The No. 5 Texas A&M equestrian team concluded its season on Thursday, April 13, after falling short to the TCU Horned Frogs.The Aggies ended the season 9-6 overall, playing their best at home with a 5-1 advantage and struggling on the road with only three wins. The maroon and white battled against the Horned Frogs three times this season and were unable to overcome the squad, losing all three matchups, one to open and close the season.
“We’re disappointed,” coach Tana McKay said to 12thMan.com. “There’s no other way to say it. This is not what we planned for. We made some mistakes that you just can’t do at this level and we didn’t execute our plan. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes.”
The Aggies came out blazing and teamed up to come out on top in Fences, earning three points to outscore TCU 3-2 in the discipline. Freshman Alexa Leong scored 250, fifth year Haley Redifer scored 248 and freshman Devon Thomas recorded the highest score of the competition with 256.
It was a close battle for the Aggies in Flat, where they performed well but were outscored 3-2. Thomas led the Aggies again with a high score of 253. Sophomore Rylee Shufelt followed closely behind with 251. The pair was dominated by three Horned Frogs who scored 246, 230 and 222 to win the discipline.
TCU swept the Aggies in Horsemanship, collecting all five points. Sophomore Payton Boutelle led the Horned Frogs with the highest score of 229. Mattie Dukes followed her lead, as the senior recorded a score of 227. Two Aggies gave Boutelle and Dukes a close run to nearly outscore the pair, with junior Ella Petak and sophomore Ellie Gerbrandt both recording a score of 225.
To close the competition, the Aggies were edged out 3-2 again in Reining. Performances were close as Dukes barely swept past senior Ariana Gray 215 to 214.50. Graduate student Lisa Bricker and junior Keesa Luers teamed up to score the Aggies two points with 207 and 212.50, respectively.
“The one thing I love about this team is how they were a very cohesive group, and it’s hard to do in this sport when you’re so separate,” McKay said. “We didn’t get to see any of the jumping seat rides. They didn’t see any of the western rides, but this group has done a really good job of keeping working together and pulling for each other even when mistakes happen. Mistakes happen, but they know that their teammates are still there for them.”