AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 3 Auburn equestrian team will head to the Lone Star State for its first road trip of the season, facing No. 4 Texas A&M at 1 p.m. CT Friday in College Station and No. 7 SMU at 10 a.m. CT Saturday in Dallas.
“Both of these teams are really good, and both are good at home,” Auburn head coach Jessica Braswell said. “Texas A&M is coming off a road loss at South Carolina, so I know they’ll be ready to defend their home turf, and they’re always a historically good program. We’ve been doing home-and-aways with SMU for a few years now, and it’s a really good team. They’ve only been on the road so far this season, so I know they’ll be looking for that first win at home.
“We’re going to have our hands full, but I’m excited to see what we can do. I’m proud of what this team has done so far, and I think we can have success — we’ll see how we execute this weekend.”
The Tigers enter the weekend 1-0, with home wins over then-No. 8 Baylor and Berry College (single-discipline meet). Auburn will use the same lineup in both western events against the Aggies and Mustangs.
In Horsemanship, the Tigers will feature Caroline Fredenburg, Callie Hogg, Brooke Jolstad, Sydney Swallom and Alexia Tordoff. The Reining lineup will include Caroline Buchanan, Michelle Fumagalli, Hogg, Sofia Tieche and Tordoff.
Tordoff was instrumental in Auburn’s season-opening win against Baylor, recording victories in both western events and earning Most Outstanding Performer honors in Reining with a score of 72.5. Swallom’s Horsemanship ride in that meet, which scored a 77, was recognized as the NCEA Ride of the Week on Oct. 8.
In Fences, Auburn’s lineup against Texas A&M will include Sadie Berkhout, Avery Glynn, Kate Hagerty, Ariana Marnell and Caroline Olsen. Against SMU, Kate Parker will replace Berkhout in the Fences lineup. On the Flat, Auburn’s lineup versus the Aggies will feature Glynn, Hagerty, Marnell, Olsen and Parker, with Berkhout stepping in for Parker the next day against the Mustangs.
Marnell enters the weekend with a 3-0-0 overall record, including two wins over Berry, where she scored a 90 in both Flat and Fences.
Auburn holds a 31-8 advantage in the all-time series against Texas A&M and has won each of the last three meets over the Aggies. The Tigers earned an 11-9 victory in the most recent meeting, the 2024-25 regular-season finale in College Station.
Auburn is 12-5 all-time against SMU. The teams split last season’s series, with each winning at home.
Live scoring for Friday’s meet at Texas A&M will be available at 12thman.com, and live scoring for Saturday’s meet at SMU can be found at SMUmustangs.com.