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Highlife Farm Auction

Sport Horse Breeding
#281

bidder 841

[QUOTE=DownYonder;6463789]
Does anyone who was there know who bidder 841 was? They bought a bunch:
Highlife’s Cavalli King
Diamond Rhodes
Je T’aime
Lucena
Pik Pave

And maybe others - I was trying to write down numbers of winning bidders as he called them, but missed some of them.[/QUOTE]

don’t know who but they were standing with bidder 840 who had the top bid for parcels 1, 6 & 7. my guess some partnership. 841 also got the pony Levi - broke lesson pony. Hopefully this group will continue the property as an equestrian facility. All looked like some true horsepersons.

#282

Amazone

[QUOTE=DownYonder;6463785]
Oh, I am so glad to hear that Amazone is going to a home where she will be appreciated! I was so worried about that old gal![/QUOTE]

Me too - she was GORGEOUS & sound. What a marvelous old dame!!!

#283

Some of the horses went for what I expected.

Some of the horses went for way more than I expected.

None went for less then I expected

These were my feelings as well. Some brought big prices, but appeared worth it. Others left you wondering, did someone really just pay that much for that??

Jeunesse d’Or - $20,000
1998 bay Oldenburg mare
Lavarino – Jonita by Rohdiamant / Weltmeister
This is the dam of approved stallion Diamond Stud (by Diamond Hit)

Jeunesse d’Or: Granted, she’s a very nice mare, but she’s a 14 year old broodmare, that hasn’t bred in at least 2 years right? And the catalog doesn’t mention any outstanding sport career from her. $20,000 seems extremely high to me.

This was one I was interested in. She was one of the nicest mares, but I agree $20,000 was a surprise.

So I’m thinking some were much nicer in person then they looked in the catalog?

Some were, some weren’t.

ToN, the Percheron mare sold, around $2500. Everything sold, although some may have sold back to the house. The cheapest horses were the two older broodmares Barcelona and Amazone. Amazone looked good for her age (and sound.) Most of the horses looked good, with just a few exceptions (noteably Der Euro and a couple of the older mares.)

I liked Dionysius. And I think the steal of the auction may have been his full brother Damacles.

In addition to Cletus the mini-donkey (who I didn’t buy), I’d been interested in Laola (but she looked NQR in the sale) and Jeunesse d’Or (who ended up being the second highest selling broodmare.)

Did anyone attend the equipment portion of the sale? It was unfortunate that they ran it at the same time as they ran the horses. I’d been interested in some of the breeding equipment, and curious about the saddles.

-Gigha

#284

It was Class Act Farm, who also bought some of the real estate…

#285

[QUOTE=mademoiselle;6463856]
It was Class Act Farm, who also bought some of the real estate…[/QUOTE]

Ah, good for them!

Does anyone know bought Dionysius? That was a stupendous price for a stallion that hasn’t completed his performance requirements, and has no sport results!

#286

[QUOTE=RiverOaksFarm;6463822]
The cheapest horses were the two older broodmares Barcelona and Amazone. Amazone looked good for her age (and sound.) Most of the horses looked good, with just a few exceptions (noteably Der Euro and a couple of the older mares.)[/QUOTE]

I was a bit surprised that Barcelona brought the same price as Amazone as her bloodlines to me aren’t as impressive as Amazone’s. She is one year younger than Amazone, but her bloodlines alone wouldn’t intrigue me enough to try getting a foal out of her. Amazone is a different story - I would certainly try to get one or two last foals from her. If she was carefully bred, she could produce a wowser of a foal. At any rate, I hope Barcelona got a soft landing.

#287

Class Act

[QUOTE=mademoiselle;6463856]
It was Class Act Farm, who also bought some of the real estate…[/QUOTE]

Great News - nice facility with good history in the Orlando area. Excited to see how they merge the two properties only 1.5 miles apart. Wishing them well!

#288

I was very surprised by the price too… Knowing how tough the stallion market is, I was quite surprised!

#289

I wonder at that “unreasonably high price” if Dionysius was also bought back by the house (bidder #751). Anyone know?

#290

[QUOTE=RiverOaksFarm;6463822]
Did anyone attend the equipment portion of the sale? It was unfortunate that they ran it at the same time as they ran the horses. I’d been interested in some of the breeding equipment, and curious about the saddles.

-Gigha[/QUOTE]

The saddles went for $525, 400, 400, 425, and 300 in lot order, if I got my numbers right. I didn’t stay for the breeding equipment, sorry.

Class Act also bought a lot of the farm equipment. Rumor spreading around last night was that the seller’s discretion for the land was going to be used and the farm not sold. They have 24 hours (from last night) to decide…

#291

[QUOTE=DownYonder;6463912]
I wonder at that “unreasonably high price” if Dionysius was also bought back by the house (bidder #751). Anyone know?[/QUOTE]

He went to bidder #707 I believe.

#292

What’s the point?

It’s this kind of crap that gives auctions in the US a bad name. Horses advertised as having no reserve, yet “the house” buys them, sellers not accepting the high bidder prices, ridiculous over market prices from bidders who perhaps don’t actually exist… What’s the point? I don’t appreciate the colossal waste of time. Compare this auction with the one at Horses Unlimited last year- that auction provided all health records, current video, and information on each horse, and everything was truly sold for the high bid, to real bidders. I do believe that many of the horses last night were actually sold, especially the ponies and broodmares. But the cloud of suspicion that surrounds many of the others puts a bad taste in people’s mouths, and hurts legitimate sales down the road.

#293

The saddles went for $525, 400, 400, 425, and 300 in lot order, if I got my numbers right. I didn’t stay for the breeding equipment, sorry.

Thanks. I’d have paid $425 for the Schleese. At those prices, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone bought them to turn around and re-sell them.

I was a bit surprised that Barcelona brought the same price as Amazone as her bloodlines to me aren’t as impressive as Amazone’s. She is one year younger than Amazone, but her bloodlines alone wouldn’t intrigue me enough to try getting a foal out of her. Amazone is a different story - I would certainly try to get one or two last foals from her. If she was carefully bred, she could produce a wowser of a foal. At any rate, I hope Barcelona got a soft landing.

I agree. However, with Amazone’s auction listing specifically mentioning she’d not been bred for 5+ years, I sort of read between the lines to suspect a problem. Barcelona on the other hand, although definitely a lesser mare, didn’t have anything like that in her listing to make a person suspicious, instead her listing read something like “great for a serious breeding program”. I’d be curious if either buyer intends to breed either of them, or if both were simply bought as pets so the old mares can have good retirement homes.

#294

[QUOTE=Crossroads Farm;6463970]
It’s this kind of crap that gives auctions in the US a bad name. Horses advertised as having no reserve, yet “the house” buys them, sellers not accepting the high bidder prices, ridiculous over market prices from bidders who perhaps don’t actually exist… What’s the point? I don’t appreciate the colossal waste of time. Compare this auction with the one at Horses Unlimited last year- that auction provided all health records, current video, and information on each horse, and everything was truly sold for the high bid, to real bidders. I do believe that many of the horses last night were actually sold, especially the ponies and broodmares. But the cloud of suspicion that surrounds many of the others puts a bad taste in people’s mouths, and hurts legitimate sales down the road.[/QUOTE]

to my knowledge only 2 horses were “retained” by bidder #751 the Sims. Mini-mare for $2200 was ungodly price for her but for the most part I was able to see the actual bidders and their reaction to getting a horse. one group had tried for several of the stallions/colts and was finally able to get one as the others sold. irritating that spotters were submitting inflated bids to start and for taking advantage of the inexperienced bidders on-site - but sounds like this was a business practice suited to the Sims and most auction companies.

#295

[QUOTE=dressage4ever;6463421]
Who buys a mini for 2200!!??[/QUOTE]

Lots of people. Bended Knee Seminole Wind is no slouch. I guess your jaw would drop at the 6 figures people will plunk down for a competitive Open Pleasure horse.

#296

After reading all the reports, sounds like it was a scheme for the owners to get maximum dollars, rather than a dispersal to get out of the business (could be both, but having shill bidders is very lowhanded). It might have backfired on the saddles, though, prices seem low, or at least reasonable, for good quality. At least most of the horses got good homes, and there is another farm that will take up the banner, so to speak, with some of the nice horses and the land, so that’s good, too. People should keep an eye out on sales sites to see if any of the horses end up there after this, if the mares turn out to be unbreedable or something they may get flipped (hopefully they were bought as pets, but that’s a lot of money to spend on a pasture ornament). Just a thought.

#297

I’ve been to plenty of high end auctions where they simply tell you “reserve not met,” rather than pretending an overpriced real sale actually happened… I’m not saying that these questionable ethics aren’t common- doesn’t mean we should agree with them. Again, the next time someone here asks why Sporthorse auctions don’t work, refer back to this thread. And only a few of last nights horses had actual reserves- still leaves me scratching my head about many of the others.

#298

This was my first auction and it was a learning experience! I don’t know if some of the things the auctioneer and spotter were doing were out of the ordinary but I do know that at least 3 times, questions arose and the auctioneer would stop, clear things up and back down the price if necessary. Maybe I am naive but at the time it didn’t seem “shady” to me.
Prezioso S “sold” for 150K and Dionysius sold for 76K and Der Dollar for 80K all to bidder 751. I also did not know that was the house bidder so now those prices makes sense but doesn’t seem right to me.
I agree with RiverOaks that Damacles was the best buy of the evening 18.5K. He was a stunning mover and definitely has huge potential if trained under the right person. The Mare steal of the evening was Highlife’s Precious Princess (one I was interested in) who went for 13K. She was a really nice mover too and in pretty decent shape and weight.
2 horses were sold to On-line bidders. Material Girl (another one that I was interested in) went for 9K which seems a fair price. She was a bit under weight and had welts on her back from bug bites or something. The other was High Society and she went for 6K.
I have all of the prices and bidder numbers if anyone is interested. I drove up with my daughter from Wellington and it was a great learning experience for us. We were next to the ladies that purchased 3 stallions and 3 mares, it was fun being near the activity. (I think somebody above mentioned it was Class Act Farm) I wish them much success!
Oh, IMHO, the saddles were not nearly as nice in person as they looked in the catalog. They were well used and didn’t appear to be well taken care of. The equipment all seemed to be going for inflated prices. My hunch was that there were quite a few newbies like me and they were getting caught up in auction fever, bidding more than things were worth. But I only saw a portion of the equipment sale and what I did see, made me decide to hit the rode back south empty handed. :wink:

#299

The “family” had multiple bidders in the audience (i.e. multiple numbers). Grandson was standing behind me being coached by Ken. I do not know the farm or family personally - this was my first encounter - I am glad I found and read this board before going there and this has been quite an education. And what everyone has been saying about the auction house is true also. The family was also bidding on Dionysius and then he shook his head and stopped and walked away so I assumed they let him go. I dont know how many they ended up buying back because I wasn’t paying attention to the numbers. The group from Class Act bought 3 parcels (including the barn parcel) and 9 horses. I met them and talked with them after the auction because they bought the horse I wanted (I did not know them previously). They seemed nice. They also bought a lot of the equipment including water troughs etc since they now need more stuff. :wink: Some of the saddles were good names but not in great shape. I am hoping all the horses ended up in good homes. To everyone who did not vet the horses they bought, please have them checked. I assume Amazone is only going to be a broodmare or yard ornament, but she trotted quite nice last night and was dead lame last Sunday when I was there.

#300

[QUOTE=gator83;6464118]
I assume Amazone is only going to be a broodmare or yard ornament, but she trotted quite nice last night and was dead lame last Sunday when I was there.[/QUOTE]

LOL. Horse sellers, goodness gracious!

People act like I am crazy talking about all the shady dealings, but I have seen it all. I don’t know how some people live with themselves.

I actually feel really bad for honest, straight dealing sellers.

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