Daniel and Donna Silver participated in Intermediare II today. They made an impressive performance and received 72% for the ride. The elegant equipage finished as winner of the class. Tomorrow, Daniel and Donna Silver will start in the Grand Prix class.

Today, Thomas and Sir Donnerhall II had their debut in kür in Prix St. George. They delivered a superb ride and the stallion, who is only 7 years old, finished with an impressive score of 75.8%, leaving all the competitors behind.

Tomorrow, which is the last day in Herning this year, Donna Silver and Daniel will start in the Grand Prix, Thomas and Sir Donnerhall II will start in the Prix St. George, and Sezuan and Andreas will start in the gaits class. So far, riders from Helgstrand Dressage have been on top of the podium in all dressage classes, which is obviously a very satisfying result. 

Click here to watch Sir Donnerhall II in Prix St. George Kür

Today was the moment of truth for the 3-year-old stallion candidates, as the licensing commission selected the young stallions who had obtain approval for further evaluation in Danish Warmblood. Four of our 3-year-old young stallions got through the eye of the needle; Franklin by Ampere, Bambolero by Bordeaux, Danciano by Dancier and Vincent Marinello by Blue Hors Zack. Vincent Marinello was in addition invited to the awarding of prizes tomorrow, and therefore, he still stands a chance of winning the title as this year's 3-year-old champion stallion.

The championship for young horses finished today, and Delicious and Andrea finished 9th with a score of 837 points.

Sezuan is in a league of his own and really stands out among the young stallions at this year's stallion licensing. Friday afternoon, he entered arena B completely unimpressed, showing his exceptional gaits in front of the judges and the audience. Once again, the judges awarded Sezuan impressive scores: Trot 10, walk 9.5, canter 10, rideability 10, capacity 10, resulting in a total score of 9.90 points.

Eclectisch was also shown in this class and even though he was affected by the intense atmosphere in the arena; he managed to show his abilities quite well, scoring e.g. 9.5 for trot and receiving a total score of 8.40 points. 

This year's stallion licensing began Thursday morning with the presentation of all 3-year-old stallions on hard surface and later on, presentation of the older stallions. All our stallions made a good impression and were full of energy and vigour. Sezuan, Eclectisch and Qasanova were shown under rider for the licensing commission, and the three young stallions were quite unimpressed by the surroundings and did really well in front of the judges. Our fantastic Sezuan obtained the final licensing and so did Eclectisch, and they are, therefore, both on to the gaits classes. Consequently, they have the possibility of winning the title as this year's champion stallion on Sunday. Qasanova has to be presented again for the licensing commission, before we know whether he will receive his licensing.

Andrea and Delicious were the first of our two equipages in this year's championship for young horses. They made an almost flawless performance and obtained e.g. 9 for walk and trot, placing 9th before Friday's ride with a test rider. Daniel and Zidane made a great performance as well, however, the impressive surroundings affected Zidane a little, and they are placing 13th, so far.

Today, the day starts with the test rider test and the first round of the championship for young horses. Andrea and Delicious will start today, whereas Daniel and Zidane will not start again until tomorrow Saturday. The young stallions will be shown in longe in front of the judges, and later on during the afternoon, Sezuan and Eclectisch will participate in the gaits class. Anna and Boney M will participate in the MB-exercise class. The day ends with appearance in this year's gala show.

Sezuan

We have been waiting anxiously for the first foal by Sezuan. On March 1, his first foal was born. Below, you will see a few pictures.

One of the biggest events of the year is approaching within a few days; Danish Warmblood's Stallion Licensing in Herning. We are obviously quite busy with the last preparations before heading towards Herning on Wednesday. Among other things, pictures and videos of some of the stallions elected for the licensing have been prepared. We hope you will take a few minutes to enjoy the pictures of Sezuan, Tørveslettens Fifty-fifty, Eclectisch, Peterborgs Qasanova, Floricello and Vincent Marinello. 

More than a year ago, the mare Donna Unique was sold through Helgstrand Dressage A/S to Arlette and Edwin Kohl, Gestüt Peterhof, Germany.

As many people will remember, the mare won the world championship for 6-year-old horses with Andreas at the WCYH in Verden in 2010 scoring e.g. 10 for trot.

Lately, a number of articles regarding the contents of the agreement and the circumstances in connection with the transaction have been published in various Danish and international medias. These articles are based on an article in a Dutch internet media.

In order to summarise comments to the article, Helgstrand Dressage A/S and Andreas Helgstrand have made the following statement to the Dutch media and other medias asking for interviews or statements in regards to the article:

"Helgstrand Dressage A/S deals with a lot of domestic and international riders, horse breeders and horse owners on high level every day. 

We take pride in treating our business partners to the best of our ability and in absolute commercial confidentiality.

This also applies in the case of Donna Unique, which was a horse that I actually did not want to sell because she was my personal ace as dressage star for the future.

Every aspect of the eventual transaction was covered by written agreements negotiated between parties all represented by their own lawyers. 

Helgstrand Dressage A/S respects and fulfills these agreements.

Andreas Helgstrand"

We are very upset to learn that information from a specific and confidential commercial agreement regarding a very special horse has ended up in public, in this way and without the knowledge of any of the parties involved in the transaction.

It is very important for us to emphasise that the parties entered the agreement with legal assistance on all sides, and all aspects of the agreement have been fully met.

We sincerely hope that all parties in this transaction are satisfied and that Donna Unique will obtain the success in future, which this mare's special talent deserves.

Helgstrand Dressage has managed to acquire a part in the superior champion stallion from the Dutch KWPN society. Nico Witte, Leida Collins-Strijk and Helgstrand Dressage, therefore, own the stallion now. The stallion, now named Franklin, is by Ampere with Ferro as damsire. Franklin will arrive at Møgelmosegaard on February 26 and will be presented at Danish Warmblood's stallion show in Herning in March. After the stallion show, semen from Franklin will be available to breeders and the stallion will continue its training at Helgstrand Dressage.

Another stallion, which was also licensed in KWPN at the same time as Franklin, is Fennovanck PP by Uphill with Münchausen as damsire. Fennovanck PP was acquired by Helgstrand Dressage last autumn together with Stall Poppelaars, and it has just arrived at Møgelmosegaard. Fennovanck will also be presented at the Danish Warmblood licensing in March.

The black beauty Danciano, which is the same age as Franklin and Fennovanck, will also be presented at the Danish Warmblood licensing in Herning. Danciano by Dancier and with Rotspon as damsire was licensed in the German Hannoveranian society last autumn and was later on acquired at an auction together with Schockemöhle. 

We will present a total of six 3-year-old stallions at this year's stallion show in Herning. Besides the three stallions mentioned above, we have the German bred stallion Bambolero by Bordeaux with Tin Rocco as damsire, the two Danish bred stallions Tørveslettens Fifty-Fifty by Fürstenball with Stedinger as damsire and Vincent Marnello by Blue Hors Zack and with Romancier as damsire. In addition, we will also present the 4-year-old Danish bred stallion Peterborg Qasanova by Quaterback and with Calypso II as damsire. 

We are extremely proud to have a collection of high-quality young stallions and we are looking forward to presenting them at the licensing in Denmark. 

Franklin at the licensing in Holland

At the national show in Herning this weekend, some of the riders from Helgstrand Dressage participated in the two highest classes. Swedish Caroline Bonde, who has been training full time with her horses at Helgstrand Dressage since August 2012, made great performances both days, and she was also the rider on top of the podium after both classes. Saturday, in Intermediare II, Caroline and Deela Mae obtained 69.64%. Thomas and Cardeur finished third with a score of 67.63%, and Philine and Artemis finished fourth with 67.01%. Sunday, in the Grand Prix class, Caroline and Deela Mae obtained an impressive score of 71.63% and won the class, and once again, Thomas and Cardeur finished third with 68.51%, Andrea and Don Lorean placed fourth with 65.24%.

Helgstrand Dresage started the show on Friday with three victories out of three. The impressive style continued Saturday and Sunday.

Daniel and Donna Silver outright winner of Grand Prix

The first class on Saturday was MB2, Anna and Star Agent did really well in this class and finished second with a score of 71.05%. In Grand Prix, Daniel and Donna Silver won with superiority, scoring 72.27%. Caroline Bonde and Deela Mae placed third with 69.07%. Andrea and Don Lorean placed fifth with 65.60%. The last class Saturday was MA2. Once again, the riders from Helgstrand Dressage were among the placed riders. Thomas and Sir Donnerhall II finished on a shared second place, scoring 70.87%, Daniel and Delaunay placed fourth with 70.52%, Marianne and Sitana placed fifth with 69.21% and Anna and N.O.H's Daijoubo placed sixth with 68.86%.

Thomas and Sir Donnerhall II won Prix St. George with 76.84%

Sunday was another great day with fantastic results. Anna and Star Agent made a great performance again and finished second with 72.08% in MB3. In Grand Prix Special, Daniel and Donna Silver were totally superior, winning the class with impressive 74.65%. Caroline Bonde and Deela Mae placed third with 69.30%. The last class at the show was Prix St. George, Helgstrand Dressage had three 7-year-old horses in the class, and they all obtained placings. Thomas and Sir Donnerhall II made a spectacular performance and received a fantastic score: 76.84%, and won the class. Marianne and Sitana obtained a shared third place, scoring 71.57%, Daniel and Delaunay was right behind with 71.22%. Anna and N.O.H's Daijoubo placed sixth with 70.00%.

All in all a terrific weekend with numerous impressive rides.