No. 8 Texas A&M Equestrian (4-3, 1-2 SEC) dominated unranked Delware State (3-4) in the first match of this weekend’s double-header. The Aggies found themselves on top 13-2 at the Hildebrand Equine Complex.
A cool morning marked the beginning of A&M equestrian’s first ever back-to-back competition. The Aggies came out with guns blazing in equitation over fences. They claimed the opening battle 3-1 with the help of junior Marlena Parker who scored a match-high 85 points on Callisto.
The women rode that momentum for the rest of the competition where they dealt two 4-0 sweeps to the Hornets. In the horsemanship competition, SEC November rider of the month junior Logan Pluhar and Sun Circuit Horsemanship invitee sophomore Kaci Fischer led the Aggies with scores of 75.5 and 73 respectively.
The Aggies had more where that came from as equitation on the flat brought another sweep. Senior Haley Buchmiller (71), sophomore Anna Rea (71), and juniors Hannah Williams (72) and Audrey Gallagher (77) all won their matchups to launch A&M to an 11-1 lead.
With a dominating tip going into the day’s final reining set, the Aggies coasted to a 13-2 victory. After conceding a point to DSU’s Brianna Fedorkowicz, A&M sophomore Sarah Kate Grider scored a 71 on Colonel, tying with Hornet Brooke Moore and no score was awarded. Junior Ashley Dotson scored a 73 on Tango to put a cap on a successful opening day of the spring season.
The Aggies will take a quick break before getting back on the saddle tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. to take on No. 10 New Mexico State. The two sets of Aggies will compete again at the Hildebrand Equine Complex.