About Brianna

A Passion for Excellence

Brianna's talent as a dressage rider, trainer & coach have won her & her students countless awards & championships.

She has coached many students to Regional Championships & US Finals, trained a number of horses to FEI, shown in over 100 shows - including CDIs - & won countless year end awards & championship placings on many different horses.

A Passion for Dressage

Brianna Zwilling grew up in Minnesota, working at a local horse stable in exchange for lessons and board for her first horse - a feisty, stubborn Arabian. She explored various disciplines & finally settled on dressage. Brianna was drawn to dressage because of the harmony that is achieved between horse & rider and the immense depth of learning needed to excel. She quickly discovered that excelling in dressage takes a commitment to lessons with a good instructor, and then putting in hours and hours of practice to learn those skills.

Even though Brianna’s Arabian was conformationally challenged, he took Brianna to her first dressage shows. With lots of practice, they competed together at First Level. Before long, Brianna jumped into dressage with both feet and bought a more suitable horse for the sport, an off the track Thoroughbred. The two learned and grew up together, showing from Training to Third Level and schooling higher level movements. Brianna took him to many regional championships. And when she realized the higher-level movements were too difficult for him, she sold him to another dressage rider with whom he continued to compete and teach the skills he had learned. Looking to the future, Brianna purchased a green, 4 year old, 18+ hand Oldenburg named DiMaggio.

In 2009, Brianna and DiMaggio represented Region 4 in the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships. They earned 6th place in the team competition. During that year, they also won two regional championship titles, Young Rider Prix St. Georges and Fourth Level Freestyle with a score of 77+%. DiMaggio is still going strong & now teaching some of Brianna’s students, even helping one of her riders earn a Bronze medal in 2015.

Brianna enjoys training horses at all levels, but is especially interested in working with young horses to patiently build strong basic skills. So she started the journey again with a new horse in 2012. While not really looking to buy for herself, she sat on a 4 year old that was for sale. After one ride, Brianna knew she had to have this horse and scraped together everything she had to buy Griffindor ("Opie"), a sensitive and big moving Oldenburg.

The two successfully qualified and competed at the first US Dressage Finals in 2013 where they placed 6th in the nation at First Level. They returned in 2015 earning National Champion Third Level Freestyle. In 2016, Opie showed his first season of Prix St. Georges and the pair have their sights set on Grand Prix in a few years.

Awards

2020

USDF GMO Photography Award

Best Amateur Photograph

St Louis Area Dressage Society

Champion Training Level, 69.5% – Lindstar, Owner Betsy Jacoby

Champion Second Level, 70.8% - For Dea Bella, Owner Sally Miller

Champion Third Level, 69.0% - Tristan Arie, Owner Erica Schwan

Champion Third Level Freestyle, 70.1% - Tristan Arie, Owner Erica Schwan

Champion Fourth Level, 68.9% - Tristan Arie, Owner Erica Schwan

Champion Prix St George, 68.8% - Griffindor, Owner Brianna Zwilling

Champion Intermediate 1, 70.1% - Griffindor, Owner Brianna Zwilling

Jessie Borgmeyer (student) USDF Adult Amateur Freestyle Year End Award, Second Level Reserve Champion

USDF Region 4 Championships

Griffindor owner Brianna Zwilling

Champion Intermediate Freestyle 72.925%

Reserve Champion Prix St George 70.809%

5th Place Intermediate 1 64.118%

Tristan Arie owner Erica Schwan

Reserve Champion Fourth Level 69.097%

Reserve Champion Third Level 68.188%

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

Reserve Champion Second Level 69.702%

2019

US Finals

Griffindor owner Brianna Zwilling

9th place Intermediate Freestyle 70.85%

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

Champion First Level Freestyle 80.111%

5th place First Level 72.407%

Tristan Arie owner Erica Schwan

7th place Third Level Freestyle 71.956%

USDF Region 4 Championships

Griffindor owner Brianna Zwilling

Champion Intermediate Freestyle 73.9%

Reserve Champion Intermediate 1 69.706%

Tristan Arie owner Erica Schwan

Reserve Champion Third Level Freestyle 73.417%

4th place Third Level 67.875%

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

Reserve Champion First Level Freestyle 76.7%

5th place First Level 72.778%

2018

US Finals

Griffindor owner Brianna Zwilling

5th place Intermediate Freestyle 71.225%

10th place Intermediate 1 67.696%

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

8th place First Level 69.651%

USDF Region 2 Championships

Griffindor owner Brianna Zwilling

3rd place Intermediate Freestyle 68.563%

4th place Intermediate 1 66.691%

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

Reserve Champion First Level 73.971%

Reserve Champion Training Level 75.0%

Davinia owner Jessie Borgmeyer

8th place First Level Freestyle 69.967%

8th place Training Level 69.773%

2017

USDF Region 4 Championships

For Dea Bella owner Sally Miller

Champion Training Level 72.614%

Midwest USDF Materiale Championship Final

Reserve Champion 4/5 Year Old Davinia owner Jessie Borgmeyer

2015

Region 4 Third Level Freestyle Champion

US Finals Third Level Freestyle Champion

2013

Region 4 Championships Training Level , 4th place

Region 4 First Level Champion

US Finals First Level, 6th place

Region 4 Championships Second Level, 3rd & 4th place

Region 4 Championships Third Level, Reserve Champion, 5th place

US Finals Third Level, 9th place

Region 4 Championships Fourth Level, 3rd place

2012

Region 4 Championships Intermediate 1, 4th place

2009

6th place Team North American Junior & Young Rider Championships

Region 4 Young Rider Prix St. Georges Champion

Region 4 Fourth Level Freestyle Champion