Danish dressage foals and horses are very popular among riders and breeders, and clearly people outside Denmark have discovered their obvious qualities. Therefore, numerous foals have been purchased by foreign customers at the auctions – without any problems up until now where an American buyer placed the winning bid on six foals without paying. The knockdown prices on these foals ranged from 11,000 to 27,000 euro
"We have never experienced anything like that before," says Casper Cassøe, General Manager at Danish Warmblood referring to the American buyer, Robert Lindholm from California who placed the winning bid on six foals at the NIS Auction, signed the contracts and repeatedly expressed his excitement about the acquisition, however, without paying the due amounts despite the fact that he received several reminders both in writing and by telephone.
The Nordic International Sales is held in cooperation between The Danish Warmblood Society, Helgstrand Dressage and the international event organiser Equitour Aalborg at Andreas Helgstrand’s impressive arena in Northern Jutland. The auction is given high attention internationally and there are buyers from many countries.
Casper Cassøe is very annoyed by the situation. This kind of problem has never occurred before at the auctions. His frustration is not least due to the six disappointed breeders who are now in limbo – not knowing whether their foals are sold.
"Prior to the auction, we had contact with the buyer on the phone, and he confirmed his interest by e-mail as well as he accepted the auction rules which were sent to him prior to the auction. The course of events has been just as all other transactions with foreign customers, except from the fact that the buyer did not pay the due amounts," Casper informed.
The Danish Warmblood secretariat investigated if Robert Lindholm has bought foals or horses at auctions held by other horse studbooks in Europe which has been confirmed. In these cases, the payment was also received very late or not at all.
"We cannot protect the breeders against people who act in bad faith in connection with our auctions. However I am very sorry on behalf of the breeders," says the General Manager of Danish Warmblood who has now handed over the case to lawyer Sophus Bøgeskov.
"In consultation with Sophus Bøgeskov we have adviced the breeders to annul the sales agreements due to the violation of the agreement. This will allow the breeders to sell the foals to someone else. The breeders have been invited to present the foals in question at the Danish Warmblood Elite Foal Auction on 25 August at Vilhelmsborg. We hope this press release helps warn against this buyer at other auctions. We are talking about very unreasonable behaviour and lack of respect for other people," concludes General Director of the Danish Warmblood Society, Casper Cassø.
-- DWB press release
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