Equestrian squeaks past second-ranked Bulldogs at home
BLYTHEWOOD —To win the meet, South Carolina had to win all five matchups against Georgia in the final event of the day, reining. Facing a Bulldog team that is ranked No. 3 in the nation, it came down to the final rider, sophomore Audrey Jewell.
Jewell, who was unaware of just how important her ride was for the team, scored a 75, beating her opponent by one and a half points to take the win for the Gamecocks.
"I think she rode very relaxed and I think she did a great job. It certainly made it very exciting," coach Boo Major said.
The Gamecocks ended up winning the reining event 4-0 as one point did not count for either team as senior Chloe Gray rode to a tie with her Georgia opponent.
"You know you just get this feeling like you got to let the chips fall where they may," Major said. "It was very nerve-racking for us, but as [Jewell] got going and we realized she was having a really good run then I think we were more thinking, 'Gosh she's going to come out with a win here.'"
Jewell was named MVP of the reining division and that was just icing on the cake for a South Carolina Western team that also swept the horsemanship division earlier in the day.
"We're certainly very encouraged by the Western horsemanship team having won five to nothing in horsemanship," said Major. "All of the Western riders really laid down really good rides today and I think they rode as mistake free as they could against a very good Georgia team."
For the Gamecock English riding team it was a tougher day, as they fell 5-0 in the equitation event and took just one win by sophomore Alex Arute in the equitation over fences division.
"Georgia has a phenomenal hunt seat team so I can't fault them. We just made some mistakes," Major said. "I think we maybe over thought ourselves in the jumping, they just out rode us in the jumping."
Major said the weather over the past couple of days may have cost them some points in the equitation over fences. With almost two full days of rain having soaked the ground in both arenas, the coaches had to make some changes to
the course to make sure it was safe enough for the athletes and the horses.
"We actually took some conservative routes in the hunt seat that may have cost us, because we were concerned about the footing," said Major.
While the wet ground doesn't necessarily make it dangerous for the riders to compete, it does mean that they can't be as aggressive. The riders typically go a bit slower in the reining event and jump smaller jumps in equitation over fences. Rain also means the horses spend more time in their stalls prior to the meet and the riders have to take extra care in preparing them to compete.
Going into a week off from competing, the team plans to build on their success as they head to Auburn in two weeks to take on the No. 2-ranked Tigers.