colleges with equestrian teams

Parents Forum
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<p>mom60 - my DD who is also a rising hs sophomore just decided a couple of weeks ago that she wants to ride on a NCAA equestrian team in college. She is currently competing on the A circuit here in CA and has always known that when she goes to college she would not be taking her horse with her. We told her it was fine to ride in college, but not to choose a school based on riding, but to choose one based on what she wanted to major in. Before a few weeks ago DD said that she wasn’t going to ride while in college and would only ride when she came home in the summers.</p>

<p>DD has friends that ride for both Texas A&M and Fresno State and after spending 2 weeks at a horseshow in Pebble Beach with one of her friends that was home for the summer from Texas A&M, DD has decided she wants to try to get on a NCAA team. We are fortunate to have a trainer that has assisted many girls from our barn get the rides they need to on horses so they can be videoed and sent to the colleges.</p>

<p>I have told DD that she must look at the colleges with the NCAA riding programs and make sure that they have a good program in journalism also as this is what she thinks she would like to study.</p>

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<p>schools in california (that I know of) with competitive, large, organized IHSA riding teams:
UCDavis
UCSD
USC
Cal Poly Pamona
Stanford
USD
Cal Poly Slo</p>

<p>Schools in CA with NCAA teams:
Fresno State</p>

<p>I go to UCLA, and we have a small, but good IHSA team. However, we don’t have a coach or horses (this does, however, make being in the team less expensive, and sometimes more fun!). If you’re looking for a more organized team, though, I’d recommend UCSD (the coach is great, and all the girls are really sweet) or UCDavis.</p>

<p>Go to varsityequestrian.com for a list of NCAA schools.</p>

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<p>Taking riding lessons at Smith College was one of the high points of my college career, many years ago. From their website, it appears they still have an excellent [Equestrian</a> Program](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/athletics/sports/equestrian/]Equestrian”>http://www.smith.edu/athletics/sports/equestrian/).</p>

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<p>UCD and UCSC both have club equestrian teams and UCD has club polo too. Trinity U in San Antonio has an equestrian team as doe Scripps College in Claremont…it was a contributing factor in listmaking for my D but she ultimately chose a school w/o horses.</p>

<p>Club equestrian sounds fun. The kids show up and ride horses they don’t know chosen at random from a pool so it shows riding talent not just which pleasure horse is the best.</p>

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<p>One of D’s good friends from preschool-12th grade attended Sewanee partially because of the ability to board and ride her horse there. She is now aimed toward vet school because of her commitment to riding.</p>

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<p>Don’t know if your D is adverse to the east coast, but if she isn’t, Tufts has an equestrian team. It’s IHSA affiliated. Kids go off-campus to ride at a farm about 30 miles from campus.</p>

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<p>Drew University in Madison, NJ also has an equestrian team; but the stables are off campus.</p>

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<p>Northwestern U in Illinois has a women’s Polo team.</p>

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<p>oh and Scripps doesn’t have facilities on site but they go to a local barn to train.</p>

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<p>[The</a> College Equestrian College Program Search- college equestrian programs, equestrian teams](<a href=“http://www.thecollegeequestrian.com/Pages/CollegeEquestrianSchoolSearch.htm]The”>http://www.thecollegeequestrian.com/Pages/CollegeEquestrianSchoolSearch.htm)</p>

<p>This website seemed to have good information.</p>

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<p>I just met with a college rep yesterday from Acadia University in BC which has equestrian teams at all levels. A 3000 student LAC with a lovely campus. Very good value (less than $20,000 for tuition, room AND board) and offers merit scholarships. May be a little far for some–roughly the same as West Coast traveling to East. But it is an accredited Univ and sounded great.</p>

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<p>You should also consider Sewanee, which is among the top liberal arts colleges in the Southeast. It has a very successful equestrian program with over 40 riders on their roster and beautiful on-campus facilities set among the 13,000 acre campus.</p>

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<p>SJTH- from the website I saw it looks like Acadia is in Nova Scotia not BC.
I am keeping a list. She is presently a soph.</p>

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<p>South Carolina</p>

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<p>Sorry Mom60.</p>

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<p>Auburn University: [The</a> Auburn University Official Athletic Site - Women’s Equestrian](<a href=“http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/w-equest/aub-w-equest-body.html]The”>http://auburntigers.cstv.com/sports/w-equest/aub-w-equest-body.html)</p>

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<p>Middle Tenessee State University has an amazing Equestrian Team, Horse Science Program and wonderful new facilities. I am an alum and enjoyed every part of it! They now offer boarding for student horses, as well, which I wish I could’ve taken advantage of when I was there. Here’s a link to the Eq. Team site: [MTSU</a> Equestrian Team - Welcome](<a href=“http://frank.mtsu.edu/~eqteam/index.htm]MTSU”>http://frank.mtsu.edu/~eqteam/index.htm) and here’s a link to the Horse Science Program: [MTSU</a> Horse Science](<a href=“Horse Science | Middle Tennessee State University”>Horse Science | Middle Tennessee State University).</p>

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<p>Susquehanna and Goucher are good choices–equestrian teams without being snobby preppy schools</p>

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<p>[Alfred</a> University : Academics : Equestrian Studies](<a href=“http://www.alfred.edu/academics/equestrian/]Alfred”>http://www.alfred.edu/academics/equestrian/)</p>

<p>Alfred University has both English & Western Equestrian teams.</p>

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<p>I know you are looking west coast, but thought I would share more information based on our search as others may look at this thread who have kids who ride.</p>

<p>The IHSA website is useful and shows schools that have riding teams. The NCAA website also shows schools with riding teams. The most common types of riding we have come across are hunt seat equitation/over fences and western. But, many schools have dressage, polo, and a few even have eventing.</p>

<p>As we looked, we found that many schools have their equestrian teams as a club sport. Those that have it as a varsity athletic program also compete in IHSA shows so there did not seem to be a big difference in NCAA D1 schools vs those that have club sports. Maybe the only difference is scholarships. Ivy League schools do not give athletic scholarships so perhaps this is why equestrian is a varsity sport there.</p>

<p>In the Ivy League, there are 3 schools that have Division 1 equestrian teams: Brown, Cornell and Dartmouth. Cornell and Dartmouth do not have barns on campus but fairly close and the kids carpool for their lessons. We did not visit Brown. These schools also compete in IHSA shows.</p>

<p>Duke University has an equestrian team too, again off campus. Every 4 years the school provides funding for the students to travel for training. Last year they went to Ireland!</p>

<p>There are lots of schools in VA, KY, and TN with riding teams. Vanderbilt has several different teams as club sports. We did not visit the barn.</p>

<p>Bethany College in KY, Meredith Manor, and Universtiy of KY are all known to have strong riding programs. My D’s friend is going to Otterbein in Ohio which has several teams–eventing, dressage, hunt seat, etc.</p>

<p>Stanford has a lovely on campus barn and has dressage and hunt seat teams.</p>

<p>My D is going to Cornell and is excited to ride on their NCAA D1 team.</p>

<p>Question: Does anyone know if riders need to register with the NCAA clearining house if they intend to try out for D1 equestrian teams?</p>