<p>Sorry for getting back to you so late…
Yeah on my tour I was talking with my tour guide about riding, and she said that a couple of her friends stabled horses nearby and would go riding if they had a free afternoon… they could even petition to make it count as a sports credit. Teachers volunteered to drive. This was as long as you could uphold a high academic standard. So riding is definitely a possibility at a non-riding boarding school.</p>
<p>My mother went to BS in Va. w/ her horse. She says it<code>s best to go to a school where the stables are part of the school. You will have problems if the barn isnt on the activity bus schedule. Also you wont have any garantee about stable management outside of campus.
Lindin Hall-PA, Foxcroft-VA, Westover-CT, Dana Hall-MA have very good programs if you are a girl. Don</code>t go too far away from your state, too much hauling with your horse considering bad weather during vacation times. Hope that helps.</p>
<p>cutiedida: that’s really good to know, that might have to be the way to go for me.</p>
<p>maddog: also good to know, i can definitely see those problems myself. </p>
<p>I think I will be making a giant pro/con list about this issue in these coming months :)</p>
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<p>You won’t get that guarantee on campus either, depending on the school and depending on what standards and training quality you’re used to. While I was happy with the care my horse received at my school and very happy with my trainers there, the turnout situation left a lot to be desired.</p>
<p>But it’s definitely easier if the riding program is a part of the school with a barn on (or close to) campus. Even though you’ll have people willing to drive you to an off campus barn at a school without any program, you’ll also have to consider any other sports/activities requirements you would have after school on campus, depending on how serious a rider you are. </p>
<p>There’s a difference between going riding when you have a free afternoon and going riding because you want to seriously ride and compete in your discipline regularly. Some schools require that you play a sport. If you can’t get riding to count as your sport, you’re going to be really busy with whatever sports team you join and might not have much to time to seriously train on your horse and he might spend more time sitting in his stall/having other people riding him than you riding him.</p>
<p>I ride with Frank Madden (one of the best trainers in the US), at the Junior Equitation level, in a very competitive circuit (WEF, ASPCA Maclay National Finals. etc) and I picked school over riding in the end. Unless you want to be a professional, which I couldn’t imagine if you are applying to boarding school, high school really should come first. Boarding schools has so many breaks, and we have 3-MONTH SUMMERS (strange for europeans like me - ours is 6 weeks) that riding apart from school is also an option.</p>
<p>ctuiedida: Frank Madden? Whoa that’s impressive right there.</p>
<p>And you’re right, I’m not riding to become a professional, I don’t even know if I was to show competively. I ride because I love:
- spending time with my horse (who happens to be one of my best friends
) - exercising my horse
- taking care of him</p>
<p>And this does take a lot of energy, and I think it’s something I definitely will inquire about once I have my interviews. Since horseback riding definitely teaches you team dynamics, how to interact with both people and animals, teaches responsibility and is also an intense workout/exercise, would a school consider letting me pursue this instead of a school sport? I think I remember reading how some schools allow you to work on a special project during one or two of the terms as an exemption to the provided athletics. Examples of this would be community service, arts, an internship, etc so riding might qualify for that</p>
<p>From the Hotchkiss website (<a href=“http://www.hotchkiss.org/athletics/athletic-program/index.aspx):%5B/url%5D”>http://www.hotchkiss.org/athletics/athletic-program/index.aspx):</a></p>
<p>To that end, the School offers a variety of interscholastic, intramural, and recreational sports. Our goal is for all of our students to leave Hotchkiss with a lifelong appreciation for fitness. Consequently, we require an athletic activity in each of our three seasons, although students may apply for a special project in lieu of athletics during one or two seasons.</p>
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<p>I wouldn’t get too hung up on Hotchkiss if you want to ride. I toured there last yr. w/ my sister and I remember our tour guide mentioned that they did allow a student to go off campus to ride. Not a lot of students opt to do this and you will be on your own. Go to a school with an established riding program.
My mom also was a jr. eq. rider. Rode with Morris in the 70s .She would not be able to maintain that level of riding w/out the support of a solid riding school program.</p>
<p>Yeah. I am slightly giving up some of my riding for boarding school, and my education. Also, riding at a really competitive level is NOT FUN 100% of the time. Just with any other intense sport, people get competitive, mean, and in the case of horseback riding, they have just too much money for their own good. And don’t think this money makes them nicer or anything</p>
<p>If you want to ride while at BS, you should look at Thacher in Ojai, CA. They have an unmatched program for combining good academics with riding (as well as having each 9th grader learn to ride whether they want to or not).</p>
<p>Equestrian sports eat time ( and money) like no other sport. A rider makes a huge commitment, not only to the sport but to the animal (in the case that you bring your own). </p>
<p>Years ago I had a chance to take my horse to boarding school (Kent). I was a very competitive rider at the time, and chose to go to another school. Frankly, I didn’t care for the accommodations ( at home my steed had acres to roam!) My sister was given the same choice and took it, but at a far less rigorous school. </p>
<p>My own daughter has wrestled with this for the past year. If riding is important to you, than one really has to look at these schools all individually. They differ in many ways.</p>
<p>None of the riding schools are at the level commonly referred to here as “HADES”. This may or may not be important! And it does not mean one can not get a quality education! But I do wish some of the top tier schools offered on campus stabling! Riding, whether one is a serious competitor or just starting out, is a sport and an art, and well worth pursuing for its many benefits, not just for the individual but for many other worthy reasons, which those who know already will not need reminding of and those who don’t… well, I will shut up … as I could write a book on that subject…</p>
<p>Thatcher is certainly a good option for equestrians, and many schools will let you ride of campus as an alternative to sports. While you are expected to cover the expense it is surprisingly common. My tour guide at Hotchkiss rode at a stable quite far away from the school, although there is one near by. At the school I’m actually going to there are several stables in the area. Unfortunately, in the places where most of these schools are located horseback riding is very expensive. </p>
<p>I personally had to choose boarding school over riding (mostly due to the cost), however, when I’m home I’ve been offered the opportunity to school the horses at my stable.</p>
<p>Not to sound mean, but for most of my life, cost has not been a problem with anything. What I thought, and what others should think too, is this: Are you going to give up a great oppurtunity at BS for riding? If yes, do you want to become a professional rider? </p>
<p>I cannot stress this point enough. You need a good high school education to do well in all aspects of life–though riding does not make this impossible–it is nearly impossible to ride a lot at a high level while doing your best at a demanding high school.</p>
<p>In the end, I chose Exeter over riding because of the amazing opportunities I would get at Exeter that I simply could not get at my private school back home. It is not like I will never ride again; I will during breaks and the summer, maybe being pulled out a rare saturday for national finals that I work all year to qualify for. </p>
<p>Boarding school is an opportunity that most would give a lot for. If riding is more important to you than boarding school, so be it. But please see the amazing options that you have, and do not develop tunnel vision, especially when it comes to being very good in a certain sport.</p>
<p>Thatcher has graduation matric statistics equal the Hades. Also Asheville offers horses.</p>