success
ANDREAS HELGSTRAND HAS BUILT ON A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL CAREER AS A RIDER TO DEVELOP A BREEDING EMPIRE WHICH NOW EMPLOYS 130 PEOPLE AND NUMBERS 650 HORSES AROUND THE WORLD, AND IS RETURNING TO THE LIMELIGHT IN COMPETITION ONCE AGAIN. POLLY BRYAN FINDS OUT HOW HE MAKES IT WORK.
F
or Andreas Helgstrand and his dressage breeding and sales empire, 2020 was a year of two halves. urin the first half of last year, no one came here – it was very difficult, the orld and lympic medallist tells me from his famous sales centre, cocooned within the northernmost tip of Denmark, near Aalborg. “But then, around July, it all changed. Things started to open up, people were more brave when it came to moving around and suddenly, business was very, very good. e sold a lot of horses.
ne of those horses as vie, the no nine-year-old double world young horse champion by Don Juan De Hus who sold to ermany s isa ller in u ust, despite speculation that he might become a grand prix ride for ndreas. It s that business acumen and willingness to sell even his very best horses if the right buyer should come along that has propelled Andreas to success, and it doesn t surprise me that, despite the pandemic, the company managed to achieve one of its best years yet. In just 12 years, Helgstrand Dressage has grown to become
PHOTOS: MIA BACH – HELGSTRAND DRESSAGE AND RIDEHESTEN.COM
BUILDING ON
a true global empire: breeding, producing and selling elite dressage horses all over the world. Now, Andreas tells me, he employs more than 130 people, and has around 650 horses spread across his various centres, from foals to some of the orld s most famous stallions.
TOP RIGHT: ANDREAS HELGSTRAND HAS BUILT A DRESSAGE EMPIRE THAT SPANS THE GLOBE, AND HAS GAINED INVESTMENT FROM OUTSIDE THE EQUESTRIAN INDUSTRY. ABOVE AND BELOW: GESTUT FAMOS, HELGSTRAND DRESSAGE’S HEADQUARTERS IN GERMANY.
BRITISH DRESSAGE // Issue 5 2021 // 13
