THE FEI Tribunal this afternoon issued its Final Decision on the case opened by the FEI last November against Ireland's Kevin Thornton for the alleged abuse of the horse Flogas Sunset Cruise, which died at Cagnes-sur-Me, France, on October 10th 2016.

For his part, Kevin Thornton has consistently and vehemently denied all allegations that he had allegedly whipped the horse to death. The horse was owned by Ballina's Vinnie Duffy who, while devastated at the loss of his horse, expressed support for the young rider.

However, today, in a brief statement issued just before 6pm Irish time, the FEI found Kevin Thornton guilty of horse abuse, suspending him for four months from the date of the decision (June 6th 2017), and imposing a fine of CHF 5,000 and costs of CHF 5,000.

The FEI drew back from attributing reponsibility for the death of the horse to Thornton.

FEI STATEMENT

The FEI Tribunal determined that the athlete’s behaviour "went way beyond what could be considered an acceptable conduct towards a horse" and further concluded "with confidence that the horse has been whipped repeatedly, substantially and excessively and clearly more than the three times alleged by Mr Thornton."

The FEI stated in its testimony that “even if the horse had survived, a case of horse abuse would still have been opened by the FEI”.

As the autopsy did not confirm the cause of death, the FEI Tribunal clarified that it was “not deciding on the potential responsibility of Mr Thornton for the tragic death of the horse.”

"The FEI stood up for horse welfare by taking this case to the FEI Tribunal and given the severity of this incident, I truly would have expected a much tougher sanction”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said. “It was important to the FEI that the allegation of horse abuse was confirmed by the Tribunal. We had requested a two-year suspension, but the level of sanctions is at the discretion of the Tribunal and we respect its independence.”

The Decision can be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days from the date of notification (June 6th 2017).

The full FEI Final Decision document in the case can be found at the link below.