Carina Cassoe Kruth Appeals DRF's Eight Month Suspension

Dressage

Denmark

Danish Grand Prix team rider Carina Cassoe Kruth will be appealing the DRF board's decision to exclude her from the Danish national team and squad for eight months.

This decision came two weeks after the Danish Equestrian Federation's (DRF) Disciplinary Committee had decided not to suspend Kruth but fine her 670 euro for whipping Heiline's Danciera based on a training video dating February 2022.

Whipping Video

The whipping video was sent to the DRF on Sunday evening 7 July, the evening before the Olympic nomination deadline. It led to Nadja Aaboe Sloth being nominated as Olympic team reserve and not Kruth.

On 1 August the DRF disciplinary committee ruled that the rider had broken the applicable rules when she used a whip against her horse. Based on her clean record, the 2.5 year old date of the video, and the lack of motivation from the person who supplied the video, the disciplinary committee fined her 670 euro and gave no suspension.

The social backlash to the fine was enormous and the news got picked up various mainstream newspapers. On 9 August the video was leaked to the Danish publication Nordjyske and it led to more outrage.

On 14 August the DRF announced that "the board of directors has made a decision to exclude Carina Cassøe Krüth from the DRF's squad and the national team in dressage."

Eight Months

The time frame of her exclusion was initially not announced.

Ridehesten posted that the DRF's board asked the DRF's Appeal Committee to look into the matter and on 28 August it was decided that it is going to be an eight month suspension.

The official document states: "Based on a concrete and individual assessment of the overall circumstances of the case, the Appeal Committee finds that the Disciplinary Committee's decision of 31 July 2024 must be upheld, however with the amendment that the Respondent is also sentenced to a quarantine, after which the Respondent is excluded from all competitions and activities under the Danish Riding Association for a period of 8 months. The quarantine runs from the date of the Appeal Committee's decision until 28 April 2025.

The document is signed by the members of the Appeal Committee: Henrik Tofte Olesen, Pernille Nordskov, Lars Langhoff and Hanni Toosbuy Kasprzak as well as lawyer and chairman of the committee, Carsten Lorentzen.

Appeal

Via the press release agency Ritzau, it became known that Cassoe Kruth is appealing this decision.

"I was fined and punished for my misconduct by the Danish Equestrian Federation, and I have never tried to deny the incident that took place more than two and a half years ago. As I have previously stated, I am very sorry for the situation that is happening on the video sequence from 2022. It is a clear mistake and it is not representative of the way I have trained or train horses. This has also been my message in the dialogue I have set up with the DRF," says Carina Cassøe Krüth.

In the press release it was revealed that the "exclusion" / suspension is for eight months.

"We are dealing with a federation which will not stand by its own decision, but which, due to outside pressure, raises a penalty which the federation had originally set at a fine. Of course mistakes must have consequences, and therefore I fully understood the original decision. But I find it very difficult to understand that a single mistake, which I am very sorry for and which dates back several years, now has such major consequences for my future, not just on the Danish national team - but in my work as a professional rider , with a ban from competing for eight months. Therefore, I will also appeal the decision to DIF's Appellate Body," said Carina Cassøe Krüth.

"The Easy Solution"

Cassoe Kruth makes the following concluding statement:

"I would like to emphasize that I welcome the debate on the horses' welfare, but I do not like that the legal certainty of the riders stands and falls with a federation that does not dare to stand by its own decisions. There is a broad recognition in the industry that we have not done things well enough. Therefore, we must also stand together to develop in the right direction, and a lot has already happened since 2022. The answer, on the other hand, is not to create nervousness among the riders by choosing the easy solution, which I think the federation has done in my case."