Former Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin returned to action at the weekend after serving a one-year suspension from the sport. The 40-year-old competed at the Hunters Equestrian event in Gloucestershire, marking her first action since she was banned over a horse whipping controversy which came to light just prior to the start of the Paris Olympics last summer. Dujardin, who has won six Olympic medals including individual gold in 2012 and 2016, had a one-year ban imposed on her by the sport’s international federation, the FEI, in December but had been provisionally suspended since July 23 last year. Dujardin is now free to enter and compete in domestic events and does not need to seek permission from the British Equestrian Federation (BEF) to do so. She would need to seek BEF permission to compete internationally. Dujardin won in two categories at the Hunters Equestrian on her new horse, Special Effect. It is not clear where Dujardin will compete next, but she would need to reach a regional final in order to qualify for September’s National Championships in Cheshire. Dujardin was provisionally suspended last July after the FEI launched an investigation into a video showing her whipping a horse during a coaching session. Dujardin accepted she had made “an error of judgement” and fully accepted the sanction imposed on her. She revealed last December, at the time the FEI imposed the ban, that she had been pregnant at the time the incident came to light.