IRVING, TX -- Texas A&M senior Lia Chafee and junior Amanda Brightwell were named Big 12 Equestrian Rider of the Month for the fences and horsemanship disciplines, the league office announced Wednesday.
Chafee (Little Compton, R.I.) averaged 85 points per ride over fences in the month of February, all coming on the road. She earned an 84-40 win over SMU’s Courtney Line on Feb. 3. That performance gave the senior her second MVP of the season. Later in the month, she posted a season-high 86-point ride in a road win at Oklahoma State (Feb. 25). She edged out OSU’s Samantha Elser, 86-78. Those victories extended her fences win streak to four.
Brightwell picked up two wins in horsemanship on the road this month for the Aggies. She claimed a one point win over TCU’s Callie Rouse (Feb. 3) at the Fort Worth Stock Show. That win proved the difference in a 5-3 victory in the western-only show. She also posted a career-best score of 77.5 to defeat Marissa Dalton of Oklahoma State in Stillwater (Feb. 25). That score earned the junior her first MVP award of the year and was the second-highest score put up by an Aggie horsemanship rider this season. Brightwell is unbeaten now in her last seven rides overall.
Brightwell became the second A&M rider to win the award in horsemanship, which went to teammate Carey Nowacek in both November and December. Chafee followed teammate Maggie Earle as the second Aggie in a row to claim the award over fences.
Texas A&M closes out the regular season on Saturday when the Aggies host No. 6 Baylor at the Brazos County Expo Complex in Bryan. Start time is 11 a.m. and admission is free.
