By Thomas Bach Jensen / DWB
Photography: ridehesten.com

The Danish Warmblood ‘live-streaming’ auction in collaboration with Blue Hors turned into a huge success, with many online bidders as well as telephone and in-house bidders at Blue Hors. The most expensive foal achieved a knock-down price of DKK275,000 (€37,000).

Although the Danish Warmblood streaming auction due to the current assembly ban had to be conducted in front of a limited audience, auctioneer Casper Cassøe managed to create a really good atmosphere in the show arena at Blue Hors, where 22 foals came under the hammer for the first auction ever held at Blue Hors.
During three days prior to the physical auction, interested parties were able to place their bids on the foals online. At Blue Hors each foal entered the arena with a starting amount equalling the sum that had already been bid online, and with the auctioneer announcingof the countries that had placed the highest bids for each lot.
Thereafter, the auction proceeded as normal with bidders on the phone as well as in the arena, and the simultaneous online bidding also working very well. Foals were eventually sold to buyers from Switzerland, Austria, Great Britain, and Germany, although other bids came from France, Spain, the Netherlands, the USA, and Dubai – so a truly international perspective.
Chairman of the Danish Warmblood Auction Committee, Ulrik Kristensen, was extremely pleased that 18 foals were sold for an average price of just under €12,000, and he also expressed his satisfaction with the commitment and set-up for the auction by Blue Hors. “We had a considerable number of online bids, including from many new bidders from many different countries. It has proven that with this concept we reach more people as the online platform provides access to a wider network of buyers. Therefore, it is not unlikely that a similar concept will be integrated into future auctions. At least we can conclude that this test run was a success,” says Ulrik Kristensen.

The auction committee was also very pleased with the auction, where fast internet bidding easily kept pace with the other bidders. Ulrik Kristensen is convinced that the Danish Warmblood's collaboration with ClipMyHorse has been a really good investment for the breeders, because a streaming auction reaches far in the equestrian world, saying, “Now we look forward to the Danish Warmblood foal shows, where we inspect foals for our next auctions.”

Most expensive foal sold at 37,000

Among the buyers at the auction were several regular customers such as Frandsbjerg Horses, who acquired two lovely showjumping foals. In a duel against an internet bidder, Blue Hors dressage rider Nanna Merrald acquired the lovely filly foal Sevilla Pilekær (Vitalis x Apache), while her employer managed to purchase five foals, including the reserve champion and the champion colt from the Blue Hors foal championship, Harrysmindes Kastello (Blue Hors Kingston x Dancier) and Jestis La Liga (Blue Hors Livius x Aljano). Jestis La Liga is a colt foal in a league of his own and a foal that many people dreamed of acquiring, with online bids coming from the Netherlands, Germany, and Great Britain as well as from bidders inside the arena. Finally, Blue Hors breeding manager, Martin Klavsen, succeeded in purchasing this special colt with a final bid of €37,000. He said, “This is an exceptional colt that we were determined to secure for Blue Hors, so we are thrilled that we succeeded.”
The next Danish Warmblood foal auction takes place on Sunday, August 16, at Blue Hors and will also be a live-streaming auction.