Hi y’all! I’m 17, a junior in high school, and looking to ride in college. I’ve been showing USEF for the past 12 years, but recently my mom and I started talking about being able to do an IEA season. I know IEA runs similarly to IHSA and NCEA riding, and I am trying to go to NCAA D1 school Sacred Heart Univeristy. I had a few other schools in mind, like Centenary University, Endicott College, and a few others. I was wondering if anyone who either works at ANY college with a team or has ridden on team(s) in the past could weigh in on whether they think I should do IEA. Since I don’t own my own horse, or have a stable lease situation at the moment, I most likely would not be able to show USEF during the IEA season. Does anyone know what would be more valuable? Showing 3’ USEF or doing 1 season at 2’6 IEA?
From my understanding, D1 teams would rather see the USEF showing. There’s a graphic somewhere that’s helpful about this… maybe someone else can share it?
That graphic is for NCAA, IHSA is very different.
OP, I would look at the IHSA levels and try to see what level you be currently based on your show experience. With IHSA, being a really strong rider within the level you are eligible for makes you attractive. Most schools would rather have a really strong intermediate rider over a weak open rider. If doing a year of 3ft USEF shows pushes you up a level, you may be less attractive because you could theoretically be a weaker rider at a higher level vs a more competitive rider at a lower level.
Its kind of like wrestling weight classes - you want to be at the top of the lower weight class, not at the bottom of the higher weight class.
ETA: I assumed you were aiming for IHSA so my advice applies if that is true!
OP said they’re aiming for an NCEA D1 program.
Generally, USEF showing as well as proving your ability to catch-ride in competition is going to be more attractive to the recruiters vs IEA. IEA is great don’t get me wrong! But unless you’re on one of the top IEA teams, it just isn’t as attractive. Going to IEA Nationals and doing well yourself, multiple times, might be worth it, but for one year I’d focus on USEF shows and riding as many horses as possible. YMMV, and there are people on this board who know more about it than me - hopefully they’ll chime in!
EDIT: @eq_gem, I just re-read the end of your post. You don’t own and don’t have a steady lease - do you mind clarifying your plans if you ARE showing USEF? Are you able to compete regularly? A couple USEF shows in a year aren’t as useful as a successful IEA season, IMO, but showing on lots of different horses is actually a good thing (provided you do decently well - you don’t have to champion every time out, but consistent ribbons is key).
I totally misread - you’re right! Editing my post.
@fivestrideline I would love to clarify my plans - if only I knew them 
I typically am able to compete around once a month in the warmer months, and 1-2 times over the winter. Right now I just lost my full lease on a Warmblood Children’s Hunter/eq, and am in a half lease on an ottb. Other options are not currently available, but our situation may change come spring time ( 
)In response to your comment about showing different horses, my current situation does not allow for catch riding, but is that something valuable in your view?
Sorry for so many questions, I (obviously) have no experience with college riding and don’t come from a horsey family.
Catch riding, showing multiple horses (ie if your leases are short term and you end up showing more than one through the year), even show leasing if you don’t have a ride at home displays the ability to adapt to different horses and get a good ride out of them! That’s essentially what you do on a team in school. Coaches like to see that more than a rider with one horse for years - lots of people can ride THEIR horse, and nothing else!
What is the reason you want to ride on an NCAA team? Scholarship? Or do you see it as a path to running your own facility/ going pro? To keep riding in college? Other?
Depending on your answer above and what experience you have already at USEF shows, you may want to adjust to a different path. From my understanding, NCAA riding is so extremely competitive (no different than any other D1 sport I suppose). I believe there is a chart that shows the average number of shows competed in and (or?) horses ridden by NCAA athletes. It’s impressive to say the least. I believe most of the hunter jumper riders are kids that have gone to EQ finals and done well, done the zone championships, EAP (or maybe that’s the wrong age range?), etc.
Some links that may be helpful to you:
https://collegiateequestrian.com/sports/2020/7/10/recruiting%20101.aspx
Here are the stats (run by The Plaid Horse) for 64 of this year’s new NCAA D1 riders!
I’d love to see how many new riders there are each year in total, but I believe this is Hunt Seat only and does not account for Western disciplines.
If I’m understanding you correctly, you are wondering if doing a season of IEA or a season of USEF showing would be better for NCAA recruitment?
If so, Educated Rider would be an excellent resource for you!
Raegan and her team can guide you through the process and answer all your questions, whether you wind up at a NCAA school or do IHSA. She did this graphic a year or so ago, so it’s not totally updated, but just some numbers of people she guided through the process. She also just started a podcast full of great information on the recruiting journey. Over all - yes, recruiters would rather see you at a USEF show. Also, if you are really looking into being recruited NCAA, I hate to say this buy you are behind. Not saying you can’t catch up (definitely talk to Raegan), but a lot of NCAA riders are already recruited by their Jr year.
It looks like Sacred Heart has both an IHSA and an NCEA team. I would reach out to the school and get a better idea of how they treat the IHSA team. There are schools that are part of the NCAA for their sports programs in general who have IHSA teams, and they are still varsity sports and fully funded by the school. But for someone competing below the 3’6" level, you are going to be more competitive on an IHSA team.
FiveStride and Belmont posted some really excellent graphics that make the point I was trying to get across better than I did. It’s very expensive to get on a NCAA coach’s radar (though not impossible to do on a budget, it’s just much less likely) and with only NCAA D1 dual seat/ discipline offering scholarships, it may not be the best path for you.
IHSA is an excellent program. My best friend has been a coach for IHSA and IEA and both are great programs. But IHSA will not result in a scholarship. If you’re looking for a way to stay in a program and continue competing without owning or leasing, IHSA is a perfect option. It might be more expensive than taking lessons at a local barn but you are more likely to make friends your age / at your school in IHSA vs a local lesson barn.
I’d also like to add that neither NCAA or IHSA are really a pathway to going pro and having your own program. I know you haven’t responded (and you don’t have to!) to my earlier question about what is the drive behind wanting to do either program, but I feel like wanting to go pro is a common enough reason to throw it out there. Many roads lead to Rome but neither of these collegiate programs (on their own) are a road or even a necessary stepping stone to going pro, if that’s the end goal.
Before you get discouraged by the comments about NCAA - I would highly recommend reaching out to the coaches at Sacred Heart and getting some information about that specific team (and they could best answer your original question as well). While everything that is being said about NCAA is true for the big, dual discipline teams, I believe that the single discipline teams can vary quite a bit in terms of competitiveness.
I did get a scholarship to ride on a dual discipline team with only 3 ft show experience - however, that was 10 years ago so probably not particularly relevant to the current recruiting trends and it was not one of the top or competitive teams. Something to keep in mind on the NCAA side of things is that teams often have large rosters but only 4-5 people compete in each event - and on the English side of things people often do both events, so the total chances to compete are even less. There are more people than not on NCAA teams that never compete, who still have the time commitments required to be on the team without the benefit of showing and traveling with the team. Schools often have a ‘core’ group of riders who always compete, and if you are not solidly one of the best people on the team, you will be competing with a lot of people on your own team for a few opportunities to show. Personally, I competed but wasn’t good enough to be “guaranteed” a spot at any given time so every single meet I had to be “ready” to travel and compete, but wouldn’t know if I actually was going until the last minute - which was always stressful. I think a team with both IHSA and NCAA would have been way more enjoyable because at least you know you will have some opportunities to compete.
The best advice I can give you that won’t necessarily help you get recruited but will absolutely help you be an asset to an NCAA team if you do get on- practice your flat work. I am sure you can find the NCAA flat patterns online - practice all the maneuvers, but more importantly, if at all possible - practice the patterns in a dressage ring (even just shrinking a regular arena to dressage size with cones) on as many horses as you can. You do not need to be on “fancy” horses - of the horses I rode in NCAA, there was only a small number that I would say were well schooled on the flat. Just practice getting the most out of every single horse, whether that is a run down lesson horse or a TB off the track for 5 min. The reason I emphasize the arena size is that I don’t know that I fully appreciated how challenging it can be to work in such a small space where every maneuver comes up so quickly until I was competing on the flat.
This is true for a lot of IHSA programs too, having an IHSA option is in no way a guarantee you’ll actually compete. Also as someone else mentioned, teams will often put you in the lowest category you qualify for even if you are capable of more which can limit your opportunities even more.
I can’t speak for NCAA but the quality of IHSA programs is highly dependent on the specific program and personalities involved. My school had a small group of people who showed every time, and a large group of people who were just there so the coach could collect our dues while ignoring us in lessons. I wound up finding a show barn to ride with on my own and was much happier. I’ve known plenty of people that loved their college riding teams but I did not have a good experience, and if I’d picked a school based solely on that I would have been really disappointed. I’d recommend OP keep her options open and consider the full range of opportunities each school offers, and not get too tied to any one vision of what college riding should look like.
I had a similar experience and after 2 years on the team, I transferred to a school that was better suited for me academically and took a long break from riding. I don’t regret being on the team, but I would definitely advise choosing a school that you would be happy at with or without riding. You never know what can happen - in my case, the coach who recruited me and who I got along with very well left after my freshman year and it drastically changed the quality of practices and instruction.
@kaya842, in response to your initial question, my main reason for wanting to ride on an NCAA team is twofold. One, I want to ride throughout college and challenge myself. Two, Sacred Heart has been my dream school for years, and they only have NCAA (I think… I’ve seen different things in this thread and I have to say I am utterly confused 
) I would love to eventually teach somewhere along the line (I already have and love teaching), but financially going pro isn’t an option for me. Mainly I just really want to ride, and a school-sponsored team means I can afford it easier.
Sacred Heart has both IHSA and NCEA. Only a handful of their roster is in the NCEA group. The rest do IHSA!
Go to the school of your dreams but for educational and career reasons, not riding opportunity provided by the school. Ride as a hobby when time permits and enjoy it.
In all honesty, the better NCAA programs are mainly looking for riders who are already very successful competitors, preferably on a national level and are already aware of 2026 possibilities. They recruit and invite already successful athletes into their programs.
IHSA is more…ummm…inclusive…. as far as ability and opportunity are concerned but quality can vary as can saddle time. But you would have a better chance.
If your local IEA program is a good one, by all means participate, it is saddle time on catch rides in a team environment, no idea how colleges view it. Suspect if you do IEA, it would be better if you were consistently pinning well, don’t have to win but need to show consistent competence.
They have an IHSA team as well and it is very successful. They are in a good region with quality competition.
Do you follow Eleese Shillingford on social media? She has a popular YouTube channel and is currently a student at SHU and has participated on both their IHSA and NCEA teams.
