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TOGETHER Tey STAND


The South German Stallion Approvals and Auction


A Warmbloods Today author travels


to Munich to experience first hand how the auction and approvals work in Germany’s South.


By Ann Daum Kustar W


hat do you get when you combine 79 of the best three-year-old stallions in Germany, five Warmblood registries working together (that’s


right, working together!) to license and sell them, and a whole lot of Bavarian beer? The South German Stallion Approvals and Auction in Munich held this past January 27th to the 29th. For those familiar with German stallion approvals, many of the sights and sounds are memorable … the gleaming baby stallions freshly braided each day, wide-eyed as they puff up into huge extended trots; leggy handlers racing alongside the stallions in their matching sweatshirts, white pants and running shoes, knees pumping up as rhythmically as the stallions’; beer stands doing a brisk business well before noon; and the elbow-to-elbow crowd filling the stands to see the judges finally announce “Gekört“ or “Nicht Gekört“ (approved or not approved).


REGIONS UNITE Now what makes this approval and auction unique is the variety of brands decorating the stallions’ left hips. Instead of a licensing for a single breed registry with like-minded registry officials choosing which colts will become the future sires of that breed, this licensing is a cooperative event, bringing together breeders, buyers and registry officials from five different regions. Unique in Germany, this cooperative effort really personifies the age-old story… the little guy struggling to compete with the big guys. For the small breeding


AT RIGHT TOP: Ann’s favorite photo of the event. Captain Kirk, the jumping champion now standing at the Zweibrucken State Stud, Captain Fire x Golden Joy J, pictured with his breeder, Jakob Schrötzlmair. Photo by Maximilian Schreiner


BOTTOM: View of the whole arena where stallions and auction horses are presented in Munich. Photo by Ann Daum Kustar


Warmbloods Today 53


districts of southern Germany, this has traditionally meant that the bigger breeding districts up north, i.e. the Hanoverians, Holsteiners and Oldenburgs, are able to bring in the big bucks at their auctions, then send their horses all around the world, promoting their name even more. But who’s ever heard of a Thuringen, a


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