The No. 4 Texas A&M equestrian team downed No. 6 Fresno State, 12-6, Saturday in the spring home opener at the Hildebrand Equine Complex to snap a two-meet losing streak.
"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," head coach Tana 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.”
The Aggies (7-3, 2-1 SEC) started out with an early 3-1 lead following Equitation over Fences as Rhian Murphy scored the first point of the day with an 81-77 victory over Natalie Wendt, followed by Rachael Hake topping Sierra Swaffar, 78-75. Caroline Dance earned Texas A&M’s only MOP honor of the day after defeating Paige Pastorino, 84-76.
In the western arena, Texas A&M won Horsemanship, 3-1. The Maroon & White tallied three straight points with Sarah Orsak leading the way by outscoring Julia Kelly, 75-71.5. Ashley Davidson bettered Taylor Dixon, 75-71.5, before Bailey Cook earned a 74.5 to top Taeya Harle’s 66.5.
Heading into Equitation on Flat, the Aggies led 6-2 and extended their lead to 9-4. Maddie Swem notched the opening win after downing Swaffar, 83-72. Brianna Peddicord edged out Wendt, 86-85, before Alex Desiderio earned the highest scoring ride of the day with a 90, topping Brooke Nelson, 90-89.
In the final event, Texas A&M took Reining, 3-2. Kalee McCann earned her sixth victory of the season to lead the squad after outdoing Taylor Dixon, 68-67. Ashton Dunkel extended her undefeated mark on the season after earning a 67.5-66 win over Shea Gilson. Courtney Yohey concluded the meet by defeating Kara Gufstafson, 64-60.
The Aggies return to action Saturday, Feb. 10 as they travel to South Carolina. The meet will begin at 9 a.m. at One Wood Farm in Blythewood, S.C.
