College scholarships for equestrian BOYS

[NoSuchPerson]

@dmveventer

Riding scholarships are nearly impossible to get anyway so he’s not missing much. They tend to go to trainer’s kids and other riders that have been spending big money on the A circuit for years just to hit a recruiter’s radar.

This. OP, you’re working yourself up over a pipe dream. Even if boys were eligible for NCEA, the chances of your student ever being able to get on the team or get a scholarship are tiny. To be blunt, if the kid needs to have a scholarship to go to college, then his family doesn’t have enough money for him to show at the level he would need to in order to catch a recruiter’s eye to even have a shot at getting one.

@roseymare

Many IHSA schools recruit and offer scholarships.

In addition to the schools themselves, there are some scholarships offered directly by IHAS:
https://www.ihsainc.com/membership/scholarships.

The web site also has a list of colleges with IHSA teams and the list tells whether or not scholarships are offered.
https://www.ihsainc.com/join/ihsa-teams

[Arelle]

This is a weird hill to try to die on.

Women are so far behind the radar in most sports - we’re paid less. We’re typically not seen as often at the top levels in professional mixed sports (5 of the 8 US Olympians were male, the top 20 FEI Jumping riders for 2024 were all male, Boyd Martin has been the USEA Rider of the Year for the last four years in a row). Etc.

… and don’t get me wrong, I love Boyd, so that’s not a knock…

But, like… you want to go after one of the few venues female athletes have via the NCEA because it’s a space dedicated to them? What?

Have this kid get an academic scholarship. If the choice is ride more or spend more time studying, any responsible adult in their right mind if going to advise on choosing the latter.

[Tackpud]

IHSA schools that offer riding scholarships to men that I can think of of the top of my head:

Lake Erie College
Emory & Henry College
Savannah College of Art and Design
University of Findlay
Centenary University
Averett university

There rep many more but that’s just a start. There is also a large scholarship available through the USHJA.

[wilkins2]

Thanks!

[clanter]

what field of study is his interest? if horses/horse industry University of Louisville has an Equine Industry Program that is under the school of business. They offer scholarships.

https://business.louisville.edu/academics-programs/equine/equine-scholarships-awards/

Our oldest son was headed there, also he had his track card as an exercise rider on Churchill Downs which is just a few blocks away (he was also carded for several tracks). He had been working at TB training farm starting TBs and getting them through their starting gate cards.

Out of high school he was offered an academic and equine scholarship from Oklahoma State which he declined taking time out to explore the world.

[LilRanger]

I agree with @clanter, find a school with an ag program, or just with an IHSA program, and get an apply for an academic/work study scholarship there.

That’s what I did, the scholarship helped me cover my riding costs.

[Belmont]

I don’t know if I can plug this here, but my friend owns a company that helps with recruiting and understanding NCEA & ISHA riding in college. She would be a great resource to reach out to.

She has a comprehensive lists of riding/equine scholarships (not just NCEA) available that she sends out. You could probably contact her for help with scholarships to guide him towards and options!

Educated Rider

[RAyers]

How about skipping the whole scholarship thing and first consider what is the boy interested in studying? That should dictate more of where he goes than getting money. If he wants to study aircraft design or materials engineering that will move him more to one type of school while if he wants a liberal arts degree that will go to another type of school (more likely with IHSA/NCEA teams).

[fivestrideline]

This. Don’t be like my sibling and have a passion for math and engineering, but go to a liberal arts school without good programs for those things, all because our parent graduated from there.

Nearly graduated, three bachelors degrees (coinciding), and zero job prospects. The jobs are generally sourcing from the really good established programs at known tech schools (like the one I went to).

Narrow that list to schools with the right programs, that can be afforded (out of state tuition is no joke), and then start looking for relevant scholarships and feeder plans.

[Bristol_Bay]

@wilkins2

Both of his parents are veterinarians. He is unlikely to go that route

I have an idea. How about his highly educated, well-compensated parents pay his college tuition and leave Title 9 alone?

[clanter]

@fivestrideline

really good established programs at known tech schools (like the one I went to).

our younger son went that route, he has done very well in a competitive industry because of the training he received in a specialty school

[Ghazzu]

@roseymare

Also little scholarships can add up. And some are not limited to tuition but can cover books and rooms and board. Breed organizations. Local show circuits. Even essay contests.

I was going to suggest this.
Check breed associations, both national and local.
I know that one of the Arabian clubs I was in had very few juniors bother to apply for the scholarship we offered.
No, it wasn’t a full ride, but it would buy a pile of textbooks.

[kenyarider]

Given the latest speech from Trump, I doubt if boys will need to feel left out much longer. He’s ending DEI in industry and probably will end affirmative action/gender equity in colleges soon. No worries, he’s an 8th grader, the direction we are headed is in his favor for more scholarships for males.

[roseymare]

Some of the schools offering IHSA scholarships are 2 yr schools with pretty good transfer programs as long as the student does their due diligence. So one can get gen eds at least partially paid for with a riding scholarship.
The downside is the student needs to be very very proactive and have a plan going in and know what classes will transfer and if they can actually complete the degree in appropriate timeframe. And don’t just trust the school admissions folks. It definitely takes some work on the students part.

[Bristol_Bay]

@kenyarider

Given the latest speech from Trump, I doubt if boys will need to feel left out much longer. He’s ending DEI in industry and probably will end affirmative action/gender equity in colleges soon. No worries, he’s an 8th grader, the direction we are headed is in his favor for more scholarships for males.

I don’t want to this so I’ll just say this is probably true. Last night a female soldier died in a helicopter crash while serving her country, which to this president means DEI caused the crash.

I know the mods will delete this post but I’m out of ducks to give today.

[wilkins2]

Almost everyone needs scholarships for college these days. We aren’t talking Title 9 here.

[wilkins2]

I am not encouraging equine studies of any kind, nor have I even mentioned what he wants to study. I was just disappointed that he has to do so many other sports when he likes showing best and is very good at it. He as an awesome horse and because they want him to get scholarships they still have him in other sports, baseball, football and wrestling all year. All I know is that he doesn’t want to follow in his parents footsteps as a vet.

[fivestrideline]

@wilkins2

He as an awesome horse

This isn’t specifically aimed at this kid, but a general comment about college riding.

IME, most scholarships go to proven Eq riders and/or those with a huge resume of catch riding at rated shows. Remember, NCEA and IHSA are structured around ‘draws’ - successful riders can essentially sit on anything and get it around.

I know a freshman that signed an NCEA team (not a full ride or anything, those are ridiculously competitive) - her mother is a trainer who runs a sales program. Her daughter has been the crash test dummy since she could walk, and has a resume a thousand miles long of catch riding and putting miles on sales horses. Having just one horse to show in a year is actually super rare for signed athletes - if I can find the stats I will post them. Her background is very common for a college rider.

One strategy to get on team radars is to do exactly that - ride a lot of different horses in the junior hunters and eq classes vs buying one and only competing that horse. The biggest hurdle for IHSA and NCEA riders is learning to ride things that aren’t tuned like “their” horse - coaches want riders that have proven they can do this and win.

Again, speaking generally. I think there’s a lot of misconceptions out there as to what is available and how this whole College Riding thing works. The eq advisor posted above would definitely be a good resource to help guide someone trying to do this intelligently.

[clanter]

@wilkins2

I was just disappointed that he has to do so many other sports when he likes showing best and is very good at it.

suggest he concentrate on his studies, three of my four kids had academic scholarships, one a full the other two were 50% or greater. They studied being ranked within the top 20 students of high school classes of 800 or more, one daughter was third in her class.

All during their primary/secondary schooling our kids showed their horses nationally often taking weeks out of school that were sanction by the schools they attended as they continued their studies while showing.

[MHM]

@fivestrideline

Having just one horse to show in a year is actually super rare for signed athletes - if I can find the stats I will post them.

This graphic was just posted recently. My thought was that if these numbers are the average, what are the numbers on the high end of the bell curve for these kids?

I personally know of at least one kid who got a full ride to college based on her riding career. In the process, she showed a zillion different animals successfully over the years, and also won an equitation final.