Danish Equestrian Federation reacts to protests after Carina Cassøe Krüth wins Danish Championship, Daniel Bachmann Andersen rebuffed

In the Grand Prix of the Danish Championships, Carina Cassøe Krüth and Heiline’s Danciera were just ahead of Daniel Bachmann Andersen and Flash Gordon. In the freestyle, the Olympic rider, who was banned shortly before the Paris 2024 Games due to a video that showed her training in an animal-welfare-relevant manner, scored 80.75%.

Daniel Bachmann Andersen: “I was totally overwhelmed by the situation”

Daniel Bachmann Andersen and the Oldenburg stallion Flash Gordon, who recently won the freestyle in Hagen, had to enter the arena 20 minutes after Cassøe Krüth. The intermediate results were over 80 percent at the end of the freestyle. But then Bachmann Andersen was rung off. The horse’s foam had turned slightly pink on the last line. Blood in his mouth, which led to his exclusion. “I was totally overwhelmed by the situation,” Bachmann Andersen told EQUI PAGES. “I’d never had anything like that before!” Looking back, the trainer is at a loss: “He had a small tear on the tip of his lower lip, I don’t know how it happened. I’ve analyzed everything over and over again, but I don’t know how it happened and what I should have done differently. It’s bitter, it was the best freestyle for us so far. But that’s the rules and that’s how it should be.”

View towards Aachen

Daniel Bachmann Andersen has always ridden the freestyle tour at the last three tournaments. Now he wants to ride the Grand Prix Special at the Nations Cup in Falsterbo in preparation for the World Championships in Aachen. “Flash Gordon is still a comparatively inexperienced horse. He can now handle the freestyle well, so now the special.”

Cathrine Laudrup-Dufour will be riding her new World Championship freestyle for the first time in Falsterbo. She did not compete at the Danish Championships.

Discussions about the winner

After Bachmann Andersen’s disqualification, the way was clear for Carina Cassøe Krüth and the 15-year-old Fürstenball daughter Heiline’s Danciera. They won their first Danish championship title. Second place went to Lone Bang Zindorff with Thranegaardens Rostov. Carina Cassøe Krüth’s long-time trainer Andreas Helgstrand was also at the start. With the nine-year-old mare Mississipie TC by Dream Boy, he came eighth in the freestyle with 70.7 percent.

Danish federation reacts to criticism of Carina Cassøe Krüth’s title

Because Carina Cassøe Krüth’s victory with Heiline’s Danciera was widely criticized, the Danish Equestrian Federation, Dansk Ride Forbund (DRF), made a statement in a press release. The criticism was mainly based on the fact that a convicted animal abuser, who has also worked with Jon D. Pedersen, can become Danish champion. The three-time Olympic rider Jon D. Pedersen had been dismissed by his employer because of beating videos broadcast by the Danish television station TV 2. Since the scandal surrounding the training methods at Helgstrand Dressage, the Danish public has been extremely sensitive when it comes to the sport of dressage.

Association refers to sentence served

In its statement, the Danish federation was keen to emphasize that Cassøe Krüth had admitted her wrongdoing and served her sentence. “The central principle of any legally sound procedure is that you cannot be punished indefinitely for the same offense. Carina Cassøe Krüth has gone through the disciplinary procedure, received her punishment and served the fixed period of suspension. (…) This does not mean that what happened should be forgotten. On the contrary, the incident should continue to serve as an opportunity to discuss the welfare of horses, training methods and the culture of equestrian sport. However, there is a difference between holding on to criticism and rejecting any possibility of rehabilitation.”

DRF: “great understanding for discussions and emotions”

The association also emphasizes that it understands all those who have problems with Cassøe Krüth’s participation and victory. “The case was serious, and that is precisely why we reacted.

However, the start was in accordance with the rules and complied with the special “protocol for the return of riders after a ban” adopted after the scandals in January 2025. Part of this protocol is a “dialog, the coordination of expectations and the evaluation of the framework conditions for the return of the individual rider”.

In addition, the DRF Executive Board refers to “new and significantly stricter sanction frameworks for violations of the association’s ethical guidelines”, which have been adopted and will come into force on June 15, 2026.