Impressions from the Top-Event-Horse-Auction – See you again in 2012!
The auction team would like to say goodbye for this year with a gallery of photographs of the auction 2011 taken by Thomas Ix. We wish you all a very happy Christmas and all the best for the New Year.
Our thanks go to all the exhibitors for the trust they have shown by working with us. We wish our clients fun and success with their new acquisitions and we already look forward to the first positive reports.
Keep in touch and visit our website from time to time to keep up with what is going on. The preparations for the next sales event have already started. On 10th March 2012 the Top-Eventers-Sales-Day will be held at Elmar Lesch’s Riding Centre in Bavendorf (>Info).
And now we’ll let the pictures speak for themselves:
Top international riders buy future stars at the Top-Event-Horse-Auction
On 13th November 2011 about 500 knowledgeable visitors, seated in the stands of the Kurt-Günter-Jagau Arena in Luhmühlen, followed the auction with great interest. They were all waiting to see who would be the lucky buyers when, star auctioneer, Friedrich Wilhelm Isernhagen’s hammer fell.
The quality collection had attracted a lot of both national and international clients who had visited Elmar Lesch’s Equine Training Center in Bavendorf in the two weeks leading up to the auction. They came to try out the horses and pick up advice from the international rider and well known trainer.
This year for the first time, two horses shared the title “Top Price”, one horse was not sold, seven horses, a third of the collection were sold for prices of over 20,000 EUR and a further six cost at least 12,500 EUR. Four horses changed hands for between 10,000 and 12,000 EUR.
The top price of 40,000 EUR was paid for Flight Alliance and Copacabana. The 5 yr old Trakehner gelding First Flight alliance will be moving to France and Copacabana, who is also 5 yrs old, will be ridden in future by Christoffer Forsberg for Sweden. After an exciting bidding duel for the Hanoverian mare, both Christoffer and his sponsor were overjoyed when the hammer fell on their bid.
The 20 yr old professional rider, who has been training in Germany for the last 2 years, not only competed in the European Championships in Luhmühlen this year but can already look back on an impressive career, he finished under the Top 20 in the 4* classic in Burghley, England. This young man has also won at 3* level this year and he is now hoping to compete at the London 2012 Olympic Games. His newly acquired Top-Eventer with the fitting name Copacabana could be his ride for Rio in 2016!
Someone who already has an Olympic gold medal in his collection also found a suitable candidate at the Top-Event-Horse-Auction. Olympic team member and European Champion, Andreas Dibowski bought the youngest horse in this year’s collection, the 4 yr old Hanoverian mare La Principessa.
The continuing success of the former auction horses in top sport and the fact that the auction has established itself in the eventing calendar, mean that this year it also attracted a large number of prospective buyers from Europe and overseas.
Three of the horses sold at the auction will be making the long journey to the USA and Mexico. For the first time a horse has been sold to Japan. There were also a large number of prominent buyers from Europe and horses were sold to Switzerland, Spain, 2 championship riders from Holland and also a French buyer.
However the domestic buyers were also well represented and a total of 8 of the 19 horses will remain in Germany, including the 2nd most expensive horse, the grey mare “Violetta”, which was bought by Heike Kikuth from Luhmühlen, a great fan and patron of eventing.
Last but not least the Top-Eventer GmbH would like to thank all those who generously donated money for the 7 yr old Constanze Dempsey during the fund raising American auction, even the auctioneer Friedrich Isernhagen had problems keeping up with the bids for the wonder mare Karlchen. A total of 4000 EUR and 50 Swedish Crone was donated.
Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless would also like to send a big thank you to all those helpers behind the scenes. Without all these helping hands an event like this is would not be possible; they help with the horses, prepare the arena and tidy up afterwards and of course look after the team.
The auction team would also like to congratulate all the buyers and future riders on the acquisition of their Top Eventer and wish them all luck for the coming season. If you weren’t lucky enough to have bought a horse at the auction you will get another opportunity at the Top-Eventers Sales Days in Bavendorf, we look forward to seeing you on 10th March 2012.
The collection is complete, the photographs taken and the videos made. We look forward to presenting you shortly with the Top-Eventers 2011
The autumn sun allowed the Top-Eventers to shine in a particularly good light. Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless had invited the up and coming youngsters, which have been chosen to take part in the Top-Event-Horse-Auction on the 13th November, to a video and photo shoot on 27th and 28th September. Due to the lovely weather, all attending were in a cheerful mood and this year’s aspirants presented themselves from their best sides. We would like to take the opportunity of thanking the whole team, the photographer, the film crew, the riders and grooms; they all did a great job.
During the year over 100 prospective candidates have been viewed and tested but only around 2 dozen youngsters have proved to have the high quality and potential required to become the gems of this year’s collection and therefore be registered for the auction of elite eventers in Luhmühlen.
Just to give you an impression of what is to come we have included some photos taken during the day by our photographer Ronny Hogrebe. We are of course more than happy to answer any question you may have. Please ring us on +49(0)171-260 51 53 (Iris Schless or +49(0)171-450 86 73 (Elmar Lesch).
Starting 26th October 2011, by appointment only, you can try out the horses, which are to be sold via the auction, at Elmar Lesch’s Equine Training Center in Bavendorf.
Both the ambitious amateur rider and the professional rider will find a horse suitable for their requirements in the wide selection which includes not only 4yr old youngsters but also a 7yr old ready to compete at 1* level. The Top-Event-Horse-Auction 2011 is particularly interesting for up and coming junior riders looking for a partner for the national championships next year, for example the full brother to a former auction horse that took part in the Junior European Championships this year, a real eye catcher!
A number of 5 and 6 yr olds who took part in the National Championships for young horses make the collection high quality. Some of these young horses come from breeders who have regularly presented horses at the Top-Event-Horse-Auctions and these former auction horses have been successful up to 3* level this season. As you will see, all wishes can be fulfilled!
From the middle of October on you will be able to see the images and videos we have produced here on our website. We will also provide breeding and information regarding placings online for each horse. The catalogue for the auction will be available as a pdf file to be downloaded from our website or as a printed hard copy (5 EURO). Please order the hard copy per email from service@top-eventers.com
The Top Eventers Pavilion was an international meeting point during the European Championships in Luhmühlen
The HSBC FEI European Eventing Championships which took place between 25th – 28th August in Luhmühlen, will not easily be forgotten by eventing fans due to the sensational success of the German riders. We would like to use this opportunity of congratulating them all on their success. It was a weekend of top quality sport and a very well organized event, even though there were a few anxious moments on the cross country course on the Saturday nothing serious happened. We would also like to congratulate the team from Turniergesellschaft Luhmühlen, who were responsible for the organization, on doing a great job.
The Top-Eventers GmbH was not only represented during the competition by a former auction horse, Windsor H, who ridden by Maria Sendagorta started for Spain, but they also had a pavilion in the exhibitor’s village. Maria will put together her personal experiences and impressions gathered during the championships and the report will soon appear here on the website.
During the championships the pavilion became an important meeting place for, clients, sellers and interested members of the public.
We were really pleased to meet up again with many of our clients and to hear news of former auction horses, for example Eichof’s World of Action, the small but striking piebald who was sold at the 2009 auction as a good horse with potential for youngsters moving up from ponies.
She moved to Sarah van Hesselt’s yard in Belgium and is being ridden by 16 year old Jasper Doevenspeck. The now only 6 year old mare has confirmed our valuation of her potential by starting on a very successful career, the two youngsters will be representing Belgium at the Junior European championships in Portugal in September, a great success for the pair of them, and we will be keeping our fingers crossed.
The Top Eventers Pavilion was also visited by the head of the Swiss team Heinz Scheller, who is more than happy with Autumn’s Crystal (Herbstkristall/2010 auction). The Swiss rider Tamara Acklin is also very happy with her two Top Eventers, Light of Polaris and Moustique (2010 Auction). We have already been able to report on their successes.
Merel Blom (NED) told us that she is preparing Queen of the Catwalk (Ribeira Brava/2009 Auction) to take part in the World championships for 7 year old Horses in Le Lion d’Angers. The mare has been placed at 2* level this year and was also successful at the world championships last year as a 6 year old so this will be her second appearance. With her other Top Eventer, Rumor Haz it (Extra/2009 Auction) she has already been successful at 3* level.
We also had visits from clients who have previously sold horses via the auction. Some of them brought photos and video material of the next generation of hopeful youngsters who they would like to have accepted for the next collection. We were also very happy to make contact to new potential sellers and put the opportunity to good use and gave them information regarding the Top Eventers auctions. We certainly look forward to our future collections of eventing gems!
Ingrid Klimke’s visit to give autographs on Sunday was a real hit and attracted a large number of visitors to the Top Eventers Pavilion. We would like to thank Ingrid for taking the time to fulfill all the personal wishes of her fans. We are sure that everyone would have been very happy to see this exceptional rider win double gold, however we congratulate her on winning team gold and hope that it makes up for the bad luck that followed her into the show jumping arena.
Elmar Lesch surprised us all at the championships with an up until then hidden talent. During the sponsors evening he auctioned the statue of a horse which had been signed by all the riders during the opening ceremony. Not only did he prove to be a very talented auctioneer but it was also very entertaining and of course Elmar with his talent for putting the right rider on the right horse, very persuasively found the right stable for this very special horse. Who knows, having heard from a well know source that Elmar did a very good job and all present thoroughly enjoyed his performance, perhaps this was the premiere and we will be seeing more of this unknown talent in the future...
Keep your fingers crossed for Maria and Christoffer!
A dream comes true - Maria Sendargorta and Windsor H (2006 Auction) will be representing Spain for the first time at senior level, at the European Championships in Luhmühlen between 25th & 28th August. The 25 year old rider has spent the last few weeks preparing for the highlight of the season, at Elmar Lesch's riding center in Bavendorf. She is really happy that the day has finally arrived. We wish her and Windsor all the best and good luck for the competition.
A few days before the move to Luhmühlen, Gabriel Kolb from German Eventing visited Maria Sendargorta and Christoffer Forsberg, a young rider who also trains with Elmar Lesch and is taking part in the event. You can watch the video of the interview with the two young hopefuls on German Eventing's European Championship website of via this link: > Videointerview
April 2011
Easter clinic for former auction horses
It was a ‘pot pourri’ of riders of all age groups that accepted the invitation sent by Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless to their clients to attend a two day clinic on Good Friday and Easter Saturday. Together with other Top-Eventers from previous Auctions and Sales Days they had the opportunity of acquiring the final tuning for the coming season.
The first unit of training took place at Elmar Lesch’s Equine Center on Friday afternoon. For the warm up phase on the jumping arena, Iris Schless had set up a number of small jumps which were to be used in a program of relaxation and gymnastic exercises. Once this was completed the participants moved on to the cross country course, where under the guidance of Elmar Lesch they made their first jumps over the cross country fences with a view to setting emphases for the training on the next day.
On Saturday morning all the participants of the clinic met up in Luhmühlen on the widespread cross country training course. Here it was possible to train all aspects of riding a cross country course and the riders and horses were able to effectually put the tips and corrections offered into practice, so that at the end of the day all showed a noticeable improvement in performance. The team of trainers was more than pleased with the positive development the horse had made and the harmony between horse and rider, for example MaMa’s Sunflower (2009 Auction) and Lennard N (2010 Auction).
And: Top-Eventers seem to entice people back into the saddle., Dirk Brüggemann, who bought Lord le Rouge at the Top-Eventers-Sales-Days 2011 has started eventing again after a 25 year break and is now training together with his 12 year old daughter Anna and is having a lot of fun with his dependable youngster.
However our thanks also go to those who supplied very tasty home baked cakes and also the super weather which contributed towards making the clinic an all-round success with highly motivated participants who are now looking forward to the coming season.
Our thanks go to Hilke Baars for the photographs.
December 2010
Watch this! A video of the highlights of The Top-Event-Horse-Auction 2010
The best scenes from the auction - A video report from german-eventing.de
Gabriel Kolb followed this year's Top-Event-Horse-Auction with his video camera and has put together a 10 minute report which is now online by www.german-eventing.de. Gabriel Kolb has given us permission to combine the video into our review of the auction. Our thanks go to Gabriel Kolb and we hope you enjoy watching it.
November 2010
Rubinja TE breaks through the 100,000 Euro mark!
About 600 spectators were present in the Kurt-Günter-Jagau Halle in Luhmühlen and experienced firsthand the exciting duel between a bidder on the stands and an initially unknown bidder on the phone. The auctioneers hammer fell at 105,000 Euros in favor of the telephone candidate and the identity of the future rider of the gem of the collection and reigning National Vice Champion of the 6 year old Eventing Horses, was announced as being none other than the Olympic team gold rider, Ingrid Klimke, definitely good news for German eventing.
Satisfied faces - Friedrich Wilhelm Isernhagen (auctioneer), Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless
This year it was pleasing to see that a total of 13 Top-Eventers went to owners in Germany. For the first time a Top-Eventer will be travelling to Mexico, one to the USA and 4 will remain in Europe, 2 in France and 2 will go to regular customers in Belgium and Switzerland.
A number of junior riders have acquired new mounts; these include Carolin Thenhausen, the reigning Junior National Champion and a number of other up and coming young riders from Niedersachsen, Schleswig-Holstein and Nordrhein-Westfalen. One young rider from Bavaria was absolutely thrilled with her early Christmas present. The 15 year old Imke Gutsmann will be moving on from her pony and climbing into the saddle of „Great Little Girl“, she has also been invited to join the Top-Eventers-Team, which will presents itself again as a quartet in 2011.
The best result so far was achieved, with an average price of just under 24,000 Euros for the 19 horses auctioned. The top price, as we have already said, was 105,000 Euros, the lowest 9,000 Euros, the rest of the price structure was relatively evenly distributed.
Photo left: The auctioneer, Dr Olaf Neuberg (Auction Vet), Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless were happy to represent the new owner in the press photo take of Rubinja TE who really was the gem of the Top-Event-Horse-Auction 2010 Photo right: The reigning National Junior Champion, Carolin Thenhausen, with her father, Rudiger and their new acquisition, “Opia” (5 year old Trakehner mare from Sky Dancer out of a Kalif mother)
Elmar Lesch, head of the auction team summed up, “we are pleased that a large proportion of the horses have been sold to riders who have sporting ambitions and they will continue to train these talented youngsters. Rubinja TE is of course something very special and it is fitting that she will be ridden by one of Germany’s best riders. We wish Ingrid Klimke luck for the future and hope to see Rubinja TE following in the footsteps of Ingrid’s other successful rides.”
Business partner, Iris Schless drew a positive balance, “we are more than happy with the results of the auction. Running up to the auction, the horses had been tried out selectively. Bavendorf was visited by well known names from both national and international eventing circles. We also managed to find a number of top youngsters with great potential for the junior riders. It was nice to see new customers, including a number of local riding enthusiasts who have also found a suitable ride. A special thank you also goes to our regular clients, sponsors and helpers, who have remained loyal since the beginning.
The spotlights will be on 20 Top Eventers at the 6th Elite Event Horse Auction in Luhmühlen on 13th November 2010
Star auctioneer, Friedrich-Wilhelm Isernhagen will auction this year’s Top Eventers Collection in Luhmühlen. The auction will not only be attended by clients and well known riders from Germany, the rest of Europe and overseas but also by breeders and supporters of eventing from near and far.
Before the horses change hands on the day of the auction, the Top-Eventers GmbH will present the collection during a colourful Gala in the Kurt Günter Jagau Halle on Friday 12th November 2010. Those who attend can expect an evening filled with both show and sport; there will even be an Indoor Cross Competition for former auction horses. The Gala starts at 7:30pm. Entry is free! Afterwards everyone is invited to attend the Eventing Party in the heated tent in the indoor school; there will be plenty of refreshments and music from DJ Christian Burmeister.
The day of the auction will start at 11am with a final presentation of the collection, the highlight, the auction itself, starts at 3pm. This year we are offering a special free child minding service in our heated tent.
At present all the horses are stabled at Elmar Lesch’s Riding Centre in Bavendorf, where they can be viewed and tried out. A large number of prospective owners have already taken the opportunity to do this and have also taken advantage of the individual advice and guidance on offer.
So far the clients have been just as diversified as the collection, riders of all different age groups and both amateurs and professionals. There have also been visits from members of foreign national teams who have been suitably impressed by the quality of the youngsters on offer.
The Top-Eventers GmbH has been overwhelmed by the number of enquiries from regular clients from at home and abroad. The outstanding successes of former auction horses have obviously helped to awake even more interest.
Our website has had over 1000 clicks per day on the average, which confirms the interest in the sales event. The website contains up to date information including short videos of the horses, it is also possible to download the catalogue with detailed information on each of the horses, including the pedigrees and of course photographs. The printed catalogue will be on sale at the ticket desk in Luhmühlen. The horses may be tried out up until 12th November 2010. If you have any questions, please contact the Auction Management Team: Elmar Lesch Tel: +49 171-4508673 or Iris Schless Tel: +49 171-2605153
October 2010
A sunny video and photo shooting – the collection of aspirants for the Auction 2010 have their first big appearance!
It looked as if our video and photo shooting was going to be a very wet occasion. It had been raining for days and the weather forecast was not very encouraging, however the weather gods meant well and the sun came through!
Our photographer Ronny Hogrebe was also active behind the scenes and took these impressions:
While the grooms were busy preparing the auction horses, the final adjustments were made to the course, the sequence agreed on and video cameras positioned. Tiny, the lady Jack Russell, showed the interested youngsters what was expected of them in the dressage arena and then all was ready...
A total of 20 Top Eventers, who are to be auctioned at the 6th Top-Event-Horse-Auction on 13th November 2010 in Luhmühlen, came to Elmar Lesch’s Riding Centre to present themselves at their very best in sunny conditions. There is a wide selection of Top-Eventers on offer, not only suitable for the ambitious amateur but also for up and coming juniors and professionals with their sights on future championships. The spectrum ranges from 4 year old youngsters to a 7 year old eventer who is ready to go.
Among our gems, you will find a number of 5 and 6 year olds, some of whom were more than successful at this year’s National Championships for young horses and will bring the twinkle to the eye of any ambitious rider.
Thanks to the professional team work carried out by our grooms, riders, camera team and photographer, we were able to put together material, in the short time available, which presents the talent and quality of this year’s collection at its best. The youngster’s performances during the shooting, taking into consideration the new surroundings and the tasks at hand, were very impressive and we are convinced that this year’s aspirants will follow in the footsteps of the successful eventers from previous auctions.
The videos present the horses in all three disciplines, dressage, show jumping and cross country. In the catalogue customers will find more than one photograph of each candidate. The catalogue and the programming of the videos for internet will be completed fairly soon and we look forward to presenting you with this year’s Top-Eventers collection, here on our website, within the next few days. Until then, we offer you a >download of the catalogue (pdf-file, approx. 12 MB) as a preview on our collection.
However if you have any questions, don’t hesitate in contacting us. You can ring on +49 171-4508673 (Elmar Lesch) and +49 171-2605153 (Iris Schless). If you would like us to send you a printed copy of the Auction Catalogue (5 EUR plus postage) please send us an order per Email: service@top-eventers.com
Finished at last, all pictures taken……..time to relax!
Download our catalogue with the collection of the Top-Event-Horse-Auction 2010
While our catalogue is printed and the programming of the videos is completed we offer you our catalogue 2010 as
a pdf file (approx. 12 MB). Please click on the link below.
If you would like us to send you a printed copy of the Auction Catalogue (5 EUR plus postage) please send us an order per Email: service@top-eventers.com
August 2010
Presentation of Former Auction Horses in Bad Segeberg
A group of Top-Eventers from previous auctions gave an eye catching presentation as part of a show which was put on during the European Junior Championships in Bad Segeberg. Elmar Lesch explained during the presentation the criteria which will be applied to control the quality of the horses to be selected for The Top-Event-Horse-Auction 2010.
Above from left to right: Lutz and Franzsika Wulfsberger, Don Juan M and Constantin von Ziegner and the auction manager Elmar Lesch.
Due to the record of success achieved by former auction horses, especially at junior level, Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from parents who want to help their children on the road to success and trust the ability of the internationally well known rider and trainer to find the right horse for the right rider.
The Top-Eventers GmbH presented Limone, Thalaso and Lutz, three former auction horses who have been successfully performing with their up and coming junior riders and have already won a number of titles. Lutz who started in the CCI* in Bad Segeberg with his rider Franziska Wulfsberger not only came 5th in the event but also won the silver medal in the Schleswig Holstein Junior Championship.
Above: Limone and Juliana Kaup
In previous years Limone and Thalasso have helped their young riders to win medals at Junior Championships. In 2010 Limone ridden by Juliane Kaup made it onto the leader board at the German Junior Championships. This year both girls are aiming to move up to 2* level and would like to reach the National Championship in 2011.
Don Juan ridden by Constantin von Ziegner, who moved up from young rider status this year, already has placings at CIC** level.
In Bad Segeberg the audience saw living proof of the top quality of the former auction horses and the Auction Manager, Elmar Lesch promised that the collection for this year’s auction on 13th November 2010 in Luhmühlen has some very special candidates for the up and coming young rider.
Please note that the horses in the presentation all took part in the National Championships for 5 + 6 year old horses in Warendorf before being sold via The Top-Event-Horse-Auction. The Top-Eventers GmbH is particularly proud of the fact that a number of the 5 and 6 year olds sold at previous auctions have qualified for this important championship and therefore belong to the elite of young German eventing horses.
From the middle of October on, the 2010 collection will be available for trial at Elmar Lesch’s riding centre. If you are looking for a Top-Eventer for the future, don’t miss the opportunity of seeing the wide selection of this years candidates on site and take advantage of the expert advice offered. To arrange an appointment, ring either Elmar Lesch Tel: 0171 450 86 73 or Iris Schless Tel: 0171 2605153.
We look forward to your visit!
June 2010
Well known visitors at the Top-Eventers/German Eventing Information stand in Luhmühlen
The Top-Eventers GmbH and Internet Magazine German Eventing’s joint information stand at the CCI**** in Luhmühlen was the meeting place for international guests and well known German riders. We were also pleased to welcome customers from previous auctions, some of whom were starting in the event in Luhmühlen. During the four days of the event it was possible to make contact with and get to know a number of potential buyers and sellers. Klaus Kurk interviewed various well known riders, including Ingrid Klimke and Anna Warnecke, for the Internet Magazine German Eventing.
April 2010
Training on easter weekend for former auction horses
Elmar Lesch and Iris Schless invited their clients to come to Elmar Lesch´s Riding Centre and the showground in Luhmühlen for training their horses to be well prepared for the beginning of the season. Although the weatherconditions were not perfect, everybody was happy either riding or enjoying a hot cup of tea and some easter sweets. The following photos are taken by Gabriel Kolb:
