sport horse snippets More than Just an Auction
European style sport horse auction returns to California with entertainment, prizes and benefits to charity.
By WT Staff L
ast year, the Pacific Sporthorse Selection made its debut. Held in Vacaville, California, at the Christiane Noelting Dressage Center, the event, its organizers
report, was a big success. It will return this year on August 31 and September 1 and has expanded its offerings to include jumper and hunter prospects. The PSS, as it is known, is a European-style auction
designed to bring buyers and sellers of top quality sport horses together in one place. “With so many riders wanting to find quality horses and so many breeders producing really excellent young stock here on the west coast, we recognized that it would benefit both parties to provide a forum that would bring the two groups together,” says Christian Hartung, one of the initiators and organizers of the PSS. “Our intention is to provide buyers with a pre- selected, pre-vetted collection of quality horses from which they can pick their ideal horse.” For a buyer, he says, this eliminates the hassle and heartache of traveling long distances to see one horse at a time. Buyers are invited to watch the horses in their daily
work and to try the ones they like for two weeks prior to the auction. All dressage horses have been pre-selected by well-known dressage judges—among them Lilo Fore and Melissa Cresswick—and pre-vetted with x-rays available. Jumper / hunter horses are going to be showcased at Rudy Leone’s farm nearby where they can be previewed. Sellers benefit from the extensive marketing that the
PSS provides for all the horses selected to be in the auction. The horses featured are professionally ridden, trained, and prepared for five weeks prior to the event. They are also professionally photographed and videotaped for marketing to prospective buyers. Last year’s auction drew attendees from other states
besides California: Idaho, Nevada and even Minnesota. Christian reports that they have heard from many of last year’s auction buyers who have begun showing some of the four-year-olds. Among them, Serendipitus, a Hanoverian gelding by Sir Donnerhall, has qualified for the FEI Four-Year-Old Young Horse championships, currently ranked third in the country. Dominique Scaggs purchased the young Trakehner gelding Kalypso by Gribaldi and has
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Entertainment is planned again at this year’s auction.
reported scores in the mid-70s at Training Level already this year. The two-day event will feature more than the auction, although that is its centerpiece. “We wanted to make this an event that had something for everyone,” event manager Ellie Johnson says. It kicks off with the Gala Evening, with wine, hors d’ouevres and a variety of entertaining performances. This year, performers will include Frisbee dogs, dancers and vaulters. The evening will close with a charity auction to benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. “We were so pleased to be able to collect donations
totaling more than $4,000 for our charities in 2012. This year, we hope to exceed that,” Ellie says. The PSS also donated proceeds of a raffle to help young equestrians through the CDS Club 100, a grant program offered to riders under the age of 22 to further their education. Last year, auction and raffle items included two breed-
ings to the world-famous stallion Sandro Hit, donated by Paul Schockemöhle from Germany, and a brand new Schleese saddle donated by Jochen Schleese. This year, organizers say, will bring equally exciting offerings.
All photos by Tamara
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