An irate carriage driver threw water at a German influencer and called her a ‘Nazi’ after she asked him to give his horse a drink.
Dramatic footage shows Xenia Denise, 31, standing next to the ’emaciated’ animal in Palma, Mallorca, as she begs the driver: ‘Just give him a drink.’
But the man reacts angrily, gets in her face and shouts: ‘Go to McDonald’s and eat hamburgers.’
The confrontation then escalates as the driver appears to put his hands in Xenia’s face before throwing water at her and calling her a ‘Nazi’.
Xenia later said she approached the driver because she thought his horse was thirsty and repeatedly asked him to give the animal some water.
She claimed that during parts of the encounter not seen in the footage, the man pointed up and down her body before walking behind her and shouting: “Look at that ass, she needs some McDonald’s.”
She later accused the driver of animal cruelty and urged people not to give him money, while sharing a petition calling for the practice to be stopped.
“There are still emaciated horses in Palma,” she wrote on social media. “Such s*** needs to be abolished.”
An irate carriage driver threw water at a German influencer and called her a ‘Nazi’ after she asked him to give his horse a drink
Dramatic footage shows Xenia Denise, 31, standing next to the emaciated horse in Palma, Mallorca, as she begs the driver: ‘Just give him a drink’
After pointing at Xenia’s body ‘from top to bottom’, the man reacts angrily, gets in her face and shouts: ‘Go to McDonald’s and eat hamburgers’
“There are still emaciated horses in Palma,” Xenia wrote on social media. ‘This kind of nonsense must be abolished’
The video has been viewed millions of times, with many flocking to the comments section to share their support.
One person wrote: ‘I really admire your strength to speak your mind and not back down. What this man is doing is absolutely unacceptable, those poor horses. Thank you so much for being brave and being such a great example for the rest of us.”
Another added: “You were very brave. The world needs more people with empathy for animals that suffer at the hands of unscrupulous people.”
A third said: ‘I hope you take it to the police. How can people be like that?’
Despite protests from animal activists, horses and donkeys are still forced to work in stifling heat at tourist hotspots across Europe.
The animals are often forced to exhaustion during the summer months, when temperatures can reach 40 degrees Celsius. Many appear malnourished and in poor condition.
In 2022, footage captured a horse collapsing while pulling a carriage full of tourists through Palma, Mallorca, in scorching heat.
Shocked onlookers urged the driver to give the distressed animal water and told the tourists to get out of the carriage.
The horse eventually got back up, although it is unknown whether it continued the journey.
Xenia accused the driver (not pictured) of animal cruelty and urged people not to give him money, as she shared a petition calling for the practice to be stopped
German fitness influencer Xenia’s video has been viewed millions of times, with many flocking to the comments section to share their support
Xenia is not the only animal lover who has confronted an owner with the mistreatment of working animals.
Last year, Dutch expat Joke Van der Post attacked a 19-year-old man she saw beating a donkey in Egypt.
Shocking footage showed the 47-year-old vet punching the animal’s handler before chasing him with a whip as he tried to flee.
The donkey was seen kicking out as it was repeatedly tied up while tied to a wall on the outskirts of Cairo.
Van der Post, who runs a veterinary practice called Good Karma Sanctuary, near the pyramids of Giza, ran up to the man, pinned him against a wall and punched him several times while shouting: “You think you’re bloody normal.”
As he tried to flee, she grabbed a whip from another donkey handler and chased him away.
The man later filed a complaint with police, accusing Van der Post of assault and claiming the viral images had caused him “psychological damage,” according to local media.
She was arrested and later released after the altercation.
The images sparked outrage online and renewed attention to the treatment of working animals in Egyptian tourist hotspots.
