During the Olympic equestrian events of dressage, horses display dance-like steps that demand high levels of muscular strength and control across the animals’ bodies and legs. But at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, there has been more focus on the position of the horses’ heads. On 27 July, Brazilian rider Carlos Parro was issued a warning for actions during a warm-up session that “could have caused unnecessary discomfort to the horse”, according to a statement by the governing body of the sport, the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI).

The warning was related to a…