Texas A&M equestrian is headed to Southern Methodist University on Saturday, Feb. 15 to compete at the Dallas Equestrian Center starting at 10 a.m.
Last weekend, A&M lost to South Carolina in a 10-10 tiebreaker (1421.5-1358). The Aggies are now hoping to redeem themselves and their ranking by heading to SMU.
“We held our own; however dealing with a tie is hard,” A&M coach Tana McKay said. “It’s hard to take, so the team uses that as motivation this week.”
This weekend will mark the first time A&M has competed at SMU since 2017, and McKay said there is an unknown with some of the horses and the facility.
“You have to be flawless on horses you don’t know; you have to push it and give it all you can,” McKay said “When you push it, it opens the doors for mistakes and penalties to happen. You look back and ask why did it happen, how can we fix it and what we take care of next time and move on.”
Junior Rhian Murphy said she hopes to make improvements in the Jumping Seat event.
“We’ve been working on the little details, that’s where I think South Carolina beat us in some places,” Murphy said. “Working on the details and being more polished, and not giving the judge any reason to take points away.”
Freshman Emmy-Lu Marsh had a successful game last weekend by scoring the team a point in the Reining event, and she said her goal is to further that success.
“This week I have been working on getting more consistent in my patterns, being closer as a team,” Marsh said. “I feel that whenever we support each other as a team, we do better. I’ve been starting for a few games now so a goal of mine going into SMU is to hopefully win [Most Outstanding Player].”
Being a freshman and new to the team, Marsh said the team’s support is instrumental to her success.
“Everyone has been really supportive since I’ve came,” Marsh said. “They have believed in me and whenever you have 50-plus girls backing you, you know they believe I can make the best decisions in the show pen. Having that support system shows me that I can really do this.”