Henri Ruoste is getting used to the idea that his horse, injured in strange circumstances, will not be able to return to the races. The investigation into the events grinds to a halt, and there is no sale value anymore.
When Henry Ruoste 2021 represented Finland in the field riding at the Tokyo Olympic Games, he had a horse under him with which he could aim for success both athletically and financially.
In Tokyo, the performance was unsuccessful, but at the European Championships of the same year, Ruoste and the gelding Kontestro Db, born in 2010, succeeded excellently and reached 6th place. Last year, the horse was taken off the list of horses for sale so that Ruoste could use it to reach the Olympic Games in Paris next summer – and also succeed in the games.
Having become one of the main challengers of the sport’s world elite, the trainer-rider operating in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, knew that Kontestro’s sales value would increase very significantly at the same time.
– At some point, the offer would have come that you couldn’t say no to. In the world, two to five million euros have been paid for the best school horses. That’s because there are so few of them for sale. A large part of their owners don’t even need that kind of money, Ruoste said on Monday from his place in the city of Menden.
At the core of his business is also raising the value of horses and selling them, as well as the gelding’s other 50% owner, a Belgian horse industry investor.
The visions collapsed
Almost to the day, 15 months ago, in Aachen, Germany, which is one of the world’s most famous riding locations, a series of events started that shattered all visions, at the end of which Kontestro Db will hardly ever be able to compete again. The horse no longer has a sale value.
Kontestro Db has been out of training for more than a year due to his health, and Ruoste is already beginning to submit to the idea of the gelding spending the rest of his life as a pasture horse.
– Of course, you have to remember that you can’t lose money that you haven’t received yet. In other words, the realizable loss is what has been invested in Kontestro, says Ruoste, who has spent tens of thousands of euros on the horse’s veterinary costs alone since July of last year, even according to a conservative estimate.
What the hell happened to Kontestro Db on the race trip in the guest stable in Aachen? The episode has previously been reported in Finland by Hevoseruhitu and Helsingin Sanomat. The horse returned from Aachen to his home stable on July 3, 2022.
Two days after that, a bump appeared on the left side of the neck, which eventually developed into a vasculitis that led to a venous occlusion. In all probability, the horse has received some kind of injection in the guest stable in Aachen. It is unlikely to be an accident, as there were no signs of such, such as scratches, around the bang.
Due to venous blockage, blood returns from the head of a horse under very heavy load in competition only from the right side of the head.
Sabotage interest?
Ruoste has been thinking about it for over a year now and trying to find out if someone had an interest in sabotaging his horse. This type of action is not unique in the history of horse racing, but Ruoste does not know of any exemplary cases in dressage.
Visitors to the guarded guest stable in Aachen were registered both in and out, but no answers to the questions have been found in the records or the incomplete camera recordings. Rust does not want to accuse anyone without evidence. He’s just deeply confused. The Turku resident has also been in contact with the International Equestrian Federation FEI. He has hardly received any answers. There has been no police investigation in the case.
– I’m not really sure if there is some kind of investigation going on in the FEI or even if there is any desire to do one at all.
Liability issues are also open.
– The FEI can always try to go under the protection of the Disclaimer. In the clause, it is stated that things happen at the competitions at the participants’ own risk. But it is a different matter whether the clause applies to such situations as well.
Kontestro Db cannot be trained or ridden at the moment because the horse feels very strong discomfort when it should move in the athlete’s saddle.
– It’s because the vein blockage is located very high up at the junction of the head and neck. The horse expresses its discomfort very clearly, says Ruoste, who runs a stable of 36 horses in Germany.
A week before the interview, Ruoste had used the Kontestro in the MRI machine of the Hannover University Animal Hospital.
Finland currently does not have a place in the Olympic Games in Paris. They must be achieved by the end of the current year. The most likely Finnish representative in Paris is Emma Kanervaif Finland reaches the place.