Did anyone else go to the Sports Horse Auction at Crofton Manor today?

[Faithkat]

Just how sad was it? 59 lots of which 9 were withdrawn and 30 not sold. Hardly surprising as the bidding was so pitiful. There were some stunning animals with equally stunning breeding but with bids of £1000 max it's no wonder they weren't sold. For example: a beautiful black colt foal by Wie Weltmeyer with a dam by Flemmingh - one bid of £1000 - no wonder he wasn't sold!!!

I went to see what sort of prices the youngstock were fetching as I was contemplating taking a foal there next year (if, indeed, they run another one next year) but I wouldn't consider it now, it's just not worth the time, effort and work for that sort of response. It was quite heart-breaking. There was a 3 year old gelding (who was lovely) by It's The Business out of a Grade A mare, he attracted just £1600 in bids and, needless to say, was not sold. I went to speak to the owner and she had put a perfectly reasonable reserve of £4000 on him . . . . . .

 

[ihatework]

Yes I was there and it was very sad to see that there was a lack of serious bidders, I think partly this may be due to the very poor and late advertisment of the event. At times it was embarrassing to be sat there and seeing nice horses not attracting any bids. I have copied my thoughts on the day out (had already written these for a friend interested in buying but unable to make the sale)

Firstly Carl Hester did a demo, he rode Pro Set and Matt Frost rode Moviestar.
Proset was nice but didn't quite live up to my expectations however I really liked Moviestar.

Then there waqs a short stallion display: Radar, Weltzin, Fabian, Woodlander Rockstar, Landtanzer and Le Duc. Wasn't dumbstruck by any tbh, of the bunch I liked Weltzin the most.

Then the auction, there were 60 horses entered of which 53 entered the ring.
6 foals, 6 ridden (4-6 years old), 5 broodmares and the rest 2/3 yo's.

29 horses didn't meet the reserves and left unsold.

Highest price paid was £11,500 for a 5yo KWPN gelding by Metall
Lowest price paid was £2400 for a BHHS yearling filly Londonderry x Weltmeyer

A selection of the ones sold that I liked:
£7800 - 3yo gelding Jazz x Variant
£5200 - 3yo gelding Rash R x Sanne Z
£4000 - 2yo filly Sandro B x Metall
£4200 - filly foal Sandro Hit x Lord Z
£7000 - 3yo gelding (broken) Houston x Elcaro
£3600 - 3yo gelding Lupicor x Karlstad
£5000 - filly foal Sandro Hit x Ferro

And what I think was the best buy of the day (although I didn't examine up close)
From the woodlander stud: 9yo broodmare (Escudo II x World Cup) with foal by Woodlander Rockstar and free frozen semen by any woodlander stallion - sold for £4800

 

[RachelB]

Blimey, sounds like it was a bit of a flop - glad I didn't go now!
I have to say though the advertising of the event was pretty much non-exsistant! How useless, no wonder nothing sold if people weren't there to buy.

 

[tigers_eye]

I hadn't heard it was on, although it wouldn't have been quite in my neck of the woods tbh. Although the advertising may not have been all it could be from the sound of the lots on offer they obviously did something right - there was some serious breeding there. Compared to some of the prices touted in H&H it sounds like some people picked up some good bargains. It's a shame auctions don't seem to work in this country when it comes to a cetain level of horse offered.

A friend of mine rides Weltzin - I haven't seen her for a bit, but I think he's only recently started his stud career so I hope all goes well for him in that. He's a very nice chap to be around!

 

[Faithkat]

I was quite smitten with Weltzin - he has real WOW factor!! I collected a copy of his stud card . . . . maybe one for my mare in the future . . . .

 

[Laafet]

I was there - I help the lady that owns the it the business gelding and it was a shame that there werent the people there to buy him - he is virtually backed and riding and is a lovely horse.
I have to say that I initially thought it had been well advertised but I guess as I share the yard with them it could had not have escaped my attention - there were ads in BD, Horse Deals etc.
Also I think that some of the problems with a sale like this is like at brightwells there is a stigma against british bred horses.
Have to say I ended up sat at a table with the farriers and got so drunk I didn't even notice that it had finished! We had expected it to go on for a lot longer. but if they dont sell then i suppose it doesnt take long to get through them.

 

[Laafet]

They are thinking of having another go next year - interesting to see if it can raise its profile by being an annual event. I think it needed to be less of an advert for team edge and more on the whole british breeding fraternity - but thats only my view

 

[ihatework]

I'd agree with that. A few things I'd comment on would be that the majority of horses there were dressage breeding which is maybe partly why that grey/roan horse didn't sell, it wasn't a patch on some there but obviously bred to jump, no-one there seemed to be buying the jumpers (R&M - if that gets broken and out hacking would you let me know?).
The advertising and hype was really really awful.
I only learnt of it through the BD mag that came through maybe 3 weeks before the event - not enough time for sellers and buyers to get their acts together.
They need well in advance to hype it up.
Also need to attract a wider variety of horses, would have been nice to see some event types there too.
I'd prefer to see the lots grouped with similar types, you could then have a section of loose jumping too.

 

[trelawnyhorses1]

The problem inmy eyes were people fort it was a cheap outing to see carl i was so pissed off with people who time after time asked us to show them our horses when they had no intention of buyin just fort thats a nice colour or lets have a nose and when they asked the price range of the horse they nearly died

 

[trelawnyhorses1]

and one thing that did make me chuckle is that everyone commented on the wonderful behaviour of the horses and the amazing temperements of them all, simple answer they are produced by proffessionals they gat a smack when they need it no messing and they have learnt to respect there handlers, ALOT of those horses had only been brought out of the herd three weeks before the sale.
Landtanzer for me was the one that stood out in the parade he is a lovely little horse

 

[Laafet]

Just a note to apologise for any offence caused by this post - as stated it was a good day out and I hope it happens again next year. This post will be removed Monday (as i have requested it myself to admin)
Yet again apologies for any offence - none was meant just got caught up in thread.

 

[abi001]

I attended the auction and from my perspective it was a good day had by all. Clearly a lot of hard work and effort was put in by some of Britains most respected breeders and producers of sport horses, in a short space of time. All of whom advertised in the catalogue.
It was a great shame that there werent enough buyers. I agree that maybe more advertising is required. However a tree only grows from a seed and its first year, yes there were clearly some bargains, but some nice horses went for some nice prices. This is surely what its all about.
Carl was a super attraction and provided entertainment for the public at a very reasonable price.
The hospitality and catering was by far the best arranged and co-ordinated that i have seen at a horsey event for many years.
It was wonderful to see some of the country's stallions on show. Though few, each very different thus able to suit all tastes.
A professionally produced horse is correctly trained and respectful with its handler/rider knowing its boundary lines and therefore v.well behaved and happy. This i am pleased to say we saw in many of the horses yesterday. Therefore new owners witha correctly started horse stand a better chance of success and pleasure in the future.

 

[ross001]

Wouldnt like to be in your shoes at Exton Stud from now on seeing as you say you share the yard with those you are berating and slating.

 

[ross001]

Sorry happyabby that last message was meant for ria_and_murphy

 

[Faithkat]

Have to agree with you on some points but I think that if they are going to repeat it next year they should give some very careful thought as to its timing. I'm not sure that a day on which there was a good one day event not far away coupled with the WEG in Aachen was a very sensible day on which to hold it. Perhaps later in the year when nothing else is going on would be better.

I can't agree with you though regarding the handling of some of the horses during the auction. I did wonder if some of thehandlers knew anything at all about horses. At one point my son got up and went to the bar for a drink because, he said, if he'd sat there any longer he would have ended up saying something very loudly that wouldn't be popular! I also got to the stage that I was going to ram the sticks with the plastic bags on somewhere where the sun doesn't shine!!! Properly produced horses do NOT need people chasing them round with lunge whips and the aforementioned stick with plastic bags on. Most of them were behaving quite nicely until the morons with the whips and sticks frightened the life out of them, I'm afraid it made me extremely angry. If the poor horse is nervous and needs to have a look around, then let it, don't scare it half to death. It was an extremely intimidating atmosphere for youngsters that probably had never been out before and they should be given time to settle. I didn't really undertand why they had to be whizzing the arena either, they should have been walked more. I concur with the TB opinion, if it's a good walker . . . . . It also would have been much easier to see any conformation faults.

 

[Laafet]

just to put a point across I was in full support of it all and v. proud to be involved which is why i felt it necessary to comment - if you read the other thread there is the proof. Compared to what has been said I was merely passing on the opinons of those around me and if some says that a certain person is drinking a certain type of wine like it is going out of fashion then what conclusion would you and your colleagues draw. Shame people on look at the bad comments and ignore the good.

 

[kayleigh_and_rocky]

I would just like to say that from what i have read Ria has said absolutely nothing that is in anyway insulting or offensive! Others have said much worse things and all i can see is most of what she has said has actually been positive!!
Cannot comment on the sale though as i wasnt there, though am also at exton stud and know the horses and its a huge shame they didnt sell

 

[ross001]

You obviously didnt realise that this sale was a 1st and in cases such as this most people are prepared to sit back and see what happens without risking anything,letting others pave the way.I was there on Saturday and was totally amazed at the professional way the whole day went.As a 1st attempt at such a venture I can only congratulate the organisers and plead with them to repeat the auction next year.British Breeders need the platform to compete with their European contempories and prove that they can do as good a job at producing horses as they can.It was a shame that more horses didnt sell but I am sure with better feedback on sites such as this (instead of such negativity shown so far)reports which will surely follow in magazines and word of mouth chit chat,next years sale will be a greater success story.Congratulations to all involved,a wonderful venue,fantastic catering and a coup for British Breeders.I will certainly be there next year bidding again on top class stock,as good and sometimes better than can be found abroad.

 

[Faithkat]

If your reply was aimed at me, I most certainly did realise that the sale was the first of its kind round here, but, as I said in a previous reply, I think the timing of the sale was inappropriate. With the WEG on in Aachen and the Brockenhurst Horse Trials close by, a lot of the sort of people who might be interested in buying would have been unable to attend. Also, apparently, the national advertising of it was a little non-existent and people can't come if they don't know about it.

I'm not knocking the sale at all, I thought it was a wonderful idea and a super showcase for British stock but a re-think on timing is needed, coupled with extensive advertising well in advance (not just over a week before in the local paper!) and buyers might well come.

The stallion parade was good but some indication in the catalogue of where they stand would be helpful too.

I went because next year I hope to have a sports horse foal to sell but I was very put off as the amount of work involved to get the mare and foal there would not have been worth it, I'm afraid.

There's nothing wrong with "negativity" or constructive criticism, if we all said how wonderful it was, there would not be room for improvement!!!!!

 

[ross001]

Totally agree with constructive criticism.Saw a huge add in Horse Deals in July and August issues and 2 adds in H&H starting at least 6 weeks ago.Gave the timing question to one of the organisers who was also one of the breeders and the weekend was chosen to replace the usual Brightwells auction held at Addington which had been cancelled.Maybe a weekday auction would be better to attract the professionals who compete at weekends.I nearly entered my 3yr old this year and the costs involved were the same as a box picture advert in H&H.I will be there next year.

 

[trelawnyhorses1]

its like everything everyone will learn from this sale it was the first one and we must be appreciative that these people took the time and the effort to put this sale on for us. i dont think any1 could disagree that the organisers were very welcoming, It is always going to be a knock when there isnt the serious purchasers that we need, i do agree a weekday sale would of been potentially a better day but no matter what happened this year i think we should support it again next year cuz surely things will only get better