30 riders, 350 horses per day - that IS a factory, nothing else. That’s 20 minutes per horse max! How is this not institutionalized?

@DressageHub

6 ай бұрын

That's a factory.

Knew him personly when he was 19 and he forced me to wip My pony.. I was 12 and he was My teacher - he was always like this.. Evil😢

@piaogilvie8463

6 ай бұрын

So sorry that you at 12 experienced that! My daughter was riding at a pony club. Two of the club's dogs came running and the teacher kicked one of the dogs That was my daughter's last day there. To me riding must be educational. Learning how to respectfully, kindly and correctly behave around animals. When an animal is kicked, what's next? Or whipped like your pony.

@pernillerosa5943

6 ай бұрын

Thank you❤ - Aandeas did a lot more evil things and I Will never forget it the rest of My life😢 He was young but not a good person and He's been doing this for a long long time. He Will never stop.

@pernillerosa5943

6 ай бұрын

Jeg red på hold på finstrupgård rideskole som barn fra jeg var 7 år til jeg blev 12 år med Andreas helgstrand som ridelære - han var under uddannelse som berider med Søren valentin som mentor. Andreas har råbt pisk den pisk den pisk den - spark den spark den - så mange gange imens Andreas var helt blå i hovedet af vrede.. Min første springtime med min første store hest miss Sophie - gik vildt godt de første 30 min. Så løb hun vedsiden af springet og var tæt på at løbe Andreas ned - så stillede han sig helt hen til springets side og strakte armene ud så han fyldte mere og bad mig ride på springet igen.. Denne gang stoppede Sophie op og så skulle jeg piske og sparke alt hvad jeg kunne og bommen væltede ned da hendes forpart kom imod springet og så løb hun næsten igennem Andreas igen - så bad han mig ride på springet igen imens han trak bommen fri fra springet og drejede rundt om sig selv og klaskede Sophie bagi med bommen lige da jeg var foran - så tog hun et elevator hop lige op i luften og landede oveni dobbelt springet med hendes mave og vi styrtede begge to og så lå vi der med brækket bomme og da Sophie ville rejse sig - kom jeg i klemme mellem hest og bom. Det var min sidste ridetime med Andreas (og på den rideskole). Jeg solgte Sophie til min hestepasser og jeg var 12 år da der skete. Han har altid gået ind for pisk og spark - idag er jeg næsten 40 år.. Og jeg kommer til at leve med min samvittighed og indre ar resten af livet. Han har virkelig ødelagt ridning for mig for altid. Han lyver når han siger han er imod pisk og spark. Han lyver så meget😢

@s.j.achenbach1637

6 ай бұрын

😢

@lise1255

6 ай бұрын

That's right, everyone that knows him, knows he is lying.

Helgstrand calls the mistreatment of the horses 'mistakes'. In the undercover program he told the journalist, that horses need to be told, or they dont understand '. So, what he calls mistakes, seems to me like something he believes to be necessary in order to train the horses. I don't think for a moment, that this man can be trusted to change his ways.

@ranmakuro

6 ай бұрын

Of course not. This is a shit show. And he knows pretty well that no court would blame him. Same as with Beerbaum this year, the footage is so low in quality that you can not tell doubtfree who is sitting on the horses and after all he can say: It wasn't me, I didn't ride any of the horses in that footage. And nobody can prove him wrong. This is business as usual. They know what they do and they still prefer to do it, they protect themselves and have enough money to buy lawyers after all.

Yep I call BS on him. His is the head of his organization and he sets the tone and culture. He is claiming that he had no idea what was going on and trying to subtly shift blame to others. So I went back in time to look through these same gross issues published about him personally in the past. Articles in 2014 and 2015 published with pictures. He is the poster child for what is wrong with the sport. He is always mortified. Just a well funded hack in my opinion. We would do well not to accept him at his word that they are now changed.

Underpayed and overworked employees. He cheats when Selling horses and He treats animals like slaves. I live 2 km from the factory and im in shook.

@AOPALINSKI

6 ай бұрын

❤

The woman interviewing him was great, she did not let him slide on that slip up that 'he didn't know there was were issues until today, but also has been working on issues for 10 months'. Thank you so much for keeping us in the loop on this docu!! I'm honestly disgusted at this backtracking and gaslighting that Andreas is doing, he knew exactly what was going on and he has been caught. I hope the rest start falling like dominoes, maybe then we can get this sport on track.

@danioneill1799

6 ай бұрын

She was excellent and was quick to pull him up

The Dutch veterinarian said it best when she said: it’s a factory. It’s impossible to be doing things to a high welfare standard where money is the driving force.

They have 30 riders, all doing 11-12 rides per day. There is NO WAY a rider can crank through that many horses a day EFFECTIVELY. Trying to understand the horse, how it moves, where it's strengths and weaknesses are and what it is saying TAKES TIME AND THOUGHTFULNESS. Creating a partnership and getting to know a horse is what will give top level results!

@sarahwagland1559

6 ай бұрын

Thank you for doing the maths for me. Absolutely ridiculous that anyone can ride that many horses every day and give them the individual attention and time they need. It's nothing but a factory. Slaughter houses probably treat livestock better. It sounds like the staff are being abused too and then it becomes a vicious circle.

@piaogilvie8463

6 ай бұрын

He's running a factory

@janets6474

6 ай бұрын

Well said. That's not effective riding but "factory" riding. How many horses AND people have suffered for their abuse?😢

@blablablagfzrgf6238

6 ай бұрын

anecdotal af, but according to one of the comments on google maps he also pays absolute bullsh*t wages, which wouldn't actually surprise me at all

@ranmakuro

6 ай бұрын

@@blablablagfzrgf6238 Most grooms and riders don't earn much. I had a friend (professional in horse care / riding) and she told me, that her boyfriend thought about getting a higher qualification so he might earn more as a rider / trainer. But his company said, if he did that, they would prefer to fire him, because they don't want to pay more. That's just a small stable, only working in their local area, but still ...

I love the reporter. she's giving him no space to worm out of being responsible. Her response to his little "i had no idea until now" was fabulous, making him backtrack

Slippery like an eel. Ofcourse he knows it happened. after all, he himself uses rollkur on the horses, During competition horses that bleed from the mouth. Horse with a bid so tight that the tongue got blue. For him, it is about training horses in the shortest possible time so that he can make money, so the method is subordinate. All the riders in the recordings used rollkur and were "diligent" with the spurs. He has become rich with blood money on the poor horses behalf. He should never be allowed to compete again and I hope people will stop buying horses from him. No animal deserves such cruelty as they do at Helgstrand Dressage.

The only thing that irritates me is all the other top riders who are no better than him are escaping being named. I could name plenty of them as i'm sure Dressge hub can. This operation x will no doubt improve a lot of horses welfare as the riders will no doubt not dare to do it so much . ( i hope)

Shameful behavior! He needs a new career away from animals

@aka_Tatjana

6 ай бұрын

He doesn't deserve any career at all!

@gemmawhitaker5400

6 ай бұрын

ya, a career in prison

The culture at these places comes from the top, always. I can't even find the words to express my disgust towards this man and his business practices. If you have anything, anything at all to do with horses then make their welfare, their wellbeing central to every single thing you do with them, every day. I hope that Helgstrand reads these comments and it dawns on him that the world has judged him, and millions of good horse people have found him an unfit person to be anywhere close to any horse, ever again.

When all we desire is greatness goodness goes out of the window.

Omg they have to do routine checks for whip *bruises*? Like, “it’s ok to smack them, just don’t leave a bruise”. These things are so staggeringly awful… and clearly institutionalized. The idea that you would even hire ANYONE for whom “hard enough to leave a bruise” is a possibility you need to police. 😏😱. Is it really not possible to just have a zero tolerance policy for kicks and smacks? Like most people have about teachers of their kids? How is it that these “elite” riders and trainers and horses have to use violence instead of actual skill…

@kellygalvin7775

6 ай бұрын

Only every 2 weeks 😂 what a joke

I'm so sick of people lying. But why does anyone think he would be faced with such allegations and come clean? The bigger things are, the easier it is for corruption and wrongdoing to be involved. This reporter is saying much of the things we've talked about here at Dressage Hub and have wanted to say ourselves. Good for her! However, most of us know this is NOT unique to the Dutch. It's quite common in Germany as well - as evidenced by the riding techniques used and the horrible tests horses are producing. And what of the judges who cant see whats happening here and dont care? What do they know about whats going on? Great post, Dressage Hub! 😊 Happy Thanksgiving and maybe some horses can now be rescued from this hell on earth.

@coldwhitespring5004

6 ай бұрын

Yeah it's common. Now Helgstrand becomes the scapegoat, and rightfully so, but there is so much more abuse that needs to be addressed here than what happens in his stables.

Always a favorite classic excuse top guys never seem to know what's going on under their roof/business etc bs

HORSE ABUSE 😢

OVER 100 blinks. 1:45

Disgusting! How can you seriously state that you ride 350 horses per day and it is not a factory, but a stable??? It´s only about making money, and not at all about the horses! I cannot express how disgusted I am! This leaves me speechless! They have to exclude Helgstrand definitely from any dressage tournaments, even on the national level!

@Surfing1709

6 ай бұрын

Well it is not only him. He just got caught. He is one from far many beyond your imagination.

Someone tries to save his ass... Let's hope it's not gonna work. Karma, have a look at this sneaky guy, please!

This operation has been running in this way because they have clients that don’t notice or care… I hope there are MANY take aways from this documentary.

I LOVE Denmark but this year this is the second HUGE animal ( horse ) abuse case in the country.. A Breeder were found having hundres of horses - many starved to death. This was no farmer or horder - this was a renowend stud with top top horses. i am not sure if they were thoroughbreds or sport horses.. they found mass graves of horses .some of the horses stood on 1 metre of manure!!! other were barey hanging together with severe injuries.. some horses was laying dead for weeks in their boxes.. the abuse was so severe i was in total shock when i saw it.The sneak had some " good" horses that he used as a facade.. .sadly the owner knew a lot of rich and infleuntial people so the abuse was reported MANY years ago but nothing happened. Thanks to the persistemt animals lovers that protested outside the horse farm for a long long tome.. wrote letters, , talked to the press - .. THEY did it!! And finally - now the rest of the horses were put up for sale this week.

Andreas Helgstrand banned from Danish teams until Ist Jan 2025...........The DEF Danish Federation has put a time limit on what was originaly an unspecified time. This means Helgstrand will not be in the running for the Danish team for 2024 Olympics in Paris. This to me is just not good enough, and I hope the FEI will no take this as sufficient punishment and bans him forever. He needs to at the very least be subjected to a psychiatric assessment and possibly banned from coming anywhere near a horse for his lifetime. How this pans out in Denmark with their welfare societies and police response we will have to see.

Like he didn’t know what was going on. 😡

Great to see his face when she exposed him! You can tell she prepared this thoroughly.

Unfortunately when money is involved people like him forget that the horse is a living breathing being worthy so much better than that. They don't care. Beyond belief that they think that is appropriate training for a horse.

@fyren8

6 ай бұрын

He only Think about money. He sold 51 percent stake to an investor group for 800 million danish kroner. He only Got that rich by beating the horses

And nothing has changed

I call B.s. on him

His body language was so pinned down, he's had some serious media training. However, we all know he's lying!

When the Head of an Organisation has no Control over his employers, so he says, he has not the abilities for this Job and has to quit. I hope the Investors share this fact.

tvang, tvang, twang = coercion, coercion, coercion. Horses left with bloody spur wounds in their stalls, so that they can “think about it.” #Helgstrand #abuse has to end.

He knows exactly what’s going on. He should be closed down! Thats atrocious!

Gaslightning !

When you see all the riders ride the same way using the same "tools" how can that not be described as a culture?

@DressageHub

6 ай бұрын

Create point

It is this kind of place that gives hore people a bad name all over. I am glad he is being called to account and hope the culture of abuse is stopped.

Omg that is not a training centre but a production line, its obvious the employees are too scared to even utter a word or they will lose their prestigious job with their ruler, this guy has to be blind Freddy to not see what the hell is going on, he & his training centre & stables should be shut down as a deterrent to all others that are practising this. It should be made compulsory for animal welfare to call into all training centres indiscriminately many times a year.

Puppy mill comes to mind

Abuse, pure and simple. Absolutely unacceptable treatment of these beautiful animals. The whole damned sport needs investigating!

He's a disgrace. And he's a liar. He knew exactly the abuse going on. He was one of the perpetrators.

He loves getting his money from those horses but clearly does NOT treat them well!!!!! YOU DO NOT DESERVE TO HAVE HORSES!!!!!

Did he say this now? Because he also just said that they have improved their horse welfare after the recordings in January....when he didn't know what they showed before now?

Shame on you...I hope the Ridersworlds answer is extremly hard...the answer of Public worldwide for you must be NO applaus but many booed around the world when you are riding

Isn’t this the same guy who was disqualified for making his horse bleed during a show? Yeah….im sure he’s heartbroken over the treatment of the horses 🙄

He can't have not known!! And 350x horses between 30x Riders and 30x Grooms is ridiculous, there's no way 1x rider can do a brilliant job on 11x horses a day! It's possible with Racehorses, as it doesn't take long to work them, but Dressage horses at different levels of training will take alot of time. Clearly just pumping the horses through at speed, with no real care or training. All about making money 💸💰💵🐴💰

You might believe him, if it wasn't Andreas Helgstrand speaking. He is famous for mistreating horses IN PUBLIC. Everyone can imagine what he does to his horses in his private arena when he thinks nobody is watching. Pretending he is just the boss of a company, unfortunately not aware of the misbehavior of his employees is ridiculous. I don't believe one word he says. Plus: Still no empathy for the horses. It's just about his business. They check all horses regularly for injuries? Why? You check every horse DAILY if it has injuries before you ride. This guy makes me sick. And in my opinion he's a psychopath.

What’s going on in Denmark ?

@DressageHub

5 ай бұрын

The same thing that's going on everywhere....

His operation is run exactly as he wants it to be run, and the only changes he will make is what is necessary to keep up appearances. People are going to continue to pay ridiculous amounts of money for his horses so he will continue to do what has been working so well for him.

Andreas tørre hans mishandlingen af sine heste på hans medarbejder !

We want to have sugar cubes!

As a dane myself I am absolutely disgusted by this guy

what a lyer, he makes me feel sick, all these cruel "rider". It haa nothing to do with art

😝😝😝😝😝

The guy is garbage and he knows it.

QUICK. WORLD 🌎 😢