The revelation of the conditions in Andreas Helgstrand’s stable comes in a documentary on Danish TV2. It shows, among other things, how the horses in the large sales stable were subjected to coercion and harsh treatment, where several horses had unhealed wounds from spurs.
Helgstrand’s company, Helgstrand Dressage, is owned by the same group that also owns Patrik Kittel’s horse grooming business, Outstanding Stables. Kittel tells DN that his company was bought out by the Global Equestrian Group about a year and a half ago.
After that, Patrik Kittel himself has ridden and trained horses in several other companies in the group, including Helgstrand Dressage.
– When I have been there with customers, I have never seen anything strange, or untidy riding. If I had done that, I would have reported it immediately, says Kittel to DN.
The 47-year-old points out, however, that he has had no other insight into Helgstrand’s operations.
– We work as two separate companies. I can only be responsible for what Outstanding Stables does, and how I train and educate my horses.
Requires
Going forward, Kittel believes that he will make demands on his parent company.
– I will of course have a proper dialogue with them, and of course I will demand that things improve, and that that improvement is clear. I want to see a development within the group, and that includes proper and continuous follow-up, he says and adds:
– Everyone has to examine and research themselves, and by that I don’t just mean the elite but everyone who works with horses. Pointing the finger at others, I think, will not provide a long-term solution.