Purple-clad women stood side by side in the stands of the John Justin Arena, shouting with enthusiasm during Texas Christian University’s equestrian meet Thursday.
They were cheering on their teammates as they rode horses over jumps and through turns during the more than six-hour competition.
“Yeah, Frogs, let’s go!”
“Looking so good, froggies!”
TCU is known for its sports culture. Football, basketball and baseball loom large. With 38 athletes, equestrian is the second-largest women’s sport at the university, although it does not draw tens of thousands of fans as Horned Frogs home football games do.
But the team did not need a packed crowd to feel spirited, anyway. They made their own noise.
“You got it, Lilly.”
“Beautiful, Lilly!”
That encouragement was for Lilly Goldstein, a junior from Argyle. The 21-year-old has been involved in equestrian sports since she was a child after an introduction from her mom, who rode Western.
“I started out riding Western and quickly decided that that was a little boring for me, and I didn’t like that,” she said. “I was about 4 years old and started taking English lessons, and ever since then, I haven’t quit.”
TCU senior Lex Lipacis rides Billy during the jumping discipline at an equestrian meet at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 29, 2026. Jumping is an English riding discipline where riders navigate through a course of obstacles. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The athletes compete in one of two styles of riding: Western or English.
For English, they participate in disciplines called jumping and flat. Jumping involves the rider leading her horse through a series of jumps over fences, while flat requires performing nine movements in a pattern of circles and turns.
A lot of work goes into preparing, Goldstein said. In the lead-up to a meet, they practice three to four hours per day each weekday. The riders also work out three days per week with exercises such as running and weightlifting to build the strength that helps them hold their position on the horse and direct it.
Sophomore Sydney Feager, who is from the small town of Wright City, Missouri, started riding at age 4. She rides Western, which also has two disciplines — reining and horsemanship. She participated in the second one.
Feager and her horse, Snoop Dog, rode through a series of designated maneuvers around the arena.
“It’s really focused on the rider’s position and their body and how they can basically make the pattern look as easy as possible,” she said. “It should look effortless.”
Teammates, family and fans watch Texas Christian University host the University of California, Davis, for an equestrian meet at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 29, 2026. Equestrians competed in jumping, flats, horsemanship and reining. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
The meet was held on TCU Day at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, but the Horned Frogs had more than just home-crowd advantage. The home team provides the horses for such equestrian events.
That meant TCU competed on the same horses they practiced with. When they are away, they ride another school’s unfamiliar horses.
“That’s what really makes you as a rider, is if you’re able to go and ride a horse that you’ve never seen, never ridden before, never touched before,” Feager said.
The time to get acquainted with the horse an athlete will ride is limited. They only have four minutes to ride before their run.
Texas Christian University hosts University of California, Davis, for an equestrian meet at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 29, 2026. Equestrians competed in jumping, flats, horsemanship and reining. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Equestrians are scored for their individual run. Their score is compared to the athlete on the other team who rode the same horse. The higher-scoring equestrian earns a point for their team, and the school with the most points wins the meet.
“You’re basically just fighting it out on the same horse to see who rides a pattern the best, executes things the best, and then the judges will score them both,” Feager said.
Equestrian is an individual sport until college, TCU’s head Western coach Melissa Dukes said.
That is when riders unite as a team.
“It’s really cool to watch the girls learn to work together, cheer for each other, whether they’re warming up a horse or competing that day,” Dukes said. “It’s a family.”
Feager echoed the significance of the team effort and bond.
“That is just honestly the most important part of all this, because you can have talented girls, but if you’re not a team, it’s never going to come full circle,” she said.
TCU horses have a branded bridle during an equestrian meet at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 29, 2026. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
Sydney Feager, a Western rider for the TCU equestrian team, raises her right heel for a photograph of her boot on Jan. 29, 2026, in the John Justin Arena at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo. (McKinnon Rice | Fort Worth Report)
Spectators cycled in and out of the arena as the day went on, some wearing purple.
The stock show is TCU’s only home meet not held at Bear Creek Farms in Johnson County, where the team also practices. It is a chance for them to introduce the public to the team and to equestrian as a whole, Dukes said.
The crowd reached over 100 people at its peak. It was by far the largest stock show crowd Goldstein has seen in her three years competing with the school, she said.
“It’s really cool because you see little kids running around, and you see people coming up to you being like, ‘This is my first time here, what can I expect?’” Goldstein said.
TCU senior Anna Clausen prepares Smooch for the reining discipline at an equestrian meet at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo on Jan. 29, 2026. Reining is a Western riding discipline where riders guide horses through patterns of circles, stops and spins. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report/CatchLight Local/Report for America)
To the tunes of country artists like Tyler Childers and Zach Bryan, the women turned, trotted and jumped their way to victory.
TCU defeated the University of California, Davis 14-4 for their ninth consecutive stock show win.
Dukes said she was thrilled with the team’s performance during what was their first meet of the season.
“Really could not have been happier with how the girls rode, how they pulled for each other and worked just like a well-oiled machine back here getting horses ready and the girls,” Dukes said. “It was an awesome day.”
Feager said the meet went great, adding that she enjoyed being able to watch all of her teammates compete. When the team hosts meets at Bear Creek Farms, multiple arenas allow for disciplines to run competitions concurrently, so they do not always get to watch everyone’s runs.
“It was super fun, and obviously pulling out a win was the cherry on top,” Feager said.
McKinnon Rice is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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