The Fresno State equestrian team prepared for the upcoming season with its annual Red vs. Blue intrasquad scrimmage.

The Red team defeated the Blue team 9-8 at Saturday’s event, which featured the Western and Hunt Seat teams.

Head coach Eric Hubbard was pleased by the team’s performance, as well as the fan support.

“It’s always great to see our fans at our events. I saw a lot of new faces today, and I look forward to them coming to all our home competitions,” Hubbard said. “The Hunt Seat team did well. Their rides today showed a lot of promise for great things to come.”

With the regular season opening on Oct. 2 against Delaware State, the scrimmage highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of the team.

“We are on the right track, just need to tune some fine details in order to make big changes,” Hubbard said. “There are some things that we need to clean up before heading on the road next weekend in order for us to be successful. I would have liked to see a little more from some of our returners on the Western side. They are usually so strong but that spark was missing today.”

In Saturday’s’ scrimmage, sophomore Paige Pastorino rode for a Hunt Seat event-high score of 92 over fences.

Pastorino earned her first collegiate Most Outstanding Player accolade in Equitation Over Fences.

Sophomore Rachel Williams led the Red team to a 4-0 sweep with a high score of 73.5.

Williams was named the Most Outstanding Player in Horsemanship.

The No. 5-ranked Bulldogs will face No. 1 Georgia in Dover, Delaware, on Oct. 3, after the season opener against Delaware State.

The ‘Dogs will host their home openers on Oct. 23-24 against New Mexico State and Texas A&M.

“We will have to ride mistake-free when competing next weekend,” Hubbard added. “In the upcoming days of practice, we are going to focus on cleaning up the things from today and become stronger as a team.”