2025 Regional Championships

,It has been far too long since I last sat down and wrote a post. Its been a whirlwind of a year between my continually expanding teaching schedule(YAY!) and competitions and weddings and .... So I apologize for my delay. 
But I do have exciting news- Jeriah and Illuminator both brought home wins at the Region 4 Championships. I am very proud of them, but if I am going to be candid, I simply feel relieved. Isn't that the thing about improving and developing- you feel an expectation has become placed on you. I have been out of a championship arena for 4(?) years and this has been my first time since declaring as a pro and pushing for building a business as a trainer. Needless to say, I felt a pressure to deliver, to prove myself per say. 
With that being said I would like to reflect and discuss this past week. Pressure is truly a privilege- I have two healthy, talented, honest FEI horses that I have developed over 8 years and they have reached a point in their training that I feel they are reliable at championship levels. That is truly a privilege. I have also built a team of people who make it possible for these horses to feel fit and happy. From our extraordinary vets at Horse and Hound Veterinary(Dr. Blackwell and Dr. Kemper), to our fantastic sponsor Trilogy performance saddles for their expert saddle fitting and quality saddles, to Shawntae Shipley(Dierwood Farm) for her expertise and eye for horse health, to our great horse shoer Larry Jones who probably couldnt believe I wanted to reset Lumies shoes at 3 weeks- just in case! 
My husband also came to this competition- the first since we have been married, but also the first in many years as he is active-duty Air Force currently. He remarked how proud he was of my accomplishment- I brushed him off, citing that regionals happen every year- its not like we won the Olympics. Isn't an outside perspective what is necessary to bring reflection? I am sure others have felt this way. 
In reflection, I felt Jeriah was truly with me this weekend but was kicking myself for a mistake in the 4s in our PSG and for the pirouettes not being what I know they could be. I could hear Lilo in my head saying " Brynne you know how to ride an 8 pirouette!" as I rode a 6. We still haven't hit the mark yet on how to manage Jeriah's anxiety in the stabling away from home- I am not sure how he wasn't exhausted after his continual weaving. Back to the drawing board we go on that. 
Lumie has been going rough for the last 4 + weeks. I have felt the contact has been a real issue and haven't been able to put a finger on where it stems. He is usually quite a handful the first day of a show, but this week he came off the trailer and we walked quietly to the lunging ring and he jogged on the lunge line instead of doing airs above the ground. I was perplexed- I hadn't planned for this. Needless to say, he was tired for the PSG and we had so many mistakes (mainly mine) because I didn't have what I anticipated to have underneath me. The score was just shy of a 65% and I was kicking myself. That's horses isn't it? 
He came back much better for the I-1 Freestyle, but an uncharacteristic headshake in the first half passes and resistance in the contact after left me questioning myself. We won with a 70.8%, but left a lot on the table. 
The biggest thing I can say with dressage is you have to have a team around you- I sent the videos from the weekend on to my mom and my vet and they agreed something wasn't right with Lumies contact. So, we addressed that this week and hopefully his is on the up and up as we prepare for Finals. I need to do a Blog discussing maintenance at this level- FEI horses (or any horse for that matter) are Rubiks cubes. It's important we listen to them and notice these changes no matter how small. 
So now we have received 3 invitations and 1 alternate to my first USDF Finals and I have no doubt I need to listen more to my husband's perspective to ensure positive ideation than my pressure mindset as we prepare. 

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