Douglas Lindelöw’s top horse Casello has ended in the middle of a big legal battle. The 12-year-old gelding by Casall x Carolus I came to Lindelöw as a 3-year-old, and has been developed to the very highest level of the sport by the young Swedish rider. This year the two were a part of Sweden’s team at the European Championships in Aachen, and they also competed at the World Cup Finals in Las Vegas. For the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, they are one of the Swedes’ hottest candidates. Now, their Rio-dream is hanging in the air.

As co-owners of the horse, the Lindelöw-family currently find themselves fighting a desperate legal battle to keep Casello. Earlier this year, one of the other co-owners of the horse made a legal request to the city court in order to sell him – but in late November the proceedings were put on hold. 

Now the negotiations between the parties have completely stagnated, and despite several offers from the Lindelöw-family to buy the co-owner out - no solution has been found.

“We have been trying to secure the horse for Douglas, but our offers are constantly rejected even though they are significant. Now, Douglas has been refused to compete Casello - making the matters even worse. To say that the situation around Casello is chaotic, would be to put it mildly – it looks like this will drag out. It is a desperate situation to be in,” says Agnetha Lindelöw to World of Showjumping. “There is a huge disagreement with the co-owner in question, we are far apart at this point. They will not accept our offers, and we will not accept that the horse is sold to someone else,” Lindelöw closes off. 

Text © World of Showjumping // Picture © Jenny Abrahamsson