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Auburn fifth-year senior Taylor Searles competes during a recent equestrian meet. The Tigers host the SEC Championship starting Friday in Auburn.
Taylor Searles has to forget the feeling.
Make no mistake: Auburn\u2019s senior standout absolutely remembers what it was like to watch another team celebrate at the NCEA national championship last spring. It chapped her, and everyone else at the powerhouse Auburn equestrian program.
But it has to be set aside. That frustration can\u2019t come boiling back to the surface when it comes time to ride, and that disappointment can\u2019t fuel any new nervous jitters at the SEC Championship this weekend, because they say the horse can feel that energy, from rider to horse, from heart-rate to heart-rate, feeding off one another under pressure on the big stage.
Flesh and blood and thumping heartbeats come together again at the SEC Championship meet this weekend, and as it turns out, Searles and the Tigers are hosting the title chase here in Auburn.
\u201cThe home-team advantage is just really great with the crowd. It really helps you ride harder and honestly it just makes the team come together more,\u201d Searles said this week.
\u201cAnd we know this place. This is our home turf, so it just makes us want to defend it even more.\u201d
Second-seeded Auburn goes head-to-head with third-seeded Georgia in the conference semifinal at 3 p.m. Friday at the Auburn University Equestrian Center.
Auburn is looking to get back to its winning ways this postseason. The Tigers won the NCEA national title in 2018 and 2019. In 2020, the championships were canceled as COVID-19 spread across the United States \u2014 then, after the long wait, when the Tigers finally got their chance to win back their title in 2021, they left the national title meet early with an upset lost, frustrated and disappointed.
Now the postseason is back again, and the Tigers are back to reclaim crowns again.
Here\u2019s another storyline: Georgia was the last team to beat Auburn, in Athens back on March 4.
And another: This weekend is the last home ride for departing seniors like Searles.
\u201cThat\u2019s why I\u2019m sure excited that we have SECs here, because we had the Senior Day, but I didn\u2019t really think of it as my last ride here because I knew we had SECs and I know we\u2019re going to put up some really good rides and come home with the championship,\u201d she said.
To start Friday\u2019s action, top-seeded Texas A&M takes on fourth-seeded South Carolina at 10 a.m. in Auburn.
The advancing teams will square off in the championship final at 2 p.m. Saturday.
The event will be streamed on SEC Network+.
Auburn was undefeated this spring, winning seven meets including a huge win at Texas A&M on Feb. 26, before the upset loss March 4 at Georgia. Since then, though, Searles said the team has locked in and she said fans should expect to see good rides.
Auburn head coach Greg Williams said he wants to see the team ride to win instead of riding not lose \u2014 something he saw on that strong trip to Texas A&M.
The other part of it is managing those nerves.
\u201cI watch Tiger Woods talk about golf and about how he would love to just throw passion in it, and just scream as he\u2019s coming to the green, \u2018You can\u2019t stop me!\u2019 and all, but you\u2019ve got to be able to settle yourself down,\u201d Williams said. \u201cAnd, here, it\u2019s not even a golf ball that you\u2019re trying to calm your own nerves for, for a long putt: You\u2019ve got to calm your own nerves, but also, that horse is feeding off your energy.
\u201cThey cannot feel you the least bit of overexcited or the least bit of fear or doubt or whatever. That horse has to have your security. So their mental and emotional control is extremely important in this, so they have to be on their game.\u201d
Following the SEC Championship, the NCEA Championship will run April 14-16 in Ocala, Fla.
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Auburn fifth-year senior Taylor Searles competes during a recent equestrian meet. The Tigers host the SEC Championship starting Friday in Auburn.
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