Lars Petersen & Melissa Taylor and Helgstrand U.S.A. Go Separate Ways

Dressage

U.S.A

American Grand Prix riders Lars Petersen and Melissa Taylor will no longer be representing Helgstrand Dressage as their American liaisons. The U.S. duo will revert back to their own operation, Legacy Farm, as of 1 July 2026.

Windsome Farm

In January 2022 Petersen and Taylor signed with Helgstrand Dressage as the managers of the U.S. operation in Wellington, Florida.

The married couple had their own business, Legacy Farm, in Loxahatchee, Florida, but moved to Windsome Farm to oversee the full management of U.S. branch of the Danish horse dealership in both sales and training.

With Helgstrand U.S.A. collapsing in 2024, major changes happened after just two years into the American enterprise which was backed by the Waterland private equity fund. Windsome Farm sold for a major profit to Raquel Rizzuto's family; with Raquel now running a dressage stable named "Beauty Central" on the property.

The Helgstrand sales barn moved back to the original stable across the road, Eagle Tree Farm, which Helgstrand first rented in 2017.

Eagle Tree Farm

As of 2025 Petersen and Taylor came to realize that their core business lay in their long-time strength: training horses and riders for clients; more so than in the commercial selling of horses.

In an effort to ramp up sales in the U.S.A. Helgstrand appointed the Dutch born and Wellington based rider and horse dealer Micha Knol as their head of sales at the start of 2026.

Legacy Farm

On 30 April 2026 the couple announced they are reverting to their former business, Legacy Farm.

"Starting July 1, 2026, we are officially back and now accepting new clients year-round at Eagle Tree Farm in Wellington, Florida," Taylor stated. "We’re excited and look forward to building new relationships, doing what we’ve always done with a passion for riding, training horses, and developing strong horse-and-rider combinations."

Petersen on Helgstrand's Fanamour in 2025

Lars told Eurodressage that, "we both truly love to ride and train horses and sales were always a “bonus," not the full focus. I will continue to train up a few of Helgstrand's sales horses, but we are back on our own."

Petersen added to Eurodressage that, "we are incredibly grateful for the time we spent working alongside such a talented and dedicated team. It was a valuable experience, and we truly appreciate the opportunities and relationships that came from it.”