The first edition of the CSW Auction, held in Warendorf-Milte on 11th April 2009, proved to be an overwhelming success. The quality of the horses proposed was clearly high enough to defy the current financial crisis with buyers not afraid of investing substantial sums of money in top-quality horses who had visibly undergone a respectful and model training regime.
Photo courtesy: Julia Wentscher
Price highlight of the auction was the six-year-old Monét (Royal Diamond x Plaisir d’Amour), a grey Oldenburg gelding working at M level and already successful in the competition arena. He was sold for 150,000 euros to a large dressage stable in Rhineland.
Second most expensive horse was Karajan (by Falkestern x Wanderbursch), an experienced seven-year-old Hanoverian gelding already schooling S-level movements. He was purchased for 120,000 euros by a buyer from Oldenburg.
The gifted four-year-old mare Die Callas (Dimaggio x Regazzoni), who bewitched the audience during the morning presentation, was the bargain of the day at 60,000 euros: she was sold to a buyer from Hamburg, but will remain in training with auction rider Dirk Pohlmann, who will aim at competing her at the Bundeschampionate in September.
The cheapest horse, four-year-old Hanoverian gelding Händel (Florencio x Eldorado), went for 13,000 euros to buyers from Holland, who also purchased the talented three-year-old Benjamin Britten (Dimaggio x Rohdiamant) for 40,000 euros.
Three ponies were sold at the auction: two dressage ponies and a special guest. The top-priced pony was the five-year-old dressage stallion Beethoven (Depardieu x Brilliant), a minute masterpiece ready to compete at L level, who went for 25,000 euros. The delightful Welsh section A mare Afrika was presented at the auction for the noblest of reasons: the entire proceedings from her sale went to the Fördercentrum Mensch & Pferd, a charity which provides training for slightly-disabled young people and educates them, over the course of two years, to become professional grooms – therefore offering them a bright future in life. Much to the audience’s delight, the bidding for Afrika was fiercely contested between Gestüt Vorwerk and Stallion Stallion Beckmann, and the hammer finally went down, in favour of the latter, at 2,000 euros – a generous sum which will certainly facilitate the charitable endeavours of the Bielefeld-based organisation.
During the auction, all of the horses were presented in-hand, in order to avoid placing undue stress on their young minds. However, the horses had been shown under saddle, individually or in pairs, during the morning presentation with Susanne Miesner commenting not only on age, bloodlines, and level of each, but also narrating fascinating anecdotes about them, which, in turn, revealed how careful and individualised the daily training of these horses had been, and how intimately they were known by the auction team. The horses were available for a final try-out after the presentation, and some customers even took the opportunity of trying their choice out on the gallop track: this reiterates the outstanding rideability and true mental relaxation of these auction horses.
By analysing the spread of prices, an important trend can be noted: it was not the most promising, biggest-moving youngsters who attracted the greatest bids, but, rather, the older, more established ones who have been under the saddle for longer. This, undoubtedly, testifies that the two older horses have been enhanced by the employment of correct and classical training methods, as opposed to being rendered worse by incorrect riding. Truly, they were excellent examples of textbook training.
A total of 22 horses was presented at the auction (19 horses and 3 ponies). Total turnover was 861,000 euros; the average price for a dressage horse was just over 43,000 euros, while the average price for a dressage pony was 19,000 euros.
by Selene Scarsi