ARTICLE TRANSLATION 1 For a month, ‘Operation X’ has had a journalist employed as a horse groomer at Helgstrand Dressage in North Jutland. Meanwhile, she filmed with a hidden camera.
Experts and professionals are shocked by the treatment of the horses, but according to Andreas Helgstrand, a horse must be “reprimanded a little”.
After the publication of the article, Andreas Helgstrand returned with a new statement, which can be read at the bottom of the article. The article has been updated with additional information about why Andreas Helgstrand did not want to be interviewed in the Operation X documentary.
The Danish dressage rider Andreas Helgstrand has earned over a billion kroner by building up a business on training and selling exclusive dressage horses.
“I see horses suffering. This is animal cruelty of the worst kind”
Heidi Nielsen, equine veterinarian
According to several professionals and experts, mistreatment and violence against the horses takes place in connection with the training at Helgstrand’s training center in North Jutland.
Andreas Helgstrand did not want the hidden recordings to see the light of day, so he tried to stop the documentary by filing a lawsuit against TV 2.
Only after two court cases can TV 2 now – in the words of the court – show what the horse billionaire does not want to appear. It involves whip marks, spur wounds and controversial training methods.
- I see horses that suffer. It is animal abuse of the worst kind, says Heidi Nielsen, who is a horse veterinarian, after seeing a large number of hidden recordings of the training.
The training method rollkur, as shown in the footage, faces harsh criticism from both Danish and international experts.
A money machine
For a month, ‘Operation X’ has had a journalist employed as a horse groomer at Helgstrand Dressage in North Jutland. Meanwhile, she filmed with a hidden camera.
On the spot, they train and sell, according to Helgstrand himself, some of the best and finest horses for dressage. And the market is not just Denmark – it is the whole world. 90 percent of Helgstrand’s horses go abroad, he says himself.
Andreas Helgstrand also has equestrian students. On Helgstrand Dressage’s website it appears that “Andreas is a role model for many young and ambitious riders”.
But the question is whether the horses pay a price for the success.
It really is a money machine
John Randskov, dressage rider and honorary member of the Danish Riding Instructor Association
All the experts who have seen TV 2’s hidden recordings believe that Helgstrand Dressage compromises with animal welfare in order to achieve quick results. Among other things, the riders use the spurs, the whip and the sliding reins too hard and too much, so that the horses are left with wounds and whip marks.
You have to hit pretty hard to do this. It is violent, states Heidi Nielsen after seeing pictures of the marks on the horses, which according to her originate from whipping
‘Operation X’ has shown the recordings to a number of experts and professionals, who among other things have seen several unedited clips – including a 25-minute long clip of the training. They find that there is a harsh and unethical treatment of the horses, which are subjected to continuous pressure. - It really is a money machine. It is not on the horse’s terms. It is absolutely clear, says John Randskov, who is a dressage rider and honorary member of the Danish Riding Instructor Association. Violence, not riding TV 2’s journalist doesn’t manage to stay long at Helgstrand Dressage before she hears that several horses have wounds and marks. Already on the second day of his employment, TV 2’s journalist has a conversation with a horse keeper who tells about a rider who is so diligent with the whip that the horse often gets stripes.
Other horse keepers also talk about harsh treatment of the horses.
- There is someone like Dafetti, he gets smacked - he gets beaten, says a horse keeper on the hidden recordings.
A horse keeper shows a picture of stripe marks, and TV 2’s journalist also films similar marks on a horse himself. The experts believe that the marks originate from excessive use of the whip.
TV 2’s journalist also discovers spur wounds, which, according to the employees, occur when the horses are rescued harshly with spurs.
This means that the piece of metal that the riders have on the back of their boots has been kicked so hard into the horse that it has torn a hole in the horse’s skin.
This is violence. It’s not riding
John Randskov, rider and riding instructor
Susan Kjærgaard, a riding instructor and former show jumper on the national team, calls it a “completely unreasonable and unfair” treatment of the horses.
Ulcers rarely occur because there is a quick cut. This happens through systematic and repeated scratching, pressure and pain, until eventually a hole appears in the skin, she says.
The riders pound the spurs violently into the horse
Heidi Nielsen is shocked that the riders continue to pound the spurs into the horse, even though it is clear that it is reacting restlessly and showing signs of pain.
It’s unpleasant to look at. Unfortunately, horses have no sound.
If it had been dogs we did this to, it would have sounded terrible in that riding hall, says the equine vet.
The horse shows signs of conflict behaviour, and then the rider kicks the spur towards the horse.
John Randskov, who is a rider and long-time riding instructor, is also shocked by the way the riders treat the horses.
This is violence. It’s not riding, he states.
