Feb. 3, 2005

Following a win against the Fresno State, the Gamecocks will attempt to outride the Georgia Bulldogs. The Gamecocks will seek another victory on Saturday February 5th at One Wood Farm in Blythewood, SC.

After outperforming the Fresno State Equestrian team, the Gamecocks will prepare to compete against two-time defending national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia is notorious for their ability in equitation on the flat and horsemanship, however they have been steadily improving their reining and equitation over fences.

This competition is the first of the season between Carolina and Georgia. In a pre-season meet and scrimmage, the Bulldogs narrowly beat the Gamecocks with a close score of 1,166 to 1,097.

“Competition with Georgia is always very tight, but we are up for the challenge,” says head Coach Boo Duncan.

Defeating Georgia will not only boost the team’s confidence in their ability but will give the USC Equestrian team the notice they deserve. The team stands with a 2-2 record for the season, but a 0-2 record in the SEC. Defeating Georgia will be the first SEC win for the Gamecocks.

In the hunt seat competitions, Tara Brothers as well as Kristen Terebesi are forecasted to be the biggest threats to Georgia’s Rachel Berkowitz and Logan Fiorentino, the Bulldogs’ top hunt seat riders.

“As far as strengths and weaknesses with UGA I think we compare very similarly on paper with them on the hunt seat side. They beat us this past fall by a narrow margin in hunt seat and when it is that narrow you have to think that your team’s strengths and weaknesses are pretty comparable to theirs,” said Coach Duncan.

In the western competitions of reining and horsemanship, Coach Joe Humphrey predicts Carly Veldman and Ashely Slocum of Georgia as the girls to beat.

“For match-ups, I think that Allison Bradley and Rachel Sternoff (of USC) compare with them very favorably. They are both very talented,” said Coach Humphrey.

Coach Humphrey is always excited to compete against Georgia, however, he is more excited “to see Lindsay Williams and all of (USC’s) reiners back in action together for the first time since last fall.”

Equitation on the flat and horsemanship will start simultaneously at 2pm. The more suspenseful competitions, however, are the jumping at 3pm and reining at 4pm. Be there when the Georgia Bulldogs and the South Carolina Gamecocks battle it out in the ring this Saturday at One Wood Farm in Blythewood, SC.