As someone who has completed an undergrad in equine science and rode on the IHSA team for all four years (captained for 3) and now am completing a graduate degree in equine science and riding alumni with the IHSA, I feel the need to chime in here.
And here’s the deal: while I agree that it is important to consider all aspects of a potential college, how close you need to look at the equestrian programs depends on what you want to study. If you’re going for anything academic OTHER than horses, you need to look at your college pretty heavy first - the academics, the social life, your department, your professors, etc. Then if you like all of those things, you can start checking on eq teams.
However…if you’re wanting to study horses, in a horse science/equine studies/etc. type program and you want to be a horse professional, the team/eq program are a lot more important. If you want to be an equine professional the team can do a lot to improve you quickly and give you a lot of catch-riding experience but only if you pick a school where the coach and team and program have a lot to offer you. And the program has different strengths - Findlay is known for producing riders/trainers, while Colorado State focuses on horse people who do science. UK is an ag school, producing more science-y people, while Centenary has a more well-rounded equine studies program with a stronger riding program.
So it all depends on whether you are going to ride on the side, or ride as a professional.
Also NCAA is not the way to go if you aren’t a high-level equitation rider anyway. Yes, they take just flat riders but typically not so much. Also NCAA Equestrian is in a lot of danger as a sport right now.
