"He was just horsing around": Fans rally around Olympic Equestrian Shane Rose over mankini stunt at a fancy dress event  

Australian showjumper Shane Rose was cleared of wrongdoing by Equestrian Australia after investigating a complaint about him wearing a mankini last weekend during a fancy dress event at Wallaby Hill. The governing body said Rose had not been suspended.

Rose was stood down for competition during the investigation after many raised concerns about his outfit choice during the fancy dress event. As per Darren Gocher, the Equestrian Australia chief executive, they received complaints about his outfit and had an "obligation" to investigate them.

As quoted in The Guardian, Darren said:

"Shane has reflected on the incident, has apologized, and understands the high standards expected of everyone involved in our High Performance program. With the matter now resolved, Shane and his teammates are now looking forward to continuing to focus their attention on qualifying for Paris."

The 50-year-old Olympic medalist wore three outfits during the competition. He wore a gorilla suit, a Simpsons-inspired Duffman outfit, and a mankini, a swimwear for men popularized by Sacha Baren Cohen's iconic character Borat. The mankini raised eyeballs, and many raised concerns about the "unusual attire," The Guardian reported.

However, many members of the equestrian community were not pleased by Shane Rose's suspension. Netizens also showed solidarity towards the rider, and many changed their profile pictures to photos of Borat in support of Rose. X user @Phil_Staley wrote that Rose was just "horsing around," a reference from the animated sitcom Bojack Horseman:

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Fans stand in solidarity with Shane Rose over the mankini incident

Shane Rose received love and support from users on X and Facebook. They put up symbols showing support towards the rider and circulated a change.org petition to revoke his suspension.

One person also pointed out that this is a "brilliant marketing ploy" by Shane Rose, and Equestrian Australia should thank him for popularizing their event.

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Shane Rose apologized for hurting anyone's sentiments by wearing a mankini. He mentioned he wanted to provide "lighthearted entertainment" to those attending the event.

“I took part in this fancy dress competition with the aim of pro­viding lighthearted entertainment for those in attendance. If my costume/s offended anyone I am truly sorry as this was never my intention. I would like to apologise to anyone that I offended.”

He also spoke to ABC, saying it was an "unofficial event," and he did not want to "offend anyone." After he was cleared of charges, Rose thanked his fans through Facebook and expressed appreciation for the support.

"I'm pleased that the Equestrian Australian review has been completed and I have been reinstated and allowed to continue my campaign towards the Paris Olympics Games.

Shane also mentioned that it is time for him to focus on the Paris Olympic Games.

The support and interest in this story has been like nothing I have experienced before. Now it is time to focus on the job ahead and try to get Australian Equestrian in the media for a more positive reason, an Olympic Gold Medal."

He won team-eventing silver medals at the 2008 and 2020 Olympics and a bronze medal in 2016. He will represent Australia in the Paris Olympics this summer.