Mr Flinzer, last weekend you presided over the auction of licensed and unlicensed stallions in Neumünster for the first time in your role as auctioneer. What conclusions would you draw in the wake of the event?
Felix Flinzer: “The first auction held as part of Holsteiner Week in Neumünster in February sparked interest among our customers both at home and abroad. The collection of stallions for sale featured a wide variety of horses, meaning that buyers’ individual preferences could often be met very well. However, some stallions were not sold, even though there were bids for them. I also think that the timing – many stud farms have already purchased their new sires – is not particularly conducive to a very good auction result. In addition, we have calculated an average price for repurchases of around 50,000 euros. This includes both licensed and unlicensed stallions. The average price for all stallions sold stands at around 44,200 euros. And of these, the approved and sold stallions achieved an average price of 62,500 euros, whilst an unapproved and sold stallion cost an average of 31,000 euros. “I am satisfied with these figures, viewed in this differentiated way, but I do see enormous potential for improvement when it comes to buy-backs.”
It’s no secret that the champion stallion was not sold. Could you briefly explain how this came about?
“We wanted to offer our customers the opportunity to purchase the 2023 champion stallion. Unfortunately, the opening bid of 255,000 euros from a southern German stud farm did not meet the exhibitor’s asking price.”
What conclusions do you draw for the future from this buy-back?
“Customers and exhibitors are right to expect a high degree of transparency in the auction process. To meet this expectation and strengthen confidence in Holsteiner Verband Vermarktungs und Auktions GmbH, we would like to present the results, including buy-backs, transparently in future.”
It is reported that the management of Holsteiner Verband Vermarktungs und Auktions GmbH also bid on one of the unlicenced stallions. What can you say about this?
“Following consultation with the second managing director, Sebastian Rohde, we did bid on one of the stallions. It is the aim of Vermarktungs GmbH to build up a small but high-quality herd of horses in order to revitalise the trading stable in Elmshorn with a sense of proportion. For this reason, we bid on one horse. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure this horse for our marketing programme, but we are certain to find high-quality Holsteiners to achieve this goal.”
Photo: Colcannon II (c) Janne Bugtrup
