Carl Hester admitted seeing Charlotte Dujardin caught up in a horse abuse scandal came as ‘a huge shock’ but has urged the British public to forgive the dressage star.

Hester gave Dujardin her eqsuine break when he employed her at his yard in 2007 and has been her key mentor on a journey which led to six Olympic medals.

She could have become Britain’s most decorated female Olympian had she added to that tally in Paris but the 39-year-old was forced into a dramatic withdrawal on the eve of the Games when a whistleblower released a video showing her repeatedly striking a horse on its legs.

Hester condemned her actions in an open letter last week and while he made no excuses for his protégé, he insisted the incident was out of character.

“The video was a huge shock to me, I didn’t know it was there and it’s not from my property,” said the 57-year-old.

“That video is fairly obvious and no-one will support that. You can’t. But over 17 years of knowing Charlotte, I have not seen that. That is not her.

“She’s a mum, she’s got a small child and she’s paid very heavily for this in a way that you just wouldn’t believe.

“I just hope that she’s strong enough to be able to come back from it. I know things are very difficult but she is surrounded by people trying to help her.

“She accepts what she did and I’m glad she’s done that. This is four years ago, people do make mistakes.

“What do we do, never forgive people? It’s going to be a long road and a lesson for everybody in the horse world. We have to put the horses first.”

The build-up to Hester’s British record-equalling seventh Olympics has been overshadowed by the incident which has embroiled his sport.

Dressage’s future on the Olympic schedule has been thrown into question amid the furore but Hester wants to use the Paris platform – and the stunning backdrop of the Chateau de Versailles – as a chance to show its positive side.

“In the UK, you don’t see that sort of video, I’ve never seen it,” he said, following his performance in the qualifying stage.

“We are all in shock. We are making an effort to show how much we love our horses and how we train them. If this is out there, we know it has to change.

“There is hope that equestrian can survive. There is a huge amount of people that are enjoying it and it was a lovely atmosphere to go into. 

“It’s a fairly amazing ring to ride in, it’s a really incredible atmosphere.”

Hester looks well placed to qualify for the individual final on Sunday on board Fame, who he likened to ‘a pet’.

Before then, he hopes to bid for a fourth successive team medal alongside Lottie Fry and Becky Moody, the eleventh-hour replacement for Dujardin.

“It has been a difficult time,” he said. “But I relaxed and started to enjoy the ride.

“I thought ‘I’ve got to think about the team now, that’s what I’m here for’.

“Becky has been thrown into this, her first team and it’s an Olympic team. She will really need our support around her, which she has.

“Lottie is a great fighter for the team and has one of the best horses in the competition. We are certainly in there fighting.”

Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics