From all of us at Helgstrand Dressage, we wish you a happy New Year.
There is no doubt that 2023 has been a very special year. While we are proud of the sporting results our riders and horses have achieved, our year has also been challenging, evolving and educational.
2023 has sparked an important debate about horse welfare in the sport. With TV 2's hidden recordings at our facilities, it became clear that we have mistakes to correct and continuously will develop our animal welfare.
Since the recordings were made almost a year ago, Helgstrand Dressage has not stood still. We have continuously improved our practices and our focus on the well-being of our horses.
In addition to tightening our guidelines, upgrading our training programs, and strengthening our self-monitoring of our horses every two weeks, we have also installed new cameras in our riding halls. All of this is in our efforts to achieve the highest level of welfare for our horses and the best conditions for our employees.
We have appreciated the subsequent debate – both in the general public, but especially within the industry. We believe there is much we can learn from each other, and we would therefore like to continue the conversation and together become more knowledgeable about how we can meet the challenges.
At Helgstrand Dressage, we are not done with our work yet. We can still evolve and become even better in our handling and training of our horses. Therefore, we are working hard on several new initiatives in 2024. We look forward to sharing more about them, as our ambitions for our shared sport go beyond what we have achieved this year.
2023 has been a year of action. The same will be true for 2024. We would like to thank all of you for the great collaboration – and to those with whom we have had meaningful and important conversations.
Many New Year's greetings from
Helgstrand Dressage
