What we see in TV 2’s shootings is making a big impression on us. This is not right. It’s about poor riding and the treatment of horses, which we don’t want to see at Helgstrand Dressage. It does not meet our guidelines and values and is not an expression of our culture. We need to fix that.

We can see that there has been a shift in our value set and it is our responsibility as management to ensure that our training and treatment of horses is done in the best possible manner. We can see that in the programs hasn’t happened. We can and should do better.

That’s why we take the content of the programs very seriously. The recordings are from January 2023 and we have – both before the recordings and since – thoroughly reviewed our work processes and introduced a wide range of measures and points of improvement for our animal welfare, business management and conditions for our employees.

Our Culture of Training

It’s central to our work that our horses feel well. We train elite dressage horses who, together with their riders, must be able to perform at the highest level. We can only succeed if our horses thrive and there is trust between rider and horse. Elite sports are demanding. But a sports horse, just like other athletes, must feel good to deliver results, and therefore we must always be mindful of the way we train our horses.

We train here at Helgstrand Dressage approximately 350 horses a day and ride 10.000 trips a month.

Like the experts, we can also see that in some cases there is conflict behavior in the programs. It is unacceptable and we are reacting to it.

Our Methods of Training

We have 60 professional riders and grooms who work daily with the best education for our horses. And it is our responsibility to ensure that our guidelines are adhered to – and that the training methods are used correctly and the horse’s health and wellbeing are always top priority.

We can see that some of our training equipment was misused during the filming. It should guide and correct the horse, but they must never be used as a punishment. We would like to state that rolling cures and overconsumption of whips or zides are not accepted with us. The same goes for covering cream-colored trace marks. Therefore, we have made it clear that no form of coloured cream is accepted with us. We experience that our horses can sometimes have sores in their mouths. It could be from them sucking themselves in the mouth or tongue or cutting their teeth. That being said, no horse should be ridden with wounds that require care and tranquility. We have since introduced a thorough check of our horses every 14. day in which our stable managers review the horses physical and mental condition.

We Need to Ensure a Good Culture

At Helgstrand Dressage we have chosen not to participate in the Operation X programs about us, as we are against TV 2’s use of hidden footage. But there can be no doubt that we take the content very seriously.
Therefore, we have listened to the criticism and have already made a number of improvements in our business. You can read more about them here:

https://bit.ly/helgstranddressage_forbedringspunkter
English version: https://bit.ly/helgstrand_operationx