Three of the most difficult schools are on our schedule this week, South Carolina, Georgia and Auburn. Long nights and long days are ahead of us and teams are out for blood, I guess that’s what happens when you are number 1. Thus, the start of hell week. The week that everyone needs to be above and beyond with their rounds, their cheers, and their support. 

First up. South Carolina. At home they can put up a real fight on their horses and on their turf-  they also have a bigger team than us. Fences, Flat and Reining are what we need to fight for this week. This is also a bittersweet battle since all of us on the SMU team have friends at each of these schools. It’s not always easy doing battle with besties, girls we have grown up with and competed against our entire lives.

Second up. Georgia. This year Georgia has had some of the highest scores breaking records in one of our divisions and Georgia won NCAA Nationals 2 years ago, certainly making them a real competitor. Their team is huge. 80 girls on their team compared to our 35 make us look small, but as my dad always says we are “small but mighty.” Georgia has some very talented players, but so do we. This will be a real matchup of how far we have come in these last few weeks as a team.

Finally, Auburn has more accolades and SEC championships than any other team in the country. In the first round of the NCAA Championships, the best team goes against the second lowest ranked team. That was us last year and we came out guns blazing and beat them by 4 points, one of the biggest upsets in the first round in history. The stakes are different this time, they are at home and have their whole team behind them.

 All I can do is rely on the faith I have in my team and do my part in competing, cheering them on and supporting them. Everyone is out for our blood but what they are ready for is us to fight back just as hard or harder. 

Pony Up