The foaling season has started and so does Flanders Foal Auction. Showjumping foals with excellent pedigrees will canter around in Equestrian Centre De Peelbergen on Saturday 25 June. “After our embryo auctions it is time for live foals again. Much more exciting, these auctions. You do not want to disappoint the breeders and you hope that the selected foals will meet the expectations of our clients”, says Gerald Lenaerts, together with Luk Van Puymbroeck, the auction organizer.
After travelling for several thousand kilometers to look for the best showjumping foals, 31 of these have been chosen. “We are very happy with them. It is an impressive collection. We have noticed that the big breeders offer us first choice. ‘First Flanders can come and have a look, then the other auctions’, they say. We are very grateful for this. Having first choice immediately makes a difference.”
Well-known trademark
Over the years Flanders Foal Auction has developed into an internationally well-known trademark, under which foals are sold for above average prices. “That is great, of course, and we are working hard for it, but the most important thing of all is that we want to help the clients get along, make them happy with their investment. That is why we continue to select foals by commercial stallions. There is nothing wrong with being commercial, they do not earn that status just like that. Their offspring has proved their value.”
“An auction should look at it through the eyes of the clients. When you invest 20,000 euro, you want some security. Anything can go wrong, but with our selection you have a better chance to get a good sport horse than with foals by young stallions, whose offspring can turn out to be disappointing. Of course, just the pedigree alone is not enough. We left some very well bred foals behind because they were not remarkable enough in type or movements. We have to guarantee quality. That is expected from us, our standard is high. An Irishman visiting our auction for the first time last year and bought one congratulated us afterwards with the average price of 25,000 euro. He said: ‘This is just the beginning’. Let us hope that he is right!”, says Gerald Lenaerts.
The auction collection can be found on www.flandersfoalauction.be. The foal presentation on 25 June starts at 18.00 hours, the actual auction at 20.00 hours. Check the quality foals out of performance families and descending from, amongst others, Chacco Blue, Emerald, Carthago Z, Cornet Obolensky, Baloubet du Rouet, Cumano, Darco, Mylord Carthago and even the influential Voltaire, who passed away in 2004.