© Andreas Tischler
Vienna, September 26, 2026 – Twelve selected warm-blooded foals, a strikingly drawn stallion foal as a special eye-catcher, and a Shetland pony for charity: At the first foal auction as part of the Longines Global Champions Tour Vienna | Schloss Schönbrunn, the next generation came into focus on Saturday. The highest price of the evening was achieved for the stallion foal by J-Nius V.V. Z from the damline Kasamona von Kasanova de la Pomme: 75,000 euros was paid for it. A special moment was provided by the Shetland pony Kaiser Franz Joseph: All proceeds from its auction, amounting to 24,000 euros, go to the Children's Hospice Lichtblickhof.
On the same weekend that the world’s best sport horses compete in the honor courtyard of Schloss Schönbrunn, on Saturday the spotlight turned to the start of a possible sporting career. For the first time, nine selected warmblood foals from the Westphalian Horse Stud Book and three Austrian warmbloods were presented and auctioned as part of the Longines Global Champions Tour Vienna | Schloss Schönbrunn. The focus was on promising young horses with internationally sought-after pedigrees.
The highest bid of the evening was 75,000 euros for an exceptionally well-drawn colt from the breeding of Stall Krehl. The colt is sired by the strikingly well-drawn J-Nius V.V. Z and is from the successful Kasamona by Kasanova de la Pomme. The total turnover of the auction was 326,500 euros.
The potential sports horses of tomorrow
The auction added to the tournament a perspective that often remains hidden in the background in top international sports: long before a horse takes to the starting line in international dressage competitions, there are breeding decisions, rearing, and many years of training involved.
„At a foal auction, pedigree, type, movement, development, as well as the quality of the dam herd are evaluated, and this makes a decision for the future. Especially the setting here is exceptional: A few meters away, you see horses that have already reached the highest international level. For our foals, this journey just has just begun,“, says Thomas Munch, Auction and Marketing Manager of the Westphalian Stud Book.
Small pony for the big job
In addition to the twelve warm-blooded foals, the auction also had one participant other than the competition: Kaiser Franz Joseph, a brown-shorn Shetland stallion from the Finkstone Stud in the South Styria region. The community of LGCT Vienna had chosen his nickname before the tournament in a social media poll – in keeping with Kaiser Franz Joseph’s historical connection to Schloss Schönbrunn.
For 24,000 euros, Kaiser Franz Joseph found a new owner on Saturday. All proceeds go to the Lichtblickhof children’s hospice, which supports children with serious and life-shortening illnesses and their families with animal-assisted hospice work.
„Although Kaiser Franz Joseph was the smallest of the horses today, for us he was one of the most important. I am particularly pleased that his auction brought together 24,000 euros for Lichtblickhof. Behind this sum lies concrete support for children and families in difficult times, for which horses can have a very special significance,“, says Sonja Klima, Co-organizer of the LGCT Vienna.
„The name Franz has a long tradition in our family, and with ‚Franz & Joseph‘ one of our current real estate projects also bears this project name. When Kaiser Franz Joseph was auctioned off for the Lichtblickhof, quite a few things just fell into place. Above all, we wanted to support the work of the children’s hospice. The fact that children can experience special and beautiful moments through animals is something we very much want to promote. And as enthusiastic – albeit not particularly good – horse riders, it naturally also suited us very well,“, are happy Franz Alexander and Eva Kollitsch.
Longines Global Champions Tour Vienna | Schönbrunn Palace
September 24-27, 2026
www.lgct-vienna.com
For enquiries, please contact:
Julia Kent +43 664 246 90 55 | julia@komma4.at
Image index
Charity foal Kaiser Franz Joseph: Big sum for a good cause: The charity foal Kaiser Franz Joseph was sold for 24,000 euros at the foal auction at the Longines Global Champions Tour Vienna in the Ehrenhof of Schloss Schönbrunn to Franz Alexander Kollitsch. In the photo with initiator and co-organizer Sonja Klima and the team of the children's hospice Lichtblickhof around Managing Director Roswitha Zink.
Eye-catcher and top price of the auction: The exceptionally well-drawn colt J-Nius V.V. Z, drawn by the artist, achieved the highest selling price of the evening with 75,000 euros.
The print of the image for press purposes is provided with the copyright notice. „Andreas Tischler“ free of charge.
© Andreas Tischler