Last Sunday, Danish Warmblood Region 3 held their foal show. Two Sezuan offspring outshined the competitors. The mare foal Noomi Melody was nominated the best mare foal of the day; it obtained e.g. three 10's. The stallion foal Silverstone Melody finished first among the stallions, and was nominated the best stallion foal of the day. In addition, both foals were selected for the Danish Warmblood Elite show in September.

Andreas and Akeem have been nominated for the national team, representing Denmark at the European Championship in Herning in August. Thomas and Nintendo have been selected as reserve for the national team, and they will, therefore, be part of the team before and during the Championship. Thomas and Nintendo will also be pre-rider at the Championship. Andreas' student Anna Kasprzak has been nominated for the national team as well. We are looking forward to an exciting month in August, as Helgstrand Dressage will be represented at the WCYH in Verden and the European Championship in Herning.

At the European Championship for Juniors and Young riders during the weekend, two horses acquired from Helgstrand Dressage were outstanding. Norwegian Alexandra Andresen and Belamour obtained a silver medal in the individual class, and in the Kür class they won a bronze medal. Congratulations to Alexandra and her family on these fantastic results.

Cathrine Dufour and Atterupgaards Cassidy were absolutely superb in the Championship for Young riders and finished with two gold medals. Congratulations to Cathrine and her family on these impressive results.

The huge competition Falsterbo Horseshow is now over, it has been a very eventful show with fantastic results; both horses and riders from Helgstrand Dressage have managed to finish at the top of the scoreboards.

Scandinavian Open for 6-year-old horses

Andreas and Pas Partout participated in the championship for 6-year-olds. In the preliminary class, the equipage made a great performance and received 72.542%, resulting in 2nd place in the class. In the finals the next day, the 10 best equipages from the preliminary class were competing for victory in the finals. Once again, Pas Partout did really well, and they received 72.333%, resulting in another 2nd place and a mere 0.096 from 1st place. We are now looking forward to the WCYH in Verden, where Andreas and Pas Partout will be representing Denmark and Danish Warmblood.

Scandinavian Open for 7-year-old horses

In the class for 7-year-old horses, Anna and N.O.H's Daijoubo were among the competing equipages; the class was a Prix St. George. The first day, Anna made a nice and safe performance with Daijoubo, which resulted in 69.035% and a third place - and a ticket for the finals on Friday. In the finals, Anna rode a little more daringly, taking some chances. Fortunately, it paid off as they finished with a great score of 71.316%, advancing one place to an impressive 2nd place in the championship for 7-year-olds.

World Dressage Masters Grand Prix

Thomas and Nintendo started the 5-star Grand Prix on Friday. They made a great performance and obtained 71.233%, placing 4th. The 8 best equipages were on to the Grand Prix Kür on Saturday. In the Kür class, the equipage once again showed high quality and finished 4th with a great score of 75.675%, however, only 0.275% from third place in the class. 

CDI 3-star Grand Prix

In the 3-star Grand Prix, Helgstrand Dressage was also represented by excellent riders as several students started this class. Morgan Barbancon and Heimliche Liebe finished 2nd with a nice score of 68.809%, Caroline Bonde and Deela Mae finished right after as third, scoring 67.723%. In the Grand Prix Kür on Sunday, the success continued; Morgan and Heimliche Liebe made a top-level performance, winning the class with 72.85%, Caroline and Deela Mae were right behind again with 71.525%. Finally, Jessica Greelish and Lancaster placed 7th with 68.15%.

Riders Challenge

Thomas had been invited to participate in a competition with three other riders, who had also competed in the 5-star Grand Prix class. The riders were divided into two teams, each with two riders and one horse. The riders only had two minutes to familiarise themselves with the unknown horse, before riding the test; a Prix St. George in front of three international judges. Thomas won the first round, scoring 69.868% against the Dutch rider Aat Van Essen. The finals involved another unknown horse. Thomas was the first rider and he obtained 65.526%, the second rider in the finals was the Dutch rider Katja Gevers; she obtained 63.158% and consequently, Thomas won this class, which was quite different from regular competitions, but a fun and difficult challenge.

Future Elite Young Riders

In addition to all the other classes, a Young Riders Tournament also took place. Alva Lander and the horse Herbie Hancock Graftebjerg won the Young Rider classes on both Friday and Sunday. Alva bought the horse from Helgstrand Dressage last year. Congratulations to Alva on these great victories.

Today, Andreas and Floricello once again made an exceptional performance in the finals for 5-year-olds at Scandinavian Open in Falsterbo. They won the class with an outstanding score of 82.346%. Floricello is now going home to Møgelmosegaard on a well-deserved vacation before the WCYH in Verden in a month.

Today, Andreas and Floricello were the undisputed winners of the first round of Scandinavian Open for 5-year-old horses. Their flawless performance was awarded with 79.6%. As a result, they are on to the finals on Thursday. 

Floricello

At the Nordic Baltic Championships for seniors, Caroline Bonde won an individual silver medal with her mare Deela Mae. Caroline has had her horses at Helgstrand Dressage for a year now. According to tradition at Helgstrand Dressage, a medal is "rewarded" with a dip in the huge lake, and therefore, Caroline had a quick dip in the lake in the nice weather yesterday. Congratulations to Caroline on her medal.

Last weekend, our master rider student Jens went to the national show in Hjallerup. Friday night, Jens and Uno participated in the Prix St. George and finished second, scoring 67.41%. Saturday, they started the ICY young rider class and won the class with a great score of 69.38%.

The next show in the calendar for Team Helgstrand is Falsterbo Horseshow this week. Andreas and Anna will start the championship classes, and Thomas will start the Grand Prix. Andreas already left early Monday morning with his two horses: Floricello and Pas Partout.

This weekend, Daniel and Pas Partout were in Middelfart for the final selection for WCYH in Verden. The riders rode tests in front of the judges both Saturday and Sunday. Daniel and Pas Partout did really well both days, and they have now been selected to represent Denmark and Danish Warmblood at the World Championship for Young Horses in Verden.

The huge international show in Aachen has now ended and it has been a very eventful show. Andreas and Akeem's first start on Thursday was the Grand Prix, which was also a team competition. That start did not exactly go as expected. In the 10-minute warm-up arena, Akeem got terrified and unfortunately this fright continued to affect him throughout the test. Consequently, his anxiety resulted in some very expensive faults in the test. They achieved 68.426%; however, fortunately they went on to the Grand Prix Special on Saturday. The three other Danish riders made fantastic performances and the team finished second.

In the Grand Prix Special on Saturday, Akeem was back in his usual style. Andreas and Akeem made a very nice performance with lots of highlights and the judges awarded them 73.958%. As a result they were in the lead for quite some time, and they finished 7th in the class, and therefore, they were on to the Kür on Sunday. Andreas' student Anna Kasprzak finished second in the class with a very impressive score of 77.358%.

Saturday night in Intermediare I, Andreas and Polka Hit were the last equipage in the class. They made a superb and almost flawless test, which resulted in a score of 74.447% and they finished third in the class.

Sunday was the last competition day with Grand Prix Kür. Akeem did even better today, and the great performance earned them 79.175%. Due to this score they advanced two places compared to yesterday and finished 5th in the class. 

Now, the horses and team Helgstrand are heading towards Møgelmosegaard after a great competition week with outstanding results.