Our daughter is very academically focused, liberal and artistic. I think she would thrive at a small LAC or smaller setting with more individualized attention. She’s been riding since she was 6, and competes in Western reining. I’d love to find some liberal LACs/mid-sized universities with a western riding club or team. Mount Holyoke is on the list, but any other suggestions? Most of the western teams are at big, southern schools- I cannot see her being happy at a place like Texas A&M - just not her style. We live in Kentucky, and having the opportunity to ride is important to her. She’s wanting an academically strong school, undecided on major. The IHSA website doesn’t provide great info, unfortunately. Thanks!
Sewanee?
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Davidson College (although not sure if it’s Western!)
https://www.davidsonequestrian.com/
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Not sure how liberal it is; Equestrian - Berry College
Cost as an OOS student could be an issue, but UC Davis has a Western team. It will likely fall right in the middle of the feel between Texas A&M and a LAC.
I suspect you’ll have the most luck in the midwest and West. Stephens College, a women’s LAC in Missouri, and William Woods (also MO) might have Western programs. I thought Trinity University in Texas might be an option but they appear to ride hunt seat.
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It doesn’t specify the type of riding (i.e. English or Western), but this is a list of 27 schools that have fewer than 7k students and has a women’s varsity equestrian team. If they have varsity, they probably have club options, I would imagine.
These are some of the smaller schools on the list that popped on the page for me:
- Emory & Henry (VA)
- Goucher (MD)
- Hood (MD)
- Nazareth (NY)
- U. of Lynchburg (VA)
- Washington & Lee (VA)
- U. of the South (TN)
Swarthmore has a club. So do the Claremont colleges (Pomona, Claremont-McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Scripps, Pitzer.) Not sure whether Western, English, or both.
Far, far from liberal.
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Kenyon seems to have an equestrian club (not sure if it’s a Western or not):
You may have already found this, but it seems to be a comprehensive, somewhat sortable list . . .
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Deleted. Same info posted by mtmind. 
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Guys, there are a LOT of schools with equestrian teams. Most are English, very few are western. The hard part is finding western riding and competition, not merely an equestrian team.
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Exactly. The link mtmind posted allows you to filter by discipline… so the OP can find the colleges with Western teams.
Some schools from the first few pages of a total of 171 colleges:
Albion
Appalachian (not an LAC but a smaller public in a beautiful location)
Ball State
Bucknell
Wooster
Colgate
Colby
etc
Edit: Oberlin is there. That seems a fit!
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New Mexico State’s equestrian team offers both equestrian and western equestrian.
Additionally there is a western equestrian open club for all students
https://anrs.nmsu.edu/equine/equestrian-team.html
Stables are located on campus.
NMSU is smaller state U with an enrollment of ~14,000i on its Las Cruces campus.
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Thanks, everyone! The IHSA searchable list is very helpful- I’d poked around on their site previously and not been able to find a way to identify the Western teams. I’ll definitely add Oberlin & Colgate to the list. Being a hippy liberal in the Western equestrian world is a bit of a challenge, hopefully we’ll find some great options for her.
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Thanks- our son just went through the application process and decided not to apply to CA schools because they’ve dramatically reduced their OOS acceptance rates, plus zero financial aid. But I do love UC Davis!
Skidmore, Susquehanna, and Washington College (MD) offer Western Equestrian as well.
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If your D is open to it, she’d probably be a great WTC rider on an English team. The cool thing about IHSA is that a successful team needs riders of all levels. An experienced Western rider could be a phenomenonal entry level hunt seat rider. Just a thought if she’s open to it.
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Here are some other liberal arts colleges with Western riding clubs or teams that you may find suitable:
- Wellesley College (Massachusetts)
- Smith College (Massachusetts)
- Middlebury College (Vermont)
- Williams College (Massachusetts)
- Amherst College (Massachusetts)
- Pomona College (California)
You can also look into schools with equestrian programs, such as:
- Skidmore College (New York)
- Colorado College (Colorado)
- Lake Erie College (Ohio)
These schools may not have a specific Western riding team, but they may have opportunities for her to continue her riding pursuits through their equestrian programs.
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