World champion event horse Sam is still on the market
World-beating eventer La Biosthetique-Sam FBW is still for sale, majority owner Sabine Kreuter exclusively told H&H.
Ms Kreuter, who gave a 40% share in world champion “Sam” to his rider Michael Jung in 2005, retains the 60% share in the 11-year-old bay gelding.
But she claims she has been in talks with the German Olympic Equestrian Association (DOKR) for 18 months, after they promised to buy her out when her contract with the Jungs ended on 1 January.
“I waited a year and a half. Now they say they won’t,” she said.
Ms Kreuter would not discuss the price, but said talks ground to a halt when she said the ride must stay with Michael and Sam could not be sold on.
Then a vetting by German team vet Dr Carsten Rohde this month — which Ms Kreuter says was done without her permission — is reported to have shown the horse has a heart murmur from his mitral valve.
“The sound was not there at Kentucky. But two specialists have assured me it will not affect his performance,” she said.
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She added the DOKR then offered her a lease-to-own agreement, whereby she would be paid an undisclosed amount for the use of the horse if he remains well, but she declined.
“He is the best in the world and he is for sale,” she said.
A DOKR spokesman confirmed they had wanted to buy Sam. The Jung family declined to comment.
A statement on their website said they are “working together” with Ms Kreuter to decide Sam’s future “by consensus”.
Sam will be based at Ms Kreuter’s yard from 1 February, but Michael still has the ride.
This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & Hound (27 January, 2011)
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.