No. 6 Georgia Falls at No. 4 Texas A&M, 13-6

Friday, October 6

College Station, TX

1:00 p.m.

University of Georgia

Texas A&M

October 06, 2023 | Equestrian

COLLEGE STATION, Texas --- Despite many close-scoring rides, the sixth-ranked University of Georgia equestrian team fell to No. 4 Texas A&M, 13-6, on Friday afternoon at the Hildebrand Equestrian Complex.

The individual rides between the Bulldogs and Aggies were closely scored even though the overall point gap was substantial. Across all four events, seven points were determined by a margin of one or less.

Highlighting the meet for Georgia (1-1, 0-1 SEC) was junior Catalina Peralta who most Most Outstanding Performer honors for her Fences ride.  The Geneva, Florida native scored an 86 for her course, the highest mark of the day, and defeated her Aggie opponent by seven points.

"Today was certainly not the outcome that we wanted to display on our first road trip," Georgia head coach Meghan Boenig said. "I really appreciate the good riding that we saw by Texas A&M. We had lots of little moments that we just didn't capitalize on, which resulted in lots of little losses. There were many close rides so the outcome of the score doesn't reflect how close many individual rides were. Having said that, we didn't close the door in some places we needed to."

Competition started in Fences with the Aggies edging the Bulldogs, 3-2. Texas A&M (2-0, 1-0 SEC) won the first three points of the event, two of which were by one-point margins.  Then the Bulldogs got on the board with an 86-79 point from Peralta.  Junior Melissa Deryn Foster finished the event with a score of 85 to defeat her Aggie counterpart by five points.

Meanwhile in Horsemanship, the Aggies added four tallies to the Bulldogs' one. Texas A&M riders won the first three points of the event.  Junior Jillian Stopperich scored a 73 for her ride to grab a point for the Bulldogs over Ella Petak's score of 72.  The Aggies won the last Horsemanship ride.

Georgia trailed 7-3 after two events.

The Aggies widened the gap in Flat, adding three points to their total.  Texas A&M won the first three rides before junior Jessica Guginsky matched her opponent's score of 80 to push the point.  Senior Joran Toering claimed a point for the Bulldogs beating her opponent by three with a score of 78.

Texas A&M sealed the win in Reining.  The Aggies took the first two points before sophomore Raegan Shepherd edged her opponent by half a point to add a tally for the Bulldogs. After another A&M point, junior Jax Bound won the final ride of the day with a score of 73.5.

Georgia is back in action next week with the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Bulldogs and Gamecocks will square off on Friday, October 13 at 2 p.m. at the UGA Equestrian Complex. Fans will be given pink ribbons and pumpkin painting will be available. Admission is free.

HOW TO FOLLOW GEORGIA EQUESTRIAN: For complete information on Georgia equestrian, follow the team on its social media channels via @UGAEquestrian on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.