Cesar Parra Puts Off Appearance Before FEI Citing “Medical” Reasons for Not Answering Charges of Horse Abuse
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Jan. 15, 2025
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
Cesar Parra put off an appearance before the International Equestrian Federation in Switzerland this week citing “medical” reasons for not answering charges of horse abuse a year since the one-time U.S. team rider was provisionally suspended.
At the same time, the former employee primarily responsible for the release of videos displaying extensive abuse has lost legal support that has been paid for over the past year by two private individuals involved in dressage.
The FEI is reported to have indicated that legal involvement may be important in the case against Parra, whose Jupiter, Florida farm 30 miles/48km north of Wellington is for sale while he is located primarily in Mexico. His native Colombia has gone along with the suspension limiting his ability to operate there.
The provisional suspension of Parra began last Feb. 2 after a lengthy compilation of videos were released by Adam Steffens and Sven Smienk. Sven, who rides as a Canadian, had worked for Parra.
A growing number of persons involved in dressage have expressed anger at the attitude of US Federation senior management after declaring a year ago the behavior shown on the videos was
“appalling and abhorrent” and pledged to work with the FEI on “this serious matter.”
While neither Adam nor Sven would comment on the case, friends of the two told dressage-news.com the two have confidence in the FEI legal team and have been well treated by the staff at the headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
However, the US federation is reported to have taken a completely hands-off stance. The US federation chief operating officer is also the general counsel, the official lawyer.
Instead, two American individuals involved in dressage have paid for a lawyer for the past year. Both individuals did not want their names disclosed.
Now, Adam and Sven are reported by friends to be considering bearing the costs of a lawyer to insure the case against Parra proceeds.
Dozens of witnesses are reported to have made statements about Parra to the FEI legal team. Verifying witness statements from across the Atlantic has been time-consuming and has created the long lead time to a formal hearing.
Other horse abuse cases involving prominent competitors have been dealt with relatively promptly, either by national federations or the FEI in the meantime.
Parra competed at the 2004 Olympics, the 2002 and 2006 World Equestrian Games and 2005 World Cup Final for his native Colombia.
He switched to ride for the United States in 2008 and was selected for the American team at the 2011 Pan American Games and the 2014 World Cup Final.
Although reports of abuse by Parra have been widespread for much of the past two decades, the US federation took no action citing a rule that prevents dealing with incidents outside of competition venues. That rule was changed as of Dec. 1, 2024.
