Blue Hors Withdraws Horses from Dressage Competition

Blue Hors Stud, one of the world’s leading stallion stations located in Martofte, Denmark, has announced it will withdraw all its horses from dressage competition while the country strives to solidify a new framework to ensure horse welfare in sport.

Denmark has been leading the way to champion horse welfare during a particularly tumultuous time for dressage as it increasingly comes under the public microscope. Recent developments include introducing new welfare legislation, making nosebands optional and allowing bitless bridles at the lower levels after the Danish government ‘lost patience’ with how slowly equestrian governing bodies were reacting.

A message on the Blue Hors Facebook page (translated from Danish) reads:

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“Blue Hors breaks event participation: Danish dressage sport is in a breaking time, when horse welfare, training methods and animal ethics are up for debate. The development is taking place from a deeply serious background, and it is decisive for the future of the sport.

The debate has started a long-awaited effort to make clearer guidelines for the ethical correct use of horses in sport. The initiative is part of the Dansk Riding Association’s new strategy “Sammen om Hestewelfærd” [Together for Horse Welfare], which also focuses on better education and changed competition ratings.

We support the work of the association, so that together we can create a better and clearer framework for the future – in terms of horses, riders and sport.

As long as there is so much ambiguity as to what the correct ethical use of horses is, we have temporarily chosen to pause Blue Hors’s participation in dressage events. Firstly in three months after which we assess whether a greater common understanding of horse ethics and sporting guidelines has been achieved, or whether we should extend the break from the event further.

The decision has no impact on Blue Hors’s daily activities and we will continue to settle stallion shows on the 29th March as scheduled.”

Blue Hors Stud is owned by Danish billionaire Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, former president and CEO of The Lego Group. The farm has been behind the successful careers of some of Denmark’s top dressage riders and has produced a number of Olympic horses. The farm stands six stallions including Don Schufro and Zack, sire of international grand prix horses Glock’s Zonik and Blue Hors Zepter, the latter ridden by Skodborg Merrald Nanna on the Danish silver-medal winning team at the Paris Olympics.