What the OEPS boss says

Witch hunt for Max Kühner: “There’s nothing to it!”

OEPS President Elisabeth Max-Theurer defends show jumper Max Kühner.

(Bild: GEPA pictures, APA/BARBARA GINDL)

"Black sheep" or "over-ambitious riders" can also be found in equestrian sport, as Elisabeth Max-Theurer, President of the Austrian Equestrian Federation OEPS and Vice President of the Austrian Olympic Committee, knows and says. As far as the criminal proceedings initiated against Olympic rider Max Kühner for violating the Animal Protection Act are concerned, however, she is certain that "there is simply nothing to the whole thing for me".

Max-Theurer believes that the - old - accusations against show jumping rider Kühner that emerged just before the start of the Summer Games in Paris were "deliberately spread". Perhaps they are envious of Max because he is number three in the world and has absolute medal chances. It is official that, according to the Starnberg district court, the Munich II public prosecutor's office applied for a penalty order to be issued against 50-year-old Kühner in March. The investigation has been dragging on since the previous year and began with a visit by the animal rights organization PETA to Kühner's property.

"It's like the witch hunts in the Middle Ages"
"I was told that a vet who works in the food industry was there. PETA had mobilized the public prosecutor's office. They came and took everything there," Max-Theuer told APA. Today, it is quick for someone to report someone. "It's like the witch hunts in the Middle Ages." Among other things, a collection of antique dentures was confiscated. "They were given to Max by Hugo Simon, they are antique memorabilia," added the association president. It's all a ridiculous story.

But of course one that requires clarification, explained Max-Theurer. "Our team leader Dr. Angelika May, who was a judge until she retired, knows the file, has inspected it and says there is nothing behind it. She is also often at Max Kühner's facility. She says the horses are well looked after there. Everything is really done to ensure that the horses are doing well."

Max Kühner lives for his horses and sees them as partners. "When you watch him, watch him ride, there's just nothing about the whole thing for me. He is an absolutely fine rider, beautiful in style. You never see him fighting or tussling with a horse." This is all a shame for "our beautiful sport".

The 1980 Olympic dressage champion says of herself that she "condemns cruelty to animals in the strongest possible terms". She is an international judge herself and always intervenes when something goes wrong. In the European Federation, she is active in a group that deals with the "welfare of horses". "That the vehicles must have appropriate cooling. That the horses may only be transported for a certain amount of time. You have to know that the horses are already traveling in luxury cars."

Max Kühner

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

After arriving at the tournaments, they are checked for possible illnesses, fever, travel fever, live in appropriate stables and are tested for stress. The husbandry conditions include large, spacious boxes with paddocks, regular grazing and sufficient exercise in addition to normal training.

Stewards are on site to ensure that the rules and times are adhered to in the warm-up arenas, said Max-Theurer. "The exact time the horse enters and leaves the arena is monitored, even at the Olympic Games. This is closely and strictly monitored."

Kühner is not confronted with accusations regarding the keeping or handling of the horses in the competition environment, but with regard to the training methods. He is said to have used "active barring". This method, which is banned in Germany, involves hitting a bar against a horse's legs to make it jump higher when overcoming an obstacle.

OEPS President Elisabeth Max-Theurer

(Bild: GEPA/GEPA pictures)

"He says it never happened. And I don't think Max has to use anything like that," said Max-Theurer. "I have never seen Max treat a horse unfairly, spur it or hit it with the crop, or yank it in the mouth. The courses he rides are of the highest aesthetic standard."

Max-Theurer watchedthe video that emerged this week of the now suspended three-time Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin from Great Britain repeatedly hitting a horse on the legs with a whip during a training lesson. "If you hit the horse suddenly, the horse won't understand," commented the ÖOC Vice President. It's all about the correct use of the lunge, reins and whip and appropriate praise afterwards.

The sporting world also saw disturbing images at the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, when the German Annika Schleu did not get on with a horse she had been allocated in the modern pentathlon and used a crop and spurs. This sparked a heated debate about the sport. In 2028, riding will be replaced by an obstacle course in modern pentathlon.