2004 Vechta Spring Elite Auction

Gala Presentation of the Collection

April 23, 2004

On Friday, the day before the auction a so-called gala presentation of the collection is held. Although the gala part of the presentation was totally not obvious, it was a very interesting one nevertheless. The 2004 Spring Elite collection of Oldenburg sport horses is one of outstanding quality. There is a small lot of exceptional young dressage horses, including 2003 Rastede Reserve Champion Uniqua, Germany's most successful 5-year old Daddy Cool, the very talented show horse Destination, the spectacularly moving Sonderburg and the delightful Deng Xiaoping.

Furthermore the collection includes a large section of very good riding horses and only a very small percentage of mediocre, below quality horses. Veteran auction rider Johannes Westendarp was fortunate to present two out of those five breath taking horses. Westendarp rode Sodenburg and Destination.

"Destination (Don Gregory x Rubinstein) is my favourite, she would suit my needs the most, because she's tall and is an outstanding show horse," Johannes commented. "She needs some time, but she has three outstanding gaits and can really show herself."

Westendarp, who turns 40 in 2005, has been riding for the Vechta auction team since he was 18. "When I was 17, my father and I went to the auction to buy a horse. The first one I tried out bucked me off right away. Uwe Heckmann was standing at the side and asked me if I wanted to be in the auction team. I hadn't graduated from school yet, so when I turned 18, I asked him I could still become an auction rider and Uwe let me in the team right away," Westendarp reminisced.

Sonderburg, a pitch black Sandro Hit x Feiner Stern x Volkorn xx mare is a fantastic horse. Three powerful gaits with the trot as highlight is one of the auction horses which has roused the interest of many buyers. One among them is American Elizabeth Lewis-Page, owned of such stallions as Dollmann and Worldly. Marta Kaufmann and Jaye Cherry have also expressed interest in the black star, as well as several other international dressage riders who be calling on the phone tomorrow to bid on this Sandro Hit star.

If one were to predict the price highlight of the 2004 spring elite auction, it would be a toss up between Uniqua and Daddy Cool.

The chestnut mare Unique is by De Niro out of elite mare Unika (Figaro x Harnisch/T) who became 2003 Oldenburg Reserve mare champion at Rastede.

Presented by auction rider Kira Wulferding, Uniqua danced through the ring with lightness, electrity and relaxation. Though three-year old, the divine mare looked experienced, calm and self assured of her potential and ability. She showed three superb gaits and a general light footedness that flattered her exceptionally well.

Other possible highlight could be Daddy Cool. The 5-year old black gelding by Don Primero x Prinz Gaylord x Praefectus xx is an experienced show horse with already almost thirty victories on his list of achievements.

Heiko Klausing presented Daddy Cool to the song Daddy Cool. The gelding showed nice confirmed traversal movements with much scope and reach. Of course Daddy Cool had three very nice basic gaits, especially his trot work was impressive.

The collection raised to the expectations of an elite auction and it's a fact that tomorrow's bidding will be an adrenaline rush all the way.

Images copyrighted: Astrid Appels/Eurodressage.com - no reproduction allowed

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