Belgian Grand Prix rider Vicky Smits has been reunited with her career making horse Daianira van de Helle. In 2011 the duo was a trailblazer for Belgian Dressage, winning highly contested competitions in Munster, Bremen and Braunschweig, but a legal dispute amongst the owners pulled the combination apart.
The Hanoverian mare Daianira van de Helle is bred by Dorit Kothe in Germany and is by Dream of Glory out of the 2013 Hanoverian Mare of the Year Ria Grande (by Ritual). The mare sold as a youngster to Paul Mais of Stud farm De Helle in Belgium. He later on sold shares in the ownership to Vicky's father Rudi Smits and a friend of the family, Mr. van Kerckhoven.
At the 2004 World Young Horse Championships in Verden, Smits and Dainira made history by finishing sixth in the finals, the second best placing ever achieved by a Belgian pair at the time. At the 2005 World Championships they were 13th in the Finals.
The pair made the transition to Grand Prix level in 2009. In 2010 they won the CDI Bremen Grand Prix with 71.500% and in 2011 they added victories at the CDI Bremen (70.447%) and Braunschweig (70.532%) on top of that. An injury in the spring of 2011 kept them from team selection for the 2011 European Championships. They returned in 2012 and tried for an Olympic berth by competing at the CDI-W Amsterdam (67.468%), CDI Vidauban (69.851%) and CDIO Rotterdam (71.362%).
However, a dispute with co-owner Paul Mais ended the sport career of Daianira van de Helle. Mais wanted to sell the mare after a Dutch party had shown big interest to buy her. The owners ended up in court and the mare was no longer allowed to compete because of those proceedings. In 2014 Daianira was retired from sport and forced to be returned to Mais' stud farm.
The legal woes between the owners took five years to be resolved. In early 2017 the parties settled and the Smits family was able to buy the remaining ownership share from Mais for a reduced price. The 18-year old Daianira van de Helle has now returned to Vicky Smits' stable in Belsele, Belgium.
"We are so incredibly happy to have her back in our midst and for the rest of her life. She will never leave again," a beaming Smits told Eurodressage. "We have been suing for years and never gave up. We were finally able to buy her back."
Smits, who in 2015 told Eurodessage that the legal battle scarred her for life, now finally sees light at the end of the tunnel. Alongside getting Daianira back and putting her in foal to Negro, she has also separated from her husband, Belgian show jumper Christoph Vanderhasselt.
"It was a very heavy period for me, but now we're going for it," said Vicky optimistically. The talented rider is thrilled with the first, successful embryo transfer. "We have just flushed the first embryo and placed it in the surrogate mare. It looks ok, but we'll have to wait a bit."
Related Links
Eurodressage Photo Database: Daianira van de Helle
Daianira van de Helle's Sport Career Ended
Vicky Smits-Vanderhasselt Continues String of Success with Another Victory at 2011 CDI Braunschweig
Photo Report: Smits-Vanderhasselt and Daianira van de Helle Supreme at 2011 CDN Munster
Vicky Smits and Daianira Make Successful Transition to Grand Prix
Triumph for Belgium, Vicky Smits and Daianira van de Helle Finishing Sixth