The United States dressage team was met with a major setback. Marcus Orlob, an Olympic debutant was disqualified from the competition after being stopped halfway while completing the compulsory test. It was later found out that his horse, Jane was bleeding in the right foot. It was a major blow for Orlob who had been taking part in equestrian events for several years before finally getting a chance to compete in the Olympics at the Paris edition. He had dreamt about having the medal put around his neck like many other athletes.

Along with Jane, he had competed at the Grand Prix level for the first time since 2019 and had scored his personal best. Thus, he felt confident before entering the competition. But, it was not meant to be. According to Orlob, the horse got scared by the immense crowd present to watch him compete. When it was her time to enter the arena, she reared up her body to signify that she did not want to enter. However, after their entry, things were running smoothly with the horse gradually gaining confidence until. But soon, she was discovered to be bleeding. That was when the jury took action and stopped Orlob and Jane. Here is more information about Jane.

Learn about the horse, Jane, who was eliminated from the Paris Olympics

Jane is a 10 year mare owned by American equestrian Alice Tarjan. Tarjan was one of the athletes trained by Marcus Orlob himself. Its breed belongs to the Dutch Warmblood. Her sire’s name is Desperado while her dam’s name is Zandra. Her date of foal is 4/12/2014. She mainly competes in Dressage which she started with Orlob. Her debut was during the 2024 Grand Prix where she led Orlob to score his personal best score. Her owner, Tarjan had ridden her mainly in the small tour level. After this, she gave her to Orlob. Jane and him have grown together very impressively as a pair which is why they qualified for the Paris Olympics dressage team. But, unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned.

After Jane’s bleeding incident, PETA released a statement protesting the inclusion of equestrian events in the Olympics and called for a ban to the whole sport. They said that while the officials are being applauded fot their intervention, one must not forget Jane’s rearing up. It clearly meant that she was in no mood to participate in the event. They said, “These horses aren’t ‘partners’, they’re subjugated and coerced to submit to authority and to behave in ways that aren’t natural. The Olympic Games are about the excellence of willing participants, and the equestrian events must go.” 

This whole incident also took place when the equestrian world is already under a lot of scrutiny. Three time gold medalist equestrian rider Charlotte Dujardin had to withdraw from the event due to the surfacing of allegations of her being abusive to her horses.

Rider Marcus Orlob had high hopes for his Olympic debut with Jane

Nobody can blame Marcus Orlob for being disappointed due to the disqualification. It was his first ever Olympics appearance and Jane had formed a great pair with him. After the event, he opened up about the events after their entry into the arena. He said, “I believe she may have nicked herself in the entry, because I never have had this issue. She felt in the ring amazing. I was super happy with her.”  “Once I got going, she felt more and more relaxed. I was really happy. I said, ‘OK, I got this now.’ And then I was, like, really, really sad to hear the bell, because I knew something’s not right.”

Jane is now back in her stabling recovering from the event. Orlob said that she expressed surprise at not being able to finish the event. Hopefully, both of them move on from this and make a comeback soon.