After witnessing a horse being hit by a rider and coach during the Tokyo Olympics, Kaley Cuoco offered to buy the horse in question.
Cuoco and millions of others witnessed equestrian, Annika Schleu and the coach of Germany's National Modern Pentathlon team, Kim Raisner, both strike Saint Boy.
The horse Schleu was assigned to ride refused to jump hurdles as part of the show jumping round of the women's modern pentathlon.
Bundestrainerin Kim Raisner: "Hau mal richtig drauf. Hau richtig drauf!" Dann schl\u00e4gt sie selber noch mit der Faust zu (Sekunde 23).\n@DOSB Das muss Konsequenzen haben.\n#ARD #F\u00fcnfkampfpic.twitter.com/JIBpqEGR6M— Max M\u00f6hrike \u24cb (@Max M\u00f6hrike \u24cb) 1628253822
In the standard for the sport, Schleu was introduced to Saint Boy roughly twenty minutes before the competition. Modern pentathletes ride stock horses provided by the host country, not their own mount, during Olympic competition.
Schleu dissolved into tears over Saint Boy's unwillingness to jump. As a result, Schleu lost her 1st place position and finished 31st out of 36.
While the practice of having competitors not ride their own horses at the Olympics has been hotly contested, there was far more sympathy for Saint Boy over how he was treated than for Schleu.
I think @PentathlonGB need to be pushing for better training for riders, penalties for excessive use of whip and spurs and better horse welfare. Very poor riding from many competitors leading to very unhappy horses & some clearly in pain.— Dr Rebecca Williams (@Dr Rebecca Williams) 1628251182
Painful and distressing to watch Annika Schleu being allowed to dig her spurs in, yank on the horses mouth and crack it with the whip repeatedly. You should have dismounted, he very clearly didn't want to jump. Shame on you and shame on #pentathlon #TokyoOlympicspic.twitter.com/euC5w4PLMU— Lydia (@Lydia) 1628247758
Raisner's actions were not tolerated by the International Modern Pentathlon Union.
She was subsequently disqualified from the remainder of the Tokyo Olympic games according to an official statement shared on their Twitter page.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT\n\nCoach Kim Raisner (GER) disqualified from Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Modern Pentathlon \n\nIn full https://bit.ly/3iunT2k\u00a0pic.twitter.com/a2S3GYKQzY— UIPM - World Pentathlon (@UIPM - World Pentathlon) 1628318400
The statement declared Raisner had been given a "black card" upon reviewing video footage which captured her striking Saint Boy with her fist.
"Her actions were deemed to be in violation of the UIPM Competition Rules, which are applied to all recognized Modern Pentathlon competitions including the Olympic Games."
Raisner's actions were also not tolerated by Kaley Cuoco who is also an avid equestrian and is married to horse trainer Karl Cook.
As reported by People, Cuoco expressed her horror at witnessing Saint Boy being struck by Raisner and Schleu in a series of Instagram stories.
"I feel it's my duty and heart to comment on this disgrace."
"This is not Olympic show jumping. This is a disgusting, classless, abusive representation of our sport in so many ways. This team should be ashamed of themselves."
"You and your team did not do your country proud or this sport. You make us look bad, Shame on you and godspeed to any animal that comes in contact with you."
The Big Bang Theory star went on to call both Raisner and Schleu a "disgrace".
But most notably, Cuoco offered to buy Saint Boy, declaring:
"I'll buy that horse outright and show it the life it should have. Name your price."
As reported by The Huffington Post, Cuoco would later clarify in a news report on her offer to buy Saint Boy that she "wasn't kidding."
Cuoco's offer and impassioned words against cruelty to horses were both met with a high level of support on Twitter.
Good on herhttps://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/kaley-cuoco-horse-olympics-buy-b1902686.html\u00a0\u2026— HPsauce (@HPsauce) 1629115170
That's awesomehttps://www.insider.com/kaley-cuoco-olympic-horse-punched-by-coach-2021-8\u00a0\u2026— saintscully writes Johnlock (@saintscully writes Johnlock) 1629052673
Please buy that horse!!! I\u2019m sooo upset by the treatment of that poor gorgeous animal. Go get it, sister!— 8057080159 (@8057080159) 1628988531
I love this lady. Go get him. #KaleyCuoco #Saintboy #Olympicspic.twitter.com/0FPTYQyqvG— Siobhan Kavanagh (@Siobhan Kavanagh) 1628928587
Excellent.— Trevor Hicke (@Trevor Hicke) 1628957284
Kaley Cuoco said she\u2019s serious about her offer to buy the horse that was hit by Germany\u2019s modern pentathlon national team coach during the showjumping round of the event at the Tokyo Olympics last week. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kaley-cuoco-olympics-horse-offer_n_61179b66e4b01da700f61fcc?ncid=engmodushpmg00000004\u00a0\u2026 via @HuffPostEntpic.twitter.com/djZb9DE1gu— Artist RePurpose (@Artist RePurpose) 1628977556
Kaley Cuoco is a BOSS. https://twitter.com/HuffPost/status/1426505625983492100\u00a0\u2026— Heather (@Heather) 1628993939
Saint Boy was one of many horses that balked during jumping events.
The course decor was cited by many as a contributing factor, especially a certain sumo statue.
Olympic riders say a life-size sumo wrestler statue positioned next to the Olympic course may have distracted several horses in qualifying for the individual jumping final.https://nbcnews.to/3xpyAHF— NBC News (@NBC News) 1628079061
A sumo statue's big butt is scaring horses at the Olympics https://dlvr.it/S56LZD\u00a0pic.twitter.com/mRE97be9qk— The A.V. Club (@The A.V. Club) 1628194534
Horses are prey animals and even the best trained horse can be spooked.
Equestrians cited several decorations on the course the horses may have considered threats.
The sumo was eventually removed from the course.
Sumo Wrestler Statue That May Have Spooked Horses At Olympics Is Now Gonehttps://www.huffpost.com/entry/sumo-olympics-equestrian-removed_n_610d4b9fe4b05f8157098ab8\u00a0\u2026— #TuckFrump (@#TuckFrump) 1628264670
It remains to be seen if Saint Boy's owner has taken Cuoco up on her offer.
But Cuoco and Cook's admiration and knowledge of horses suggest Saint Boy would be in excellent hands should this offer become a reality.
