Ludger Beerbaum responds for the first time to the video footage broadcast by RTL:
The contribution of RTL extra is demonstrably false, defamatory and in many ways slanderous. Of course we will take legal action against this. It is unacceptable that secret recordings were made on my private property.
With regard to the accusations against me and my team:
The well-being of the horses is a top priority for me and my team. Only a horse that is properly treated, professionally cared for and fed, trained and managed can perform in sport. The horses are our capital that we take care of day in and day out. The scenes shown in the riding arena article have nothing to do with parallel bars. It is about the allowed touching that was performed by a skilled, experienced equine specialist. The object shown in the video met the German Equestrian Association's requirements for permissible touching: no longer than three meters, maximum two kilograms in weight.
I run my stable as an open stable, where groups of visitors are guests every day, customers pick up their feed for their horses, and "interns" are also welcome. Here you can ride in open areas and complete the daily training. Nothing is hidden or forbidden.
The fact that the supposedly two-year "investigation" could only reveal four scenes showing the touching of a horse shows that this permitted training method is used very rarely and is not part of our daily work.
The "polygonal posts" found in the barn by the alleged intern are wooden posts used exclusively for the construction and repair of our pasture fences. The isolators for the fence tapes attached to the posts are clearly visible in the film. Once it is claimed that these are used for parallel bars, this is incorrect.
The same applies to the bars with the "buttons" in the attic. I can only say that these elements have been there for years. These come from a purchased inventory of hurdles and have been selected so that they are not used. They are also not used when training with horses. How any of these parts, polished and clean, get between the common obstacle poles, I can only speculate. To me, it is obvious that one of these poles was placed there explicitly for contribution. This is where we will investigate further.
I also note: The withdrawal of my 2004 Olympic gold medal was not based on doping, but on medication that was banned at the time.
The area on the practice field called the "Styrofoam slab" is a perfectly normal catch basin that is used daily. This is also an indication that the article lacks sufficient expertise.
Source: St. Georg
