Andreas’ interest in horse was inspired by his father, Ulf, a passionate rider. Andreas started competing in jumping classes, and made his international debut at Brøndbyhallen in 1991.

In 1992, his family bought the former Dragør- St. Magleby Riding Club, Maglebyhallen, where my family still lives and keeps their horses.

Andreas commenced his apprenticeshiop in 1994 at Søren Vallentin in the Sport Riding Club Aalborg.

“During my apprenticeship, I rode Grand Prix in dressage as well as jumping on horses which I had trained myself. In jumping, I rode the Lagano son, Lazio, at the Danish Championship, Nordic Championship and European Championship in jumping for young riders. Concurrently, I also trained the studhorse, Vemmetofte Rainman, for Grand Prix and was e.g. placed at the Danish Championship. In addition, I had several starts, placements and victories on a number of horses at district, national and elite competitions in jumping as well as dressage, and I rode several successful championships.”

After completing the master rider exam in 2000, Andreas was employed at the Van Olst stables in The Netherlands.

“In the autumn of 2000, I went to Stall-K in Kongsberg in Norway, from where I operated my own business with training of horses, teaching and horse trading. Concurrently, I trained the studhorse, Zalmiak Firfod, for Grand Prix level. While staying in Norway, I also trained the Norwegian national dressage team for junior and young riders.”

“In April 2002, I was employed as head master rider at Blue Hors, where I rode the very young horses and trained them for the championships and I also rode and trained the older horses for start in Grand Prix at international top level. In this connection, I rode Blue Hors Cavan at the Olympics in Athens in 2004 and Blue Hors Don Schufro in 2008 in Hong Kong, where I won the bronze medal for teams together with Anne Van Olst and Natalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein. Another absolute highlight of this period is my World Championship silver medal in 2006 on Blue Hors Matiné. Apart from being responsible for training and sports, I participated in the breeding work of the stud farm by preparing and riding the stallions.”

Andreas established his own dealing yard and training centre in 2008.

www.helgstranddressage.com