August 31st and September 1st will see the return of the Pacific Sporthorse Selection to the Christiane Noelting Dressage Center in Vacaville, CA. This will be the second year that the innovative sport horse auction, fundraiser, and educational event is held.
Excellent quality horses giving buyers a choice
The horses include recently started young horses as well as proven FEI competitors and two foals by the world champion dressage horse, Totilas.
Four nationally respected judges, Lilo Fore, Melissa Creswick, Rudy Leone, and Christiane Noelting have chosen the collection of elite dressage horses and hunter/jumpers who will be presented this year.
The group includes recently started young horses as well as proven FEI competitors. In addition the managers are excited to report that 2 foals by the world champion dressage horse, Totilas will be presented.
“Our vision is to provide a much needed venue for buyers looking for excellent horses to see an entire collection of suitable candidates” says Christian Hartung, president of Sporthorse-Online, LLC, organizer of the Pacific Sporthorse Selection (PSS) Auction. All of the horses have a vet-check and x-rays available for prospective buyers and their veterinarians to review.
This year, the PSS group has partnered with Clair Thunes PhD, of Summit Equine Nutrition. "We are committed to offering buyers excellent quality horses and we know that proper nutrition is a cornerstone to a horse's success" says Ellie Johnson, DVM who is one of the PSS organizers.
With guidance from Dr. Thunes, an independent nutritionist, the team has properly balanced the diets for each horse in the auction. "We want the horses to be healthy, happy, and successful for their new owners. Proper nutrition is one of the ways we are accomplishing this." says Ellie.
The PSS is modeled after the European Auction tradition where breeders of top quality horses compete to have their best horses selected by discriminating experts for presentation at prestigious auctions.
Buyers know that these auctions will present a large selection of quality prospects to choose from. For example, 8 auctions are held each year in Hanover, Germany where more than 1000 sport horses, foals, broodmares, and stallions are sold!
“Buyers no longer have to travel around the West Coast or to Europe to find their future partner. We are bringing the horses to one place for buyers to try.” says Christian. The pre-vetting further simplifies the process for buyers who are often faced with disappointment when a prospect they have chosen does not pass the vet check.
The event incorporates a fundraiser for Breast Cancer Research and young equestrians as well. “We have worked hard to make the PSS an event that gives back to the community” says Ellie. “In addition to the fundraiser, we have an exciting Gala Evening planned with wine tasting and entertainment and we have several educational talks planned for the following day.”
While the gala on the 31st is a ticketed event, Sunday September 1st is free all day and the organizers have planned a full day of activities including lunch for guests.
Horses are available to watch and try beginning on August 17th until the auction. Descriptions, photos and video clips of all the horses are also being posted online.
Excitement is building as the team prepares for what they hope will be an even bigger success than last year. More information and tickets to the Gala may be found online.