Auburn Equestrian Coughs-Up Big Lead to Fall 9-11 at South Carolina

With victory nearly won, the Tigers instead lost the final six points, giving away the tough SEC road meet.

For most of Saturday’s action, it seemed like Auburn Equestrian would easily outmatch South Carolina once again. The Tigers had beaten the Gamecocks each time the teams had met stretching back to February 2015. But a late Carolina surge, capped by their 5-0 sweep in Reining, delivered a stunning upset.

College Equestrian 101

A lot of readers might be new to the sport, so each of these spring articles will include this new section, in which I explain something basic about the sport of college equestrian.

The main thing to understand this week is: Road Meets Are Tough.

Transporting horses around the country is so expensive that it’s only done in the postseason. During the regular season, the host program provides the horses that will be ridden in the meet. Naturally, the home team is VERY familiar with their horses (they practice on them constantly), so knowing the peculiarities of how each horse performs gives them a big advantage.

It's common to see two teams split their home-and-home series in a season, and with Auburn beating South Carolina in Auburn this past October, the Gamecocks were hoping Saturday would be their turn at victory.

It took a while, but they finally got their wish.

How the Meet Went

The day began with Horsemanship. Auburn has one of the top lineups in the country in this event, so they were heavily favored here.

As the riders’ scores began to post, the event unfolded as expected. Auburn senior Madison Parduhn, sophomores Caroline Fredenburg and Alexia Tordoff, and freshman Alexis Potts each outrode their Gamecock opponents. Tordoff’s ride was also awarded the Most Outstanding Performance in the event.

The 4-1 Horsemanship victory gave Auburn a nice lead to begin the meet.

Down the hill and through the woods of Carolina’s One Wood Farm, Equitation on the Flat was also getting started. Here, the head-to-head matchups featured mostly evenly matched riders.

The home-horse advantage enabled the Gamecocks to reverse the scoring trend, winning the event 3-2. Auburn graduate Ava Stearns and senior Ellie Ferrigno score a pair of points for the Tigers.

Had this meet been at home, Auburn would not have been satisfied with only a 6-4 lead at halftime. But with how difficult away meets are in this sport, any lead on the road is a good one.

And if the Tigers could take care of business and win the head-to-head rides they were favored to win in the second half, the day would be theirs.

Equitation Over Fences began the second-half action, and the Tigers continued to ride well. Auburn won the event 3-2. Auburn’s Ferrigno (event MOP) and Stearns, along with junior Sophee Steckbeck increased Auburn’s overall lead to 9-6. Just two more points would win the Tigers the meet.

The final event, Reining, figured to be South Carolina’s best. Most of the matchups favored Gamecocks riders, but with Auburn only needing a pair of points, the spirits of the Orange-and-Blue faithful in attendance were still high.

Not for long, though.

After each head-to-head matchup concluded, the dreaded “Point Gamecocks!” continued to ring out. Auburn's once-comfortable lead ended in a 9-11 loss to South Carolina.

What This Loss Means for Auburn

The Tigers finished the fall with a pair of road losses, and Saturday’s defeat extends that ignominious streak to three straight. The Tigers had not lost three straight meets since the 2011-2012 season.

Up Next for Auburn

The road woes for Auburn might not be over either. Next Saturday, the Tigers travel to Bishop to take on SEC rival Georgia in Auburn’s last road meet of the season.

The Scoresheet

Auburn 9 - South Carolina 11

FENCES:
Sophee Steckbeck (AU) def Jordan Allen (SC): 84-74
*Ellie Ferrigno (AU) def Natalie Jayne (SC): 88-86
Alexa Aureliano (SC) def Avery Glynn (AU): 85-83
Ava Stearns (AU) def Grace Rabb (SC): 87-80
Bella Primavera (SC) def Mary-Grace Segars (AU): 82-81

FLAT:
Ellie Ferrigno (AU) def Natalie Jayne (SC): 76-75
Ava Stearns (AU) def Ellie Beard (SC): 78-75
Sarah Rabb (SC) def Avery Glynn (AU): 80-71
Sophie Mitchell (SC) def Mary-Grace Segars (AU): 81-80
*Mary Hunter Millet (SC) def Alex Ryden (AU): 81-78

HORSEMANSHIP:
Madison Parduhn (AU) def Jenna Berghorst (SC): 72.5-71.5
Caroline Fredenburg (AU) def Carly Jenkins (SC): 71-68.5
*Alexia Tordoff (AU) def Tierney Horton (SC): 75-70
Alexis Potts (AU) def Kiersten Beckner (SC): 69-65
Jordyn Humbert (SC) def Sydney Swallom (AU): 72-66.5

REINING:
Emma Lane (SC) def Kate Buchanan (AU): 70.5-67.5
Mattilyn McNeill (SC) def Olivia Marino (AU): 70.5-69.5
Emilia Reutimann (SC) def Caroline Buchanan (AU): 70-68
Chloe Stephenson (SC) def Alexia Tordoff (AU): 70.5-62.5
Chloe VanStone (SC) def Isabella Tesmer (AU): 69.5-67.5

*Event MOP"