Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with comments from a spokesperson for Erynn Ballard.

Olympic show jumper Erynn Ballard responded through a spokesperson Thursday to a video of her hitting a horse with a crop during a March 2024 competition at the World Equestrian Center—Ocala (Florida). Equestrian Canada, which earlier this week named Ballard as its 2024 Equestrian of the Year, on Wednesday said it has “paused the award” while it investigates the video.

“Until this week, Erynn Ballard had no idea she had been nominated for or was under consideration for Equestrian Canada’s Athlete of the Year, so this all has been a surprise,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. “Ms. Ballard considers her daily work and interaction with horses to be one of the greatest blessings of her life,” the spokesperson continued. “In her more than 25 years as a horse professional, Ms. Ballard has never been reprimanded, cautioned, advised, yellow carded, investigated or disciplined—formally or informally—by any sports association, judge or official. The video in question, an edited snippet from a much longer ride, has been investigated and reviewed by USEF, which determined that discipline was not warranted.”

The U.S. Equestrian Federation confirmed that the video, an approximately 30-second clip during a 1.30-meter jumper class in which Ballard was eliminated while riding a client’s horse, was reported and investigated. The federation declined to take disciplinary action. In the video, Ballard hits the horse a total of five times, once before and several times after a fence, before exiting the arena.

Ballard’s spokesperson said the incident shown in the video began with the mare not wanting to pass the in-gate and unfolded as she tried to continue on course. The spokesperson noted that none of the officials on site for the class, including the steward and ground jury, told her she’d behaved abusively.

“To those who have for months harassed and stalked her online and threatened her with violence from this highly circulated and edited video, even after USEF reached its determination: Ms. Ballard responded in the moment to what was occurring with the horse,” he wrote. “As recognized by those onsite and in this later review process, the video did not represent the entire sequence of events. The matter was investigated. And while the formal process may have been resolved without discipline, of course Ms. Ballard has asked herself and agrees she should have taken a different approach to the situation.  However, to take this one moment and claim unequivocally that she is an animal abuser who deserves to be publicly eviscerated is not warranted.  

“In early 2025, Ms. Ballard became aware she was the subject of a self-described internet ‘hitman’ who took these few seconds from tens of thousands of hours of publicly available video footage of her riding horses,” the statement continued. “Ms. Ballard loves horses, will continue to ensure their welfare and safety, will continue to accept the responsibility that comes with riding and managing animals.”

The video clip began circulating online in December 2024 and has been shared widely since. 

After naming Ballard as its Equestrian of the Year on Tuesday, EC on Wednesday published a statement saying it was “pausing” the award to investigate the video.

“We are aware of concerns regarding a video involving our award recipient for Equestrian Of The Year,” EC posted on Facebook and Instagram. “The video is under review in accordance with our safe sport policies, which are administered by our independent third-party complaints process.

“We understand this is a concern for our community and want to assure you we are committed to ensuring a fair, respectful, and thorough process,” the post continued. “In light of the concerns, and out of respect for the integrity of our awards and our community, we have decided to pause the award pending the outcome of the complaint process.”

Ballard, Tottenham, Ontario, has represented Canada at major events like the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, the 2022 Agria FEI Jumping World Championship (Denmark) and the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games (North Carolina). She previously won EC’s Equestrian of the Year honors in 2006.