Here's the second report from Qld rider, trainer and coach, Sharyn Ross who is in Germany for 3 months to prepare and ride horses at the Hanoverian Verden Auction:

The second week of training before the Verden Auction sees a lot of clients trialling horses and several displays of the Auction lots (this means a lot of plaiting!).

Sometimes the horses get their morning work (plus free jumping, on certain days, if they are a jumping prospect), then they are trialled by up to 5 (sometimes more) people a day. The most hectic day is the Friday before the Auction, where the horses are ridden in the main riding hall (Neidersaschenhalle) by their regular rider, followed immediately by trialling. Sometimes there is a queue just for one horse. This day makes for interesting viewing, as the clients ride in front of quite a crowd, with several others in the arena, all with their own interpretation of the arena road rules. This is a highly stressful day for the Auction team, and there is a big sigh of relief once it is over!!!

Auction day itself starts with a final presentation of all prospects under saddle, and the Auction starts at 3pm. Fortunately I finished my work in the morning and could watch the Auction in full. I had met up with the Australian Hanoverian Society board members Cheryl O’Brien, Sharon Cox and Jeanette Lewis, so it was nice to be able to sit and watch all of the horses be presented and share our thoughts on each of the lots.

The Verden Auction is like nothing I have seen before (and this was one of their minor Auctions!). There were smiles, tears, hugs and kisses, and that was just for the horses!! Some of the American clients were so excited with buying the horses, I though they might jump up on the horse with the rider and go for a lap!! The auctioneer was extremely efficient and quite entertaining with his hallos when the bidding stalled, and his eratic hand gestures when knocking each lot down. They even had a huge grand entrance for him, complete with drum roll and cheering and clapping from the audience!!

Top price at the auction went to a showjumping bred mare by Argentinus, Alegra D, who was sold to Canada for 72 000€. This was a record price for the Summer Auction, and the crowd went wild! The rider, Thomas Shönig, was absolutely beside himself!! I was working his horses during the Auction training, and rode this mare, so I was quite excited too (not everyday you get to ride a top price auction horse)!

Top price for a dressage horse went to a stunning black mare, 'Ronatella', by 'Rotspon'. I had not seen this horse previously and was blown away by the quality of her paces. The more the bidding got going, the more excited the crowd got and the more revved up the horse got. It probably wasn’t the ideal riding style for a 3yo, but WOW, what a horse!!! At 56 000€, even her rider, Klarissa Liss (who keeps an absolutely ice queen concentrated face when she rides) cracked a very big smile. This mare was sold to some very overjoyed, regular American clients of the Auction.

The riders seemed to really enjoy presenting the horses and were so clever in the way they ride. The horses are just kept moving, and if they spook, it becomes the start of another circle, diagonal etc. They really did a super job, and showed the best qualities of each horse One of the riders even shed a few tears when her favourite horse sold for a fairly hefty price.

Overall, quality of the horses was high, and there were some very nice a horses sold for some very reasonable prices. There really was something for everyone. You could easily buy yourself a top quality riding horse for under 10 000€, and the average price was just over 12200€. *sigh* …….if only transporting horses to Australia wasn’t so expensive!

It was so nice to have a sleep in on the Sunday following the Auction. This was followed by a leisurely day strolling around Verden, and getting lost thanks to the GPS system in the hire car.

Verden is such a beautiful town and the presence of horses is everywhere. It is known, afterall, as the “reiterstadt” (rider’s city)!!

Verden is home to the Deutsche Pferdemuseum, which is an incredible facility, dedicated to the history of the horse in Germany. This museum is located in the Holzmarkt, which was a British stable during WWII. The walls of the museum have the original feed bins built into the wall, and several other artefacts, including original automatic feeding machines and waterers, along with pictures taken in the building during the war.

There are artefacts that date back 100’s of 1000’s of years, and so many wonderful collections of equipment, which chronicle the development of the sports we know today. To describe everything in the museum takes a very long time, so I will list a few of the highlights for me: an original copy of Ecole de Cavalerie, by Francois Rubichon de la Gueriniere (circa 1730), who ias one of the fathers of modern equitation; painting of the Battle of Waterloo (circa 1800), the detail of this piece of art was incredible, and really captures the atmosphere of the battlefield; video of Harry Boldt competing at the Tokyo Olympics on 'Remus', even back then, his riding style was way ahead of the time, as was his quality of work. The amount of work that has gone into establishing the current museum is enormous, as is the work in maintaining such old artefacts. If you are ever in Verden, this museum is an absolute must see.

Anyway, so ended one part of my trip, and onto my second base at Hof Brüning.

Until next time………..

Sharyn"

For those of you who don't know Sharyn or would like some background on her accomplishments, click here for her biography.

Part 1 of Sharyn's travels. 

© Cyberhorse 2006 Tracy Mayhew