RIANA’S AUCTION DEBUT The day of the auction, Riana dressed in white breeches, a white collared shirt covered by a long sleeve blue shirt and a helmet. “Not all the riders wore helmets every day, but I did.” The morning of the auction, the horses were presented one more time to potential buyers who could try them out. Riana had one of her new friends video her riding the mares because a woman in California had expressed interest. She quickly emailed the video, though the potential buyer never made a bid. It was finally time for the auction to begin at
three in the afternoon. “Uptight? I didn’t even think twice about it,” Riana chuckles. “I thought of it like a show. I needed to get ‘nine’ movement so the horses would sell.” The grooming service in the barn made her
feel quite spoiled. She arrived and her horses were ready for her to mount, just as they were for the other five riders. Of the 53 horses, Riana’s were numbers 22, 39 and 41, giving her time to watch the others “so I wasn’t going in cold turkey.” She mounted in the barn, warmed up her horse #22, walked down the tunnel to the auction hall, and bam! They made their energetic entrance, greeted by the crowd of spectators and buyers, the calls of the auctioneer and music selected especially for this horse. “The horses are already ‘oh my gawd,’ and then they see the white fence and these little tiny trees in the arena. Spooky. But mine were good.” Her first horse, Flavio, a 16.1h chestnut gelding
(by Florencio x Dormello x Rubinstein) trotted around the small arena, cool to the crowd and
decorations. He threw in a tiny buck and hopped a bit when the auctioneer pounded his hammer. “I thought the hop was cute.” He did not sell. Horse #39, Dame von Berlin, was very good. The 16.2
hand bay mare (by Danone I x Romancier x Renoir) kept her back relaxed considering the venue, trotting to Frank Sinatra’s voice and selling for 9,000 euros. Her owners were thrilled. “Sometimes the rider only trots because the bidding
stops. Sometimes Uwe asked for a canter or a lengthening to amp up the bidding,” she explains. For some reason horse number 40 was not on deck which meant Riana had to jump off of Dame von Berlin and jump on horse #41, Amidala K, right outside the door and immediately go back in. “Exciting!” Amidala K, a 16.2 hand black mare (by Dr. Doolittle x
Enterprice x Argentinus) was Riana’s favorite. “She was a doll—the sweetest horse in the world. She was super about everything all the training days. But when she saw
112 March/April 2012
Top: Riana visits the famous tack store Reitsport Schockemöhle in Germany. Photo courtesy Riana Porter Below: Riana showing horse #22 Flavio during the auction. Photo © Tammo Ernst
all the people in the stands, she showed her spooky side.” Riana’s attention was riveted to her horse as she held
on for dear life to keep her under control. She focused intently on her mission to keep the mare expressive but not crazy, never hearing the music or the bidding that mounted to 18,000 euros. The top selling horse went for 80,000 euros. Thirty-five horses sold for an average price of 17,049 euros.
BACK TO REALITY Unfortunately, because of the trip she missed registration for the junior college this semester. But she believes strongly that “things happen for a reason.” The trip to Germany was a perfect example. Her goal for the year had been to qualify to ride in the Young Rider World Cup in Frankfurt, Germany. “I didn’t get the scores for an invitation. If I had, I wouldn’t have been able to ride in the auction. In my short life,
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