We, like everyone else, very much hope that 2022 will be the year when we can go back to running our business. Living with Covid, as a business, has been extremely difficult, not least when the international movement of horses (and people) is at the heart of what we do. Covid made it impossible for us to make any major decisions, other than deciding to sit on our hands. We, like so many others, were entirely dependent on the virus and the decisions of our politicians and scientists.
Consequently, we did not sell at any foreign sales at all in 2021; it simply wasn't feasible. In 2022 we plan to go back to selling at Goffs Ireland, Arqana and Baden-Baden. The German sale has always been a particular favourite of ours and we much enjoyed being the only consignor from Britain on the BBAG Sales roster. We will be making a big effort to find a good number of suitable horses this year.
Goffs Orby came back to life last year delivering an excellent catalogue and enthusiastic buyers, boosted by an influx of American buyers, most of whom didn't go onto Tattersalls, who signed for 50 horses, an almost identical number to those purchased in Book 1 at Tattersalls.
Arqana has become very popular with overseas buyers in recent years, notably from Bahrain, who do much of their business there. Tattersalls Ireland, with plenty of help from IRT, attract many buyers who are unhappy with the additional costs involved in buying horses in the UK post Brexit.
We are genuinely very excited about getting our numbers back to where they were before the pandemic and will be represented at every major sale in Europe. So watch this space and please bear us in mind. Our experience as a UK consignor at the European sales is second to none and we would be delighted to help any vendors who have horses that are under consideration for the sales.