Kaley Cuoco wants to put a positive coda on one of the more disturbing incidents that happened during the Tokyo Olympics. That came during the Modern Pentathlon, specifically the show jumping portion of the competition. A German competitor, Annika Schleu, was atop the leaderboard before she mounted a horse named Saint Boy for her portion of the equestrian event. But Saint Boy, a randomly assigned horse to the frontrunner, essentially refused to jump at her direction.
What followed was a gruesome display where the horse ran around and did everything but jump after the first few gates, while Schleu began to cry as her Olympic dreams disappeared with every fault and lost point. The visual of a German woman crying atop a strange horse instantly went viral, as sympathy for Schleu as well as a bit of schadenfreude made it an instantly fascinating Olympic moment. It looked like this:
The videos are, arguably, even worse.
https://twitter.com/BannedFrankie13/status/1423875209677914112
https://twitter.com/BannedFrankie13/status/1423875617695617025
Saint Boy was somewhat vindicated as at least one expert determined that its refusal to jump was “largely due to rider error,” but the story continued to evolve. Reports emerged that a German coach actually was disqualified from competition after punching Saint Boy, a horrifying development to an already disturbing story.
German team coach Kim Raisner has been thrown out of the Tokyo Olympics for hitting Saint Boy after the horse refused to jump. #ModernPentathlon #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/p90rvIt12S
— Football & All (@FootballAndAll) August 7, 2021
Now that the Olympics are over in Tokyo, though, there are some who are concerned about the fate of Saint Boy. Among them is The Flight Attendant star Kaley Cuoco, a horse and animal rights enthusiast who has declared she wants to buy the beleaguered horse and make sure it’s never again struck in the name of competition.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN-HRjwhOby/
Earlier in the week Cuoco declared her intent to buy the horse in a series of Instagram stories. According to Page Six, Cuoco said “name your price” for the horse, which she’d like to care for on her own.
“You and your team did not do your county proud, or this sport,” the 35-year-old actress wrote in a now expired Instagram story on Friday. “You make us look bad. Shame on you and godspeed to any animal that comes in contact with you.”
“The Flight Attendant” star even offered to buy Saint Boy from them, writing, “Name your price.”
Cuoco continued to advocate for its purchase through the weekend, sharing a number of clips from news reports about her Instagram offer. At one point, she posted a photo of herself with the caption “I’m waiting.”
It’s unclear if this will actually lead to a sale of Saint Boy, but it’s obvious the actress is serious about her offer and has the facilities and interest to offer the horse a punch-free life. Animal cruelty is no joke, and the bizarre incident in Tokyo is a reminder that using animals for sport can turn ugly when people don’t see the desired performance from a living creature. Hopefully if the owner of Saint Boy is willing to sell, they pick someone who will do right by an animal that may have gotten an unfair reputation in recent weeks.
