Arabic version: هيث رايان يتلقى إيقافًا من الاتحاد الدولي للفروسية لمدة 18 شهرًا

According to The Guardian, Australian Olympian Heath Ryan has received an 18-month suspension and a fine following an International Federation for Equestrian Sports investigation into allegations of horse abuse.

The FEI Tribunal found that the dressage and eventing rider had engaged in horse abuse under Article 142.1 of the FEI General Regulations. The Swiss-based governing body said the finding brought both the FEI and equestrian sport into disrepute and breached its code of conduct for the welfare of the horse.

The suspension is retrospective to June 12, 2025, the date of Ryan’s provisional suspension, and is due to end on December 12, 2026. Ryan, 68, was fined 3,000 Swiss francs ($5,174) and ordered to pay the same amount towards the FEI’s legal costs.

Ryan had already been suspended by Equestrian Australia after a video that appeared to show him repeatedly whipping a horse surfaced on social media last year. He competed for Australia in dressage at the 2008 Beijing Games. When the Australian suspension was imposed in June 2025, Ryan defended his actions in a social media statement, saying the six-year-old horse had been taken to his property on its way to the knackery after attacking its owner. He later posted another video that he said showed the horse thriving in a new home.