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College riding

Hunter/Jumper
,
#1

Hey all!
So I am a Junior in high school currently looking at colleges—especially those with strong riding programs. I hope to have a career relating to horses, preferably as a trainer, rider, or barn manager. I have been looking at schools and I’m debating between IHSA and NCEA… I don’t think that I could get a competing slot on a D1 team (maybe D2 or D3?), and I’m hoping for someone on here to shed some light on this for me.
Currently I have a Children’s Hunter (3’), but due to Covid I haven’t been able to show him at all. I’m regularly schooling 3’ at home and I was going to compete at it this summer (but, Covid :frowning:). If I’m most likely never going to compete (pre-college) at a height greater than 3’ (maybe 3’3 if we’re pushing it), what are my chances of competing on an NCEA team vs. an IHSA team?
Class-wise I’m hoping to do business/economics or equine business-management. My grades are decent (GPA 3.44 unweighted) and I think that school-wise I wouldn’t have much trouble getting into my top choices.

So here are my questions for you!
What are my chances of getting on to an NCEA team and getting to compete?
D1, D2, or D3?
Perks of IHSA vs. NCEA?
Any recommended schools? Any recommended majors for the career-type that I want?

Thank you all!!!

#2

Both of our daughters did continue to ride while in college, one went to a private college that had an extensive riding program but she decided she would just take riding as a PE credit each semester so she rode all four years.

The other daughter went to a very large in state university where she took her horse with her (actually was less expensive to have the horse there than it was costing here)

Both daughters majored in Chemistry … both graduated in four years , not a five or six year plan. They got out with very little debt , neither has ever had any trouble finding well paying positions

Both still are active in the horse industry as owners.

1 Like
#3

Please please please go to college to get a good education! If you really want to have a career in horses, think horse-adjacent (marketing, business accounting, equine law) - anything directly related to horses is a very tough slog. Getting a good basic education opens you up to many different opportunities, and horses can be part of the mix without being the sole focus.

If you’ve never shown at 3’, you’re probably not going to get on an NCEA team. IHSA is a great way to stay involved while still at school.

7 Likes
#4

I recommend the same thing to all my young friends who ask this question.

If you really want to ride in college, do not go to a school with an uber-competitive equestrian team. They will only allow their very best riders to be on the team, and that might not be you. How disappointing to choose a school for its equestrian team only to be rejected.

Schools that participate in IHSA, on the other hand, typically have riding as a club sport. It’s a more casual atmosphere and you’ll get more opportunities to ride and show.

I think it’s great that you want to be a professional. I do not think your decision on NCEA vs IHSA will make much difference on your career path, though. And a business/economics agree will serve you very well in life, whether you decide to pursue horses or not. An equine business degree, on the other hand, is too specific and limited for my taste. If you change your mind and want to enter the business world, having an equine business degree on your resume is not impressive. Besides, I’d suspect most of what you learn in that degree program could be learned as a working student.

As for recommended schools, do you want private or public? Large or small? Close to home? Where is home, anyway? Liberal or conservative? Lots to think about regarding that question. My husband works in academia, so please message me if you’d like :).

8 Likes
#5

I’ll join the crowd in saying that you’re better off with IHSA for so many reasons. The teams are typically less competitive to get on than NCEA and they have all riding levels from walk trot through open (3’). The best part is, every level’s points count, which means every level is valuable. Some colleges have IHSA as a club sport, where you’ll probably be expected to pay a little more, while others have it as a varsity sport. You may not have to pay as much, but the time commitment will be greater.

I’ll also second not getting a degree in equine management. If you help out around your barn at all, you probably already know more than what most programs will teach you. The best thing you can do if you want to learn more about horses is ask your trainers/vets/farriers/etc everything you want to know and absorb as much as you can.

I recommend majoring in something you’re interested in. It makes college vastly more enjoyable and I’m in a good career, though completely unrelated to my major. That seems to happen for a lot of people I know. Major in something you enjoy, go into a career field unrelated to horses that you can be reasonably happy in, and enjoy horses as your sport/hobby. I thought I wanted to do horses as my career too, but now, I’m quite content to end up as the nice amateur lady at the barn with a nice horse.

6 Likes
#6

Having taught at the high school and college level in equine programs for over 25 years, the first thing you need to do is go to school for a business degree that has nothing to do with equine studies. Find the right school for you - visit, look around, go to a class, shop for the right fit. Then ask about the riding program and if they don’t have one just find somewhere to ride.

As to NCEA versus IHSA, having not competed over jumps 3’ or higher, you will be valuable to an IHSA team and pretty much useless to an NCEA team. You would enter the IHSA system at the Novice or Limit level while at NCEA they want you to be winning at the 3’6" level.

Please feel free to PM me if you want more information on what might be good schools for you. I know quite a bit about the topic and have advised many high school students to successful college careers.

6 Likes
#7

Thank you all!
I knew that NCEA was looking like a long shot—I’m located in New England and right now my favorite schools are Emory and Henry in VA and Centenary in NJ. I’ve also been looking at Lynchburg and a few that are closer to home. I’ve been doing IEA since I was young, so I’m familiar with the format of IHSA and I think that that really does make it the better choice. I also like getting the feedback about not doing an equestrian major—I’ve been working at the barn that I ride at for a few years and I do think that I know a large amount of what I could in a major. Does anybody feel like telling me what most equine business majors (or minors!) study?

Thanks again.

#8

If you aspire to run your own barn or teaching/training/riding business someday, then a (regular) business or marketing degree is common. Helpful, too, in actually running your future (horse) business, and portable to any number of non-horse alternatives.

Alternatively, pick a STEM field that interests you. There are a lot of us on this board who very much wanted to do horses for a living when were in your position, but have ended up pursuing a well-paying non-horse career instead in order to fund our amateur riding pursuits.

6 Likes
#9

Former barn rat and equine business management degree holder here from Cazenovia, and while I love my alma mater, I agree with those telling you to stay away from equine degrees. And yes, I rode and trained professionally for four years before I made the switch into my current career (military officer). As someone who was managing a barn every weekend to help pay for school and had grown up spending all my time in the barn learning everything I could about horsemanship, most of the hands-on horse classes in the degree felt basic to me. The only challenging course I remember was Disease & Injury (so many pharmaceutical names…), everything else came relatively easily for me given my interest and experience level going in.

The problem with all equine-related degrees is that they have to cater to the least common denominator, meaning the person with absolutely no horse experience who woke up one morning and decided to go to “horse school.” So those who have grown up around horses and learned good horsemanship and husbandry often find themselves a little bored in a lot of the hands-on classes. I wasn’t the only student that felt that way.

If you truly want to be a pro and see what that life is like (and gain some actual valuable experience that the industry will actually care about), you may want to take a gap year and look for some good working student opportunities. In this industry, who you know and who you’ve worked with (which can speak to your knowledge/skill) is more important than a piece of paper with “equine science” written on it. It will also give you a real taste of what pro life is actually like. If you like working hard, sleeping little, getting hurt, financial instability, and burn out, you may get to experience all those things as a working student while you still have time to decide if that’s what you want in life, or if you want to go to school for something else.

And yes, unless you have a good record at 3’6"+, NCEA won’t touch you and IHSA will provide more opportunities to ride/show. But be warned, every pro I’ve ever met in many disciplines doesn’t care (or know) about IHSA either. Show record and/or what you can do with horses is most important, not the school or how much IHSA success you had. It can give you a lot of experience with catchriding which is good, but it won’t be your “in” for a job at a top barn.

In review:

  1. Take gap year as working student with reputable trainer if being a pro is truly your goal
  2. Get a degree in literally anything other than “equine/animal science” or “equine management”. Business management/accounting/STEM, whatever else that you might have an interest in and will keep doors open
  3. Don’t rely on college riding experience to impress anyone in the industry because most either aren’t aware it exists, or don’t care
8 Likes
#10

My daughter rode on her college IHSA team in her freshman year and did not enjoy it. She had to commit 2 long evenings a week with her team riding school horses not getting back until 11pm. She missed her own horse so we allowed her to bring him for her sophomore year and board at a hunter/jumper barn near her school. She is must happier riding her own horse and competing on weekends and holidays when she has time. She is majoring in a STEM field. We hope she will have a future making a good salary in a field she loves and riding/competing at her leisure. She grew up in Pony Club, IEA and working summers at the barn so she has a great background in horsemanship. She could manage a barn if she wanted to without having any college credits in an equine program. But I would rather see her work in her STEM field.

2 Likes
#11

our oldest went to RMWC when it was a woman’s college…excellent education, class size was small then the school’s courses were 98% taught by PhDs not a grad student like many of her friend’s classes at other schools… but if it were today I would send her to Sweet Briar College just outside of Lynchburg

1 Like
#12

I will echo other commenters here by encouraging you to go to the school that is the best fit academically that has an IHSA team. I loved riding in the IHSA, and a great thing about it is that you don’t have to be at a powerhouse school to have success and qualify for nationals.

I understand the appeal of the NCAA programs for students who can use it to get a full ride. But if you can’t get a riding scholarship anyway (which is likely the case with your experience), you can afford be way more picky about the school itself.

I’ll also add another vote for some working student stints along the way, either as a gap year or during a summer or two during school. Working full-time in the industry is grueling in a way you may not realize. A working student job can be a good way to get industry knowledge, experience and contacts–but also to figure out whether you will really enjoy a career in horses, or just want to ride as an amateur while having a more conventional career. (Personally, I love being a very hands-on DIY amateur, but wouldn’t want to be a horse professional–a lesson I learned in a great working student job.)

3 Likes
#13

Do not go to school for an equine degree. Hate to say it, but it’s the truth.

IF you want to be a trainer, then go be a trainer. Go get a working position at a barn and start working on your resume. I have shown at the top levels in my respective disciplines, and not once have I asked what degree my trainer had or where they went to school. I asked what their horses and students were out winning. I honestly don’t care if they graduated high school if they’re a good hand.

IF you want to go to college, then go for a reason that requires a college degree. A friend of mine is a trainer now, but went and got her accounting degree - she also had a full ride on an NCAA team. It didn’t cost her much, it’s her fall back plan, but she worked as a trainer before she left, flipped horses while she was there, and then graduated and went right back to training. If she had planned on paying out of pocket for that education, I think it would have been a waste. Since she got it for free, she took advantage and set herself up for success in the event she’s ever sidelined from training. BUT…

You do not need a college education to be successful in a trade business.

I’ll say it again.

You do not need a college education to be successful in a trade business.

If you’re concerned about a specific business matter, like basic accounting, take a couple of classes at the community college. But don’t go into debt getting a degree that doesn’t propel you forward.

NOW. If you ask me if you should become a trainer, or be a well paid amateur - totally different discussion. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

8 Likes
#14

Many students who do an equine degree double major in business. The equine classes are going to have to cater to the lowest level in the class - there are students who come in with no horse background and know nothing. (I’m not joking about that.) Your Freshman year courses will bore you to tears while you do all the barn work for no pay.

You might want to look at St. Andrews University in Laurinburg, NC as well. Better riding than Lynchburg and just as strong academically.

1 Like
#15

A few concrete examples, off the top of my head, of people in the horse world who have solid non-horse qualifications:

The Master of my local hunt is a professional surveyor and a partner in a London firm.

Can’t recall his name (Long Covid brain fog) but there is a Spanish eventer who competes in the UK, arranging his competition schedule to fit in with his schedule as a commerical pilot.

Sam Watson, Irish Olympian and founder of Equiratings, a statistical initiative that is revolutionizing safety in eventing, has a First in mathematics. He chose to event but he had choices available.

Sophie Christiansen, multiple para dressage Olympian, has a First in mathematics and works for Goldman Sachs bank (as well as campaigning for disability rights). Look her up: she is amazing and a true inspiration.

I ran a barn for 2 months and was bored brainless and didn’t even want to ride.

3 Likes
#16

I attended a D3 state school and competed on their IHSA team for three years. I loved it my first year - I had plenty of opportunities to ride and show, and the girls on the team became good friends. I purchased a horse the summer after my first year, and it became quite difficult to split time (and funds) between the two. I ended up leaving the college team in my junior year to focus on training and competing my own horse. I wish I’d done it sooner - my personal horse deserved more of my time and attention than he got in the year and a half I did both.

Also, if you end up going the IHSA route, ask whether teams are considered varsity or club sports. My school classified it as a club sport, so we had to pay our own way (team lessons twice a week, entry and coaching fees at shows, apparel, etc.). Cornell, for example, is a varsity team - harder to make the team (although I expect you’d have no trouble) but all expenses are covered by the school.

And for what it’s worth, make the decision based on the school who offers you the best degree program and is the best fit for you beyond riding. The COVID situation has rocked Higher Ed, and many schools are looking for programs to cut to help make ends meet. Club and varsity sports (especially niche ones that don’t bring in revenue like equestrian) may very well be on the chopping block in the near future if they aren’t already.

2 Likes
#17

I know the new Director of Riding at Lynchburg. He is great and I’m sure he’ll run a wonderful program there.

1 Like
#18

Could I ask what school??

#19

I am currently in a working-student type position at my barn and I work as a groom at shows. I could obviously see that a full-time working-student position would be more work than that but I (and those who I have worked for) consider myself to be a very hard-working and determined person. I am pretty positive that I would be happiest working with horses no matter what, but I also love the idea of taking a year off from school to make sure that I feel that way. One thing that my high school does senior year is allow students to go off and work on an internship for the second half of the year, which I feel could be a good opportunity to experience more of this and get credits for school. My trainers are pretty popular and have a lot of connections in New England, and I’m sure that they could help me get in touch with some farms that may be looking for a working-student or intern.
The other thing is that both of my parents feel very strongly about me going to college, so I’ll end up going no matter what I study.

#20

Yes!! If I have learned anything from this post it’s that the equine business classes are pretty pointless if I’ve been working with horses for as long as I have been. I think that marketing, economics, or business management will probably end up being my top choices.

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