Hilus MHB Comes Full Circle, Back in Denmark

Tue, 03/28/2023 - 10:09
Denmark
Mikaela Alderin-Danielsson and Hilus MHB at the 2018 World Young Horse Championships :: Photo © Astrid Appels

Annabella Pidgley's Hilus MBH has come full circle and is back at the Helgstrand sales yard where he started. 

Hilus MHB is an 11-year old Swedish warmblood gelding by Johnson out of Lietske (by Don Primero). He is bred by Madeleine Karlsson & Fredric Spång of Modern Horse Breeding (MHB).

Swedish WCYH team horse

The bay gelding was first trained and competed in Sweden by Mikaela Alderin-Danielsson. 

They made their show debut in September 2016. They participated in the team selection trial for the 2017 World Young Horse Championships but did not make the cut. However, several months later the pair won bronze in the 5-year old division at the 2017 Swedish Young Horse Championships.

In 2018 Mikaela and Hilus MHB were nominated on the Swedish team for the World Young Horse Championships in Ermelo, where they were 23rd in the consolation Finals. 

Cathrine Dufour

Dufour and Hilus MHB in 2020
The breeder and owner then sent Hilus to Helgstrand Dressage to be sold. The horse was put in training with Cathrine Dufour, who recommended it to her client, the Pidgleys.

The British family bought Hilus but left it in training with Dufour so she could produce the horse to FEI level. She made her national show debut at M-level in February 2020 in Vipperød and showed the horse a total of four times that year. 

Annabella Pidgley - Charlotte Dujardin

In the winter of 2020-2021 Hilus MHB moved to the United Kingdom to become Annabella Pidgley's junior riders's horse. 

She debuted him at Advanced Medium level at Widmer Equestrian centre in March 2021. In May they rode in their first and only CDI as a pair at Wellington Heckfield, placing fifth in the team test (69.040%) but they got eliminated in the individual test.  Annabella and Hilus continued on at national level while Sultan des Paluds became her top junior horse alongside Dibert L. Her last show on Hilus was in August 2021 at Mount Ballan.

Hilus was sent to Annabella's U.K. trainer Charlotte Dujardin to further establish him at small tour level. Dujardin premiered him in January 2022 at small tour level and rode him in one CDI at Wellington Heckfield where they claimed the Prix St Georges and the Intermediate I with scores of 74.706% and 73.992. Last summer they won the 2022 British Prix St Georges Champion's title.

Back to Denmark

Dujardin and Hilus at the 2022 CDI Wellington
Hilus MBH has now returned to Denmark to be resold. Eric Guardia Martinez has taken over the training.

Guardi rode Hilus to 68.728% and third place in the Intermediaire II at the CDN Aarhus on Sunday 26 March 2023.

Pidgley is currently campaigning as a senior Grand Prix rider with Gio and Vamos Amigos and has turned herself into a serious team contender for the 2023 European Championships in Riesenbeck, while she could also try for the European Young Riders Championships with Espe. 

Photos © Astrid Appels - Ridehesten - Kevin Sparrow

Related Links
Dujardin and Pidgley, Trainer and Student, Take First Titles at 2022 British Dressage Championships
Dujardin Sweeps the Board at 2022 CDI Wellington Heckfield
Scores: 2018 World Championships for Young Dressage Horses
Swedish Horses Selected for 2018 World Young Horse Championships
Swedish Selection Trial for 2017 World Young Horse Championships Begins in Stromsholm
Springbank II, Skywalker, Astoria, Tiger G, Zidney Win 2017 Swedish Young Horse Championships