Olympic dressage rider Heath Ryan was suspended by Equestrian Australia on Thursday after video shared online showed him reportedly whipping a horse. 

The sports governing body announced the suspensions in a lengthy post, adding that it followed both the revelation of the video online and a formal complaint. 

"Equestrian Australia is extremely alarmed and concerned by the treatment of the horse shown in this footage," the statement read. Ryan was not named in the statement.  

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"Equestrian Australia has this afternoon imposed a provisional suspension of this person’s membership of Equestrian Australia and their rights, privileges and benefits associated with their membership. This means they may take no part in competitions or events as competitor or Official or in the organization of, or participation in, any event under the jurisdiction of Equestrian Australia." 

Ryan, who represented Australia in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, posted a lengthy message on social media claiming that the video was from two years ago and shared by an "​​unhappy ex-employee." Reports say the video showed Ryan whipping the horse 42 times. 

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He claimed that the horse, Nico, had been brought to him by a family friend after that person was hospitalized following an incident with the horse. Ryan claimed he had saved the horse from being euthanized. 

"If a beautiful [6-year-old] horse turns up at your facility and it was bred by your stallion and it belonged to a lifelong friend of yours who had been put in hospital in intensive care by this horse would you just send it to the Knackery?? Well I didn’t and I felt obliged to the horse to just have a look and see if it was possibly salvageable," he wrote in a post on Facebook.

"I am so sad this was caught on video. If I had been thinking of myself I would have immediately just gotten off and sent Nico to the Knackery. That video was a life or death moment for Nico and of that I was very aware," Ryan said, later adding that his actions were done in the "best interests" of the animal. 

Equestrian Australia said it "takes matters of animal welfare very seriously" and that Ryan’s suspension will remain in place pending an investigation by the Equestrian Australia’s Integrity Unit. 

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Far-left House Democrats are hammering Israel for its Thursday night strikes on Iran.

Members of the House's progressive "Squad," already critical of Israel's war on Gaza, are denouncing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a "war criminal" after his government launched attacks on Tehran and surrounding areas.

"Israel has once again bombed Iran, a dangerous & reckless escalation. The war criminal Netanyahu wants to ignite an endless regional war & drag the US into it," Rep. Summer Lee, D-Pa., wrote on X. "Any politician who tries to help him betrays us all. The American people do not want this."

Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., claimed Israel would drag the U.S. into war in the Middle East.

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"The Israeli government bombing Iran is a dangerous escalation that could lead to regional war. War Criminal Netanyahu will do anything to maintain his grip on power," Tlaib wrote.

"We cannot let him drag our country into a war with Iran. Our government must stop funding and supporting this rogue genocidal regime."

Omar said, "Regardless of what [President Donald Trump] thinks, Israel knows America will do whatever they want and feels confident about their ability to get into war and have the American government back them up. Israel also knows they can always rely on getting America to protect and serve its needs."

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"Everyone in America should prepare themselves to either see their tax dollars being spent on weapon supplies to Israel or be dragged into war with Iran if this escalates," Omar said.

Washington and Tehran have been engaged in talks about a new Iran nuclear deal aimed at reining in the Islamic republic's uranium enrichment.

Trump posted on Truth Social Friday morning that Iran now had a "second chance" to come to the table after Israel's strikes.

Democrats, meanwhile, were more concerned.

Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he thought Israel's strikes, which it called preemptive, were a bid to scuttle those talks.

"It appears as if this was an attempt by Israel to scuttle Donald Trump's negotiations with Iran. Of course, our preferred pathway here to keep Iran from getting a nuclear weapon is diplomacy," Murphy said.

U.S. officials have been warning Iran not to respond to what Israel has said will be a multi-strike operation.