The Best in the West Invitational will be the first full-team horse show of the spring season for the Horned Frogs.

The Frogs will go into the competition with a 2-7 record. They will compete against Fresno State University, 4-4, and University of Tennessee-Martin, 2-5.

The Frogs have competed against Fresno State 10 times. They had a 4-6 record against each other. The Frogs will face UT Martin Sunday to defend their 4-0 record with UT Martin.

“We had a very successful Stock Show and have continued to spend time in the saddle,” interim western head coach Kindel Huffman said. “We are more than ready to head west and take on the challenge.”

The Fort Worth Stock Show Bowl against Texas A&M was the latest competition for the equestrian team. The Frogs lost to the Aggies 285-284.5. There was a tie in reining, 2-2, but the Texas A&M defending National Champions were able to win in horsemanship 3-1.

Junior horsemanship rider Alexie Estrada will compete with a season record of 5-2-1 along with two MVP awards. Sophomore horsemanship rider Taylor Prince had one MVP award with a 6-2 record.

Junior Kolby Simonson finished the Stock Show Bowl with a record of 5-3 in reining. The Colorado native collected one MVP award for the season.

“The team has been working hard and I think we are ready to showcase what we’ve been working on during the break between the fall and spring schedule,” hunt seat head coach Logan Fiorentino said.

Junior hunt seat rider Haley Jacobi finished strong at the Third Annual Collegiate Equitation Challenge. Jacobi received a score of 81 in the first round of equitation over fences. She lost to South Carolina University rider Kimmy McCormack in the second round. Jacobi will start the Best in the West Invitational competition with an 8-8 record.

Freshman Kaitlin Perry competed at the Collegiate Equitation Challenge for equitation on the flat as a demo rider. Perry earned an MVP award along with a record of 7-7 for this season.
Fresno State rider Hillary West also competed at the Collegiate Equitation Challenge. West took 1-1 in equitation over fences. West will start the competition with a 6-2 record.

Sophomore Carly Lamb led the Tennessee Martin Skyhawks to win reining 4-1 against New Mexico State.

The Frogs will compete at the Fresno State Student Horse Center in Fresno, Calif. The Center houses up to 50 horses along with a 28,000 square-foot Animal Science Pavilion that is used when the weather is bad.