The No. 4 Texas A&M equestrian team rode to the top in their spring home opener against No. 6 Fresno State Bulldogs at the Hildebrand Equine Complex on Saturday, ending with a 12-6 score. This is the second win for A&M against the Bulldogs. They defeated Fresno 14-5 in the season opener back in the fall in Fresno, California.
Head coach Tana McKay was pleased with the consistency from her team and their horses after playing against a tough team like Fresno State.
“It felt good to be at home and get back on a good note with a tough team. They have been tough, and they were tough when we played them in Fresno, so we knew we had our work cut out for us,” McKay said. “It was the first meet back for the horses too, so we didn’t exactly know what we would see from them. We saw some more consistency that we didn’t see at TCU across the board.”
A&M opened up the competition with a 3-1 win over Fresno State in the Equitation over Fences. Aggie freshman Rhian Murphy scored the first point for A&M after defeating Fresno’s Natalie Wendt, 81-77. Senior Rachael Hake and freshman Caroline Dance followed closely behind Murphy and topped their opponents 78-75 and 84-76.
Horsemanship was no different for the Aggies, as they finished 3-1 now putting themselves far in the lead. Ashley Davidson topped Fresno’s Taylor Dixon 75-71.5, while teammate Sarah Orsak came within one point of Bulldog Julia Kelly, adding another point for A&M. Bailey Cook secured the third point for the Aggies after defeating Taeya Harle, 74.5-66.5.
Despite being down 6-2 after two events, the Bulldogs started to catch up in the Equitation on the Flat and finished 3-2. Fresno’s Kylina Chalack and Alex Dickerson scored the two points against A&M’s Rebekah Chenelle and Rachael Hake, 83-81 and 93-85. However, the Aggies still came out on top with Maddie Swem, Brianna Peddicord and Alex Desiderio earning three points and advancing the team to 9-4.
In the last event, A&M won Reining 3-2 led by junior Kalee McCann topping opponent Taylor Dixon 68-67 and earning her sixth win of the season. Ashton Dunkel also defeated her opponent Shea Gilson 67.5-66, while Courtney Yohey closed the meet out with a 64-60 win over Fresno’s Kara Gufstafson.
The Aggies will continue their spring season on Feb. 10 when they face SEC opponent, South Carolina at the One Wood Farm in Blythewood.
