fear strangulation! Horses are keenly intelligent and can think ahead – they must dread the sound of tack being readied.

After PETA received whistleblower photos that showed a rider on an Olympic equestrian eventing team forcing a horse into a rollkur posture, we rushed a letter to governing body Fédération Équestre Internationale’s (FEI) president, urging him to investigate and take action. The FEI immediately acknowledged the violation and sanctioned both the rider and team, making headlines around the world. This incident came just days after a video surfaced showing British Olympic equestrian team member Charlotte Dujardin repeatedly striking a horse during a training session; she was banned from the Paris Olympics. There were violations – and two US riders were eliminated when judges saw blood coming from the mouth of one horse and dripping down the leg of another. Every PETA entity, representing more than 9 million members and supporters, sent a formal request to the International Olympic Committee calling for an end to equestrian events, and tens of thousands of people have signed our petition.

Following pressure from PETA and a public outcry, the equestrian jumping portion of the modern pentathlon is being eliminated, beginning with the 2028 Olympics.

While this is a positive first step, it doesn’t go far enough. All Olympic equestrian events must end.

Marshmallow Cream?!

The FEI announced that it had identified “blue tongue” in several horses used in the dressage competition – yet this didn’t affect the medal placement of the riders. Blue tongue is a benign-sounding term for what happens when so much harsh gear is used in horses’ extremely sensitive mouths that the blood flow is actually cut off. It turns out that riders and trainers use marshmallow cream or sugar paste to hide this condition. Many horses’ lips are smeared with one of these substances for one purpose: to hide the oxygen-deprived blue tongue with the resulting white, foamy saliva.

Other Olympic Riders Caught Red-Handed at the Paris Games:

• A Colombian-American Olympic coach and former rider was caught on video whipping one horse and tying down the head of another.
• A Swiss rider whipped a clearly terrified horse who didn’t want to jump a fence.
• A Canadian Olympian’s horse dropped dead during a jumping event.
• A German Olympian was caught “barring” a horse (whacking him in the shins with a stick to make him jump higher).
• A reluctant horse was beaten with a thick tree branch by a New Zealand rider.

We’ve Already Made a Difference!

The Paris Games were not the first in which we’ve seen such rampant horse abuse. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, a pentathlon competitor was caught on camera whipping and trying to force a terrified horse named Saint Boy onto the course and the rider’s coach was caught hitting him. After PETA filed a complaint, the horse portion of the modern pentathlon was banned, starting in the 2028 Olympics!

PETA’s Presence Exposed 3-Year-Old Horse’s Death

PETA was at Del Mar Racetrack in California when Thoroughbred Jayarebe collapsed and died during the Breeders’ Cup – and we caught it on video. Jayarebe was just 3 years old – not even physically mature – and there should be no reason for a healthy young horse to drop dead. We immediately alerted the press and have called for a full investigation and the release of all veterinary records, treatments the horse had during international transport and quarantine, and the full necropsy report. PETA’s presence at racing events is shining a light on the lives and deaths of these young horses and has succeeded in rightly tainting the reputation of cruel trainers and track owners.