A price highlight of 155,000 €, eight horses sold abroad, five horses over 50,000 €, an average price of 42,333 € and a total revenue of 889,000 €: these are the numbers of the second edition of Classical Sales Warendorf.
"We are delighted with these results and with the response we had from the clients. Every day, we were able to welcome customers who were looking for highly-talented horses who are also easy to handle and correctly trained. The auction proved that our philosophy was spot on", says a delighted Susanne Miesner, the brain behind the concept.
The price highlight of the carefully-selected, strong collection of 21 horses was a gelding who has already been successful at PSG level, Fats Domino. The Sandro Star offspring was a competitor at the Bundeschampionat and at the World Championships for Young Dressage Horses. "To find such rarities is not easy. The results of the second edition of the CSW Auction show that it is worth carrying on training horses and letting them prove themselves in the sport", auctioneer Volker Raulf summarised. "Despite the financial crisis, there still seems to be a market for elite horses who are also rideable and easy to handle".
The price highlight will move to Berlin, while the second most expensive horse, Barry White, was sold for 85,000 € to Rhineland. The Baden-Württemberg stallion by Metteur won his Körung under saddle in Southern Germany, was the 2009 Four-Year-Old Champion in Southern Germany and also qualified for the Bundeschampionat.
At 82,000 euro, third down on the price list, was the Westphalian five-year-old Ehrentanz offspring Johnny Cash, who has succesfully completed his 30-day test and won several tests for young horses.
The Hanoverian Aretha, a mare successful at Advanced Medium (Third) level and with superb bloodlines (Weltmeyer x Rubinstein) went for 68,000 €, while the five-year-old Natalie Cole (Florencio x Don Primero) was sold for 58,000 €.
"We would like to send out a strong signal with the Classical Sales Warendorf that the horses are trained correctly and in a way which fully respects their age": this was the primary aim of the two Pferdewirtschaftsmeister and organisers, Susanne Miesner and Fabian Scholz. This philosophy hit the mark with great interest on the part of customers – over 600 clients attended the auction at the Wietelshof. Several horses were sold to renowned training stables within Germany, five horses were bought by Swiss customers, and one horse each was sold to the UK, to the USA and to Austria. Kentucky is the destination for the Bavarian-branded Dressage Royal offspring Armstrong, who was secured for 46,000 € by an Austrian rider who has already qualified for the World Championships for Disabled Riders. "This customer arrived on the Monday before the auction, tried Armstrong and cancelled his flight home and rode him every single day. He was delighted when he finally won the bidding," reported Fabian Scholz.
While the organisers had travelled 4,000 kilometres to piece together the collection for the highly-acclaimed 2009 premiere, this time it was the other way around. "The interest on the part of owners and breeders was immense and many came to us to show off their horses," said Scholz. "In Germany we have so many excellent dressage youngsters. Yet many of them are put under pressure too early and that is, sadly, how many a promising career is over far too soon. We would like to show the opposite of that here and prove that training methods respectful of the horses' age are totally worth it, and that customers will recognise that," emphasised Miesner. Alongside the training, the horses were also allowed to relax in the paddock every day and, once a week, they were loose- jumped. Transparency was paramount: shortly before the start of the auction, a blood sample was taken from all of the horses and frozen.
After the second CSW-Auction, the organisers are going to take a pause for breath. Susanne Miesner explains: "We would like the Wietelshof to develop into a centre of excellence for training which conforms with the Richtlinien. Our brains are already spinning – besides the preparation of talented horses for competitions, the training of horses and riders up to the highest level and the sale of very good dressage horses, we would also like to offer clinics and seminars. And, to be honest, we would not like to rule out another CSW Auction this autumn."