Matt Frost's Helga Retired from Competition Sport

Dressage

Great Britain

Matt Frost's internationally competed Grand Prix ride Helga has been retired from high performance sport. She is 14 years old.

Helga is a 2012 born Dutch warmblood mare by Chagall D&R out of Ciska II (by Samba Hit II x Haarlem). She is bred by R. Koelma.

Life in the U.K.

The liver chestnut mare moved from The Netherlands to Germany to Britain. She was presented in hand at the KWPN mare inspection in Bronneger in June 2015. In 2016 she was shown by Swedish Jenny Johansson at a local show in Neuenkirchen, Germany, before moving to the U.K. to Jessica Dunn's barn.

Dunn made her debut on Helga in October 2016 and produced her to medium level. They were second at the 2017 British Young Horse Championships in the 5-year old division. Their last show was the British Nationals in 2018 at Elementary level.

Owned by Nicola Keenan, Helga moved in training with Matt Forst who first showed her in February 2019. They reached small tour level in 2020 and debuted internationally in Hartpury in July 2021, finishing fourth in the Prix St Georges, second in the Inter I and third in the Inter I Kur. They were also fourth in the PSG Kur to Music at the 2021 British Small Tour Championships. A year later they were 15th at the 2022 British Grand Prix Championships.

They made their international Grand Prix debut in Addington in March 2023 to score 66.087% in the Grand Prix. A two-year break from showing followed and they returned to the arena in May 2025. The pair did one more international, in May 2026 in Hickstead, where they posted 62.500% in the Grand Prix and 67.715% in the Kur.

Early Retirement

Matt Frost announced that Helga has been retired from competition sport. The mare last showed at Aintree for her final dance on 18 October 2026.

"What better place to bow out than Aintree, where this incredible partnership has won the Inter I Freestyle, Inter II and Grand Prix Freestyle," said Frost. "At 14 years old, Helga, owned by Matt and the Keenan family, now heads for a well deserved retirement. Known as “Princess” at home, we’re sure she’ll be treated like royalty."

Frost said that she won't get a full retirement yet, but stay active by being a schoolmistress for some students.