A group of horse enthusiasts around Uwe Schmitz (Frankonia Eurobau AG) was willing to pay Euro 150,000 for the life-size LEGO-horse that was put up for auction at Horses & Dreams meet Denmark on the occasion of the Charity Concert of the Big Band of the German Armed Forces Bundeswehr – thanks to the social commitment of the Organizer, the proceeds will be given to Charity GmbH “Riding against Hunger”.
The charity initiative “Riding against Hunger” was launched in 2012 by Ullrich Kasselmann (Performance Sales International GmbH) and publisher Gudrun Bauer (Bauer Media Group). A considerable amount of overall revenue was announced before the start of Horses & Dreams meets Denmark: “We have reached a mark of more than 1.5 million Euro,” said the co-initiator. The money was given to projects of the German Agro Action, personally chosen by Gudrun Bauer.
In the fifth year of „Riding against Hunger“, this amount is again considerably increased. Besides the revenue resulting from the sale of the LEGO-horse, composed of approx. 200,000 LEGO-bricks, the proceeds of the Charity Concert of the Big Band of the German Armed Forces BUNDESWEHR shall also be for the benefit of the initiative. The horse was auctioned off by top auctioneer Uwe Heckmann. He was accompanied by Ursula von der Leyen, German Federal Minister of Defence and patron of “Riding against Hunger”. The famous duo held the auction in a particularly entertaining way and finally accepted the bid of Uwe Schmitz and partners. “Mrs. Bauer already convinced me of her commitment and the supported projects the day before,“ explained Uwe Schmitz after the auction. The especially for Horses & Dreams designed LEGO-unicum, however, will stay on a beneficiary mission. “We will send the LEGO-horse on tour so as to ensure that the initiative “Riding against Hunger” enjoys even more support,” announced Ulli Kasselmann.
Apart from the auction, the concert of the Big Band of the German Armed Forces BUNDESWEHR was also a great success and a debut in two respects, explained Kasselmann: “It was the first time that I saw the Bundeswehr Big Band live, and performing in an indoor riding arena was also a completely new experience for the Big Band.” The concert was a “true highlight” for the Organizer of “Horses & Dreams meets Denmark”.
Conclusion - Kasselmann aims at breaking records
Host and Organizer Ullrich Kasselmann already came to a completely positive conclusion about Horses & Dreams meets Denmark at midday: “We have been counting 67,500 visitors until now – I think we will still break the record of 68,500 visitors this year – if the weather plays more or less along,” summarized Kasselmann. And the weather co-operated, at least until the DKB-Riders Tour Show Jumping, but also beginning sleet, changing with sunshine, did not stop visitors.
„I am completely satisfied and would like to praise my fantastic, young team that has made an incredibly excellent job these days – also into the late evening hours.”And he also achieved his goal with the new indoor riding arena: „I talked to many sponsors, partners, riders, friends and visitors, and the riding arena was generally well-received – it is a true meeting point and fantastic platform for networkers.”
Horses & Dreams will meet its next, the 12th host country, at the Hof Kasselmann in 2017. “We have decided on Austria as host country. I made some telephone calls this morning and I think that Austria has a lot to offer when it comes to culinary, riding sport and culture.”
With this in mind: „See you at Horses & Dreams meets Austria 2017!”
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