just buy another. This is the only horse Riana will have; the only one she can afford. Watching her as a young teenager take on the hard work and dedication to bring Romax along in dressage has truly been amazing. Not every girl is up for that kind of task. With all her experience now, going forward, she will ride other people’s horses,” says Kerri. Once a gymnastics competitor, Kerri understands the
desire to train and compete. “You only live once and you need to see how far you can go in this world. I knew the auction would be a great experience for Riana. I wasn’t worried about her traveling to Germany. I knew as soon as she got with the horses she would be in her element. When she was a baby, if she had a tummy ache or was not feeling good, I would take her up the hill to my sister’s to see the horses and she would be fine. “Luckily,” Kerri adds, “she has enough talent and is
surrounded by people who believe in her.” One of those believers is Sue Curry Shaffer who has supported Riana with training and expenses, has her train the young horses on her breeding farm and had her finger deep in the pie to make this exceptional overseas experience happen.
PREPARATIONS Armed with her Nook and the confidence of her family and sponsor, Riana arrived in Germany November 17th for the Oldenburg Winter Mixed Sale in Vechta to be held December third. Upon her early arrival Riana made herself at home in
the spartan groom’s dormitory where the California girl could easily wake up and pop down to the main arena without having to step out into the German winter. She was invited to visit breeding farms and even ride some horses at Holly Simensen’s farm. An agent abroad, representing the U.S., Holly is an Oldenburg inspector and has come to Fairwind for many years. “Holly was so kind to always make sure I was doing okay throughout my stay by inviting me to dinner and making sure I was comfortable.” The horses arrived November 22nd which gave the
riders a week and a half to get them prepared. In fact, the time was cut short because the horses had to be going well enough for potential buyers to try them out during the week before the auction. Riana was assigned five horses to prepare: four mares and a gelding. These four-year-olds were essentially fresh off the farm. Considerable time was spent just getting them comfortable walking from the indoor warm up arena through a tunnel and into the auction hall. “They needed this introduction because when they turned into the hall [on auction day] they were already expected to be big and expressive movers.” Tommy Rhinow coached Riana from the spectator
seats and auctioneer Uwe Heckmann gave her pointers on how he wanted the horses to go. They had to remind
Riana schools the stallion Donnerschlag. Photo courtesy Fairwind Farm
themselves to switch to English as Riana was the only American auction rider. “Some of the horses really needed to learn to relax their
backs, but time is something we were short on,” Riana says. “When I first start riding them, Tommy wanted me to have their necks deep and through and to push them with the inside leg to balance them on to the outside rein and leg. Once their backs were warmed up, we tested how much control we had and how much you could ask them to lengthen their strides and come back, because when it came to the auction, they were going to be so high from the crowds. If I didn’t prepare them like this, I wouldn’t be able to control them.” Her coach Sue had sent Riana off with the confidence
that she could handle this kind of pressure. “She has a gift of timing and feel. Also, she’s dedicated, strong and doesn’t complain. She comes through rain or shine. A lot of kids her age aren’t like that. I’ve never seen her not be gracious about winning or losing,” says Sue who has worked closely with several successful young riders. Despite her many skills, not all the horses worked out
for Riana and she took that with good grace. “I wasn’t quite strong enough to ride two of them and get them to do what they needed to do. They were pretty strong in the hand. One would grab the bit and run. It was scary. She was 16.2, not too big, but she was a four-year-old.” The auction preparation was a different way of thinking
for her. “I would have been able to get through to those horses if I had a month and took it slowly, but you have to get them presentable quickly. Through all the training days, we had clients watching and trying them out. So on top of trying to make them look nice, you had to make them rideable. It’s really demanding.”
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