Some happy and sad news from Denmark. First the good news. It's baby time. Martin Riisbjerg Klavsen, the former breeding director at Blue Hors, and his wide Julie Kruse Hansen, have welcomed their first child on 5 May 2026. Julie gave birth to a baby girl named Thilde. Congratulations.
Danish dressage horse breeder Maiken Bjørnmose Hansen has passed away at the age of 38. His top breeding product was grey mare Bjørnmose's Blitz Baby, who was awarded a silver breeder's medal in 2025 and qualified for the 2026 Danish Warmblood 5-YPO Championship in Herning with Cecilie Hedegaard in the saddle. Blitz Baby is a third generation mare owned by Maiken Bjørnmose Hansen and her husband Mikkel Cederberg. Maiken bought the mare's grand dam, the Oldenburg mare Blue Ruby (by Rubinero x Insider) to build her breeding programme on. As a nurse with many years of experience in psychiatry, she was respected in her profession for her skill and kindness. Ridehesten reported that Maiken lived with a serious illness that only her closest friends knew about because she didn't let it control her life until it finally took it from her at a far too young age.
Danish junior rider Rikke Schoubye Johansen injured herself at the end of April in a fall off a horse. She sustained a concussion and was not able to ride fully for two weeks. It didn't keep her from competing her top horse Baunehojens Carpaccio in a show and score almost 75% on the first weekend of May.
More babies born. In Germany British born Philly Roberts, now Giesselmann, gave birth to a girl four weeks ago. Philly and her husband Christian Gießelmann (brother of former international Grand Prix rider Jan Dirk Giesselmann) named her Lotte.
According to Dutch newspaper De Nieuwe Ster Maastricht, Dutch dressage horse owner Marc Haine (50) passed away. Haine's sister Angelique Finn posted a message on social media that Haine stepped out of life, stating "may your soul rest in peace..i hope you are free" but then removed the message shortly afterwards. Haine originally ran a roofing business which went bankrupt. According to the Dutch newspaper, Haine fled to Austria leaving 36 people behind to whom he owes 336,000 euro, as well as 437,000 euro in unpaid taxes. Aside from the roofing business Haine was closely involved in the dressage world as a stallion owner and magnetic pulse therapist. He briefly operated a dressage stable in Mönchengladbach before relocating to Austria. The executor of the bankruptcy is now trying to get official confirmation of Haine's passing, although the family sent out a notice that Haine passed on 2 May.
The Russian equestrian federation (FKS) announced that Boris Maliev passed away. He was a rider, co-founder of the Konakovskie Stables equestrian center, and President of the Tver regional chapter of the Russian Equestrian Federation. "He made an immeasurable contribution to the development of equestrian sports in Russia and the Tver Region, supporting athletes, competitions, and the region's sports community. Thanks to his initiatives, the Konakovskie Stables equestrian center hosted the most important events of the season, including national championships, competitions, and cups in various equestrian disciplines," FKS Russia posted.