On the morning of the Dressage Zone D6 regionals held in Ojai Valley, 9-year-old Charlotte Perez woke up sick, and her mother, Anne Izadi-Perez, made the decision not to let her daughter compete so Charlotte could stay home and rest.
But to Anne’s surprise, Charlotte told her mother that she had to go to the competition, not wanting to let her teammates down.
“She was actually very sick [that morning] and she told me, ‘Mom, you have to let me compete. I cannot let my team down,’” Anne said. “So, she competed with a fever, and she was sick the whole drive up to Ojai.”…