Jackson, Tennessee veterinarian Brenda Looney and her husband, Lee, made an important decision a while back.

“We didn’t want to look back on our lives when we are older and say ‘what if…,’” she explains. “He’s been the biggest influence in my horse show career because he pushes me to achieve what I had previously only dreamed about.”

Brenda grew up in Royal Oak, Michigan, and was 10 when she was introduced to horses by her step-father, who had racing Quarter Horses when he met Brenda’s mother.

“My first horse was a retired race horse that was then being used as a broodmare, “ she recalls. “She hadn’t been ridden in years but was a saint. When we sold her, years later, she served on the mounted patrol. I started showing in 4-H on a horse named Miss Misty Command, she was broke but didn’t know much about showing when I got her but we took a lot of lessons and she turned into a solid show partner.”

Brenda attended classes at Oakland University in Rochester Michigan from 1990-92 and then moved to Tennessee with her family and enrolled at Freed Hardeman University, in Henderson, from 1993-95. She graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine in 1999 and began working at a vet clinic in Tennessee.

“I met Lee at the vet clinic, she explains. “He brought in a lame horse and I was the doctor that was free to examine her. To this day he says I was ‘checking him out’ when I was performing flexion tests on the horse and he had to trot her off.”

They started dating shortly after that first encounter in 2000, were engaged by the end of the year and married the following June. They now have one son, Jay, 11.

Today Brenda and Lee own and operate “My Animal Hospital.” Brenda is the veterinarian and Lee runs the business aspect.

“I mainly work with small animals and our clinic is very involved with rescue groups in our area,” Brenda says. “These groups take in unwanted/lost/mistreated dogs and cats, we help with health care needs and perform spays and neuters before they are rehomed.”

Brenda has had the opportunity to own and show several successful show horses, including Speak For Yourself, Top 10 High Point Champion in Amateur and Senior Hunter Under Saddle in 2006 and 2007. She also owned and showed Accept With Pleasure, Southern Belle Invitation Non-Pro Novice Horse Champion in 2007.

“This past year I borrowed my husband’s horse, Only A Summer Breeze, a 2008 bay mare by Invitation Only and out of Zippin the Breeze, for Amateur Western Pleasure and Non-Pro Maturities,” Brenda says. “We placed eighth at the AQHA World Show and Lee showed her in Novice Amateur Western Pleasure, finishing Top Five at the NSBA World Show and at the Novice Championship Show.” In addition, they were Top 10 at Congress and finished the year as AQHA High Point Novice Amateur Western Pleasure Champion for 2014.

Brenda also showed Natural Mead, a 2001 bay mare by These Irons Are Hot and out of Made To Be Natural in 2014. They placed third at the Tom Powers in Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle but then she sustained an injury causing her to miss the NSBA World Show.

“She was released to start back riding the last week of September so we only had about 10 rides before Congress,” Brenda explains. “But we still finished in fifth place in both the Limited and Open divisions of the 3-Year-Old Non-Pro Hunter Under Saddle.”

This year Brenda and Lee will show Only A Summer Breeze in Amateur Western Pleasure and Brian Baker will show her in Senior Western Pleasure. They own her full sister, Life Is A Breeze. Baker will show her in 3-year-old and Novice horse events this year and Brenda plans to show her in Non-Pro classes later this year. Natural Mead will return to the show arena this year with Brenda in Amateur and Junior Hunter Under Saddle.

“We also have a 2-Year-Old Hunter Under Saddle stallion that we purchased from Nancy Sue Ryan that everyone knows as ‘Kenny G’ (Truly Priceless x Gracious N Fabulous) and a 2-year-old filly, Al Act Classy (Allocate Your Assets x Zips Classy Act) that was Reserve Champion at NSBA World Show in Hunter Longe Line.”