The scheduled stallion show of stallion stations Lodbergen, Bonhomme and Helgstrand Dressage on 15 February 2015 will not take place in its initially announced form. After Bonhomme resisted to partner with Helgstrand on the show, the Swiss owner of Lodbergen has now decided not to show their horses together with Helgstrand's.
The Swiss owner of the Lodbergen stud farm has ordered managing director Urs Schweizer, who created the partnership with Helgstrand Dressage, to back out of the deal. On 9 February Bonhomme had already announced on its website its withdrawal from the stallion show as it did not wish to be affiliated in what they called Helgstrand's "questionable training techniques" by partnering in that stallion show.
In a press release issued on 14 February 2015, Lodbergen's Urs Schweizer announced the following: "The Swiss owner of Dressage Performance Centre Lodbergen has spoken against the co-operation. I deeply regret this decision as Andreas Helgstrand's stallions were a meaningful enrichment of our stallion collection for the breeders, but of course I have to accept and respect this decision."
Helgstrand Dressage also released a statement about the annulled co-operation.
"Gestüt Bonhomme does not state by whom, where and how these alleged “questionable training methods” are used. However, the wording appearing from the stud farm’s homepage implies that these training methods are used by Helgstrand Dressage A/S. (..) We are sad, astonished and disappointed that a German stud farm, which we do not know and vice versa, advocates vicious, false, unsympathetic and harmful allegations without any foundation. Owners nor representatives from Gestüt Bonhomme have never visited Helgstrand Dressage. However, like anyone else, they are more that welcome to visit us if they would like to see how we train our horses. We are proud of our breeding stallions and our horses in general; we are also proud of our daily work with our horses and we do not in any way consider Gestüt Bonhomme’s conduct and comments reasonable."
Helgstrand Dressage will now hold its German based stallion show in partnership with Stallion Station Klatte in Lastrup, Germany, on 21 February 2015.
"We are pleased that the German mare owners, who are about to choose a stallion for the upcoming breeding season, will have a chance to judge the quality from Denmark live and make their own judgement," Helgstrand added.
Related Link
Gestut Bonhomme Affirms Non-Affiliation with Helgstrand Dressage