After falling to a five-point deficit early in the matchup, the No. 3 Texas A&M equestrian team (6-3) was unable to make a full comeback and was defeated by the No. 9 Texas Christian Horned Frogs (3-5) 11-8.
The A&M Hunt Seat team got off to a slow start as they fell to TCU 0-5 in the Flat. Junior, Rebekah Chenelle was first up for the Aggies and finished with a score of 65. However, TCU’s senior Jayme Omand came out on top and defeated Chenelle, 77-65.
The Horned Frogs continued to dominate the Flat. Rachael Hake was defeated by Emelie Burgess 83-74, Alex Desiderio was topped by Mady Fithian 67-60, while Brianna Peddicord and Maddie Swem were defeated by TCU’s Carley Barnett and Raegan Rast, 85-75 and 71-66.
Despite falling behind in the Flat, A&M started to show some fight when competing in the Fences. A&M freshman, Rhian Murphy began on a positive note, defeating the Horned Frogs’ Patty Gill 81-62. She would defeat Gill twice, when they were both granted a re-ride, where Murphy won 85-81.
Desiderio and Hake followed closely behind their teammate and defeated their opponents 84-83 and 84-80. A&M’s Caroline Dance and Rebekah Chenelle, however, were unable to add to their team scores. Dance fell to her opponent Jayme Omand 84-78, while Chenelle tied with her competitor Marisa Malevitis 82-82. The Horned Frogs came out on top for Hunt Seat, ending with a total score of 6-3 over the Aggies.
The Aggies then headed to the Fort Worth Stock Show to continue their matchup against TCU in Horsemanship and Reining. Behind by three points, A&M proved Reining was their best event of the day. They finished 4-1 and moved the total score to 7-7.
A&M junior, Kalee McCann scored the first Reining point, defeating the Horned Frogs’ freshman Josie Ferrante 66.5-0. Fellow Aggie teammates Ashton Dunkel, Madison Bohman, and Courtney Yohey would also top their TCU opponents and land A&M four more points in the matchup. Haley Franc would eventually tie the score up after falling to TCU’s Carly Lombard 72.5-68.5.
In the last event of the night, the Aggies were unable to gain ground against TCU and forced a 4-1 loss in Horsemanship. Senior, Avery Ellis scored the lone point for A&M when she beat out her opponent, Kassi Jones 72-69.5. This brought the final score to 11-8 with the Horned Frogs on top.
The Aggies will return to College Station to face against Fresno State on Feb. 3 at the Hildebrand Equine Complex at 11 a.m.