My daughter has ridden since the age of 4 and has done jumping, saddleseat and western, however, the past few years (age 13-17) she’s been training Dressage and working her former hunter horse up to 2nd level. She is interested in a college that doesn’t offer IDA (Intercollegiate Dressage) but is NCAA hunter and reining. Looking at the NCAA website it looks as though she has no chance for recruitment because she isn’t showing hunters. Does anyone have experience with a NCAA school and can you tell me if they accept ‘beginners’ - even if just for the flat? I know a few schools look for riders with no show experience in a set discipline for that reason, but they were not NCAA. TIA
I think the likelihood of her finding a spot on the NCAA team is slim to none. However, hunt seat IHSA teams require riders of all levels - from walk/trotters on up. Many schools with NCAA teams also have IHSA teams. I advise her to look into that!
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Friends DD is on a full ride NCAA scholarship and have known several others at different schools. She and her teammates were all nationally successful Juniors, Medal Finals winner, High Junior Jumpers, Young Riders, Grand Prix exposure. All very acedemically successful too. The team riders in the other disciplines are similarly accomplished. Top seed school in the upcoming Finals.
The NCAA teams are out to win and recruit to accomplish that. Just like in Football, Basketball etc,they recruit the proven athletes that can help them win. And there is considerable pressure to win-its not just for fun and the scholarship can be pulled under some circumstances.
Theres other ways to accomplish the goal of riding on a team, namely IHSA. Or just pick a school for academic reasons and ride outside the school environment.
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People say your chances are slim all the time, but I personally know of two girls, who had limited show experience that rode/ride on the flat for TexasA&M. The one who is currently riding did 2’ 6 on an IEA team and went to a handful of A rated shows. Me personally would rather ride over actual fences in IHSA than have to ride on the flat for NCAA. Not saying getting on an NCAA isn’t hard but… there’s no harm in applying or trying out 
Also little known fact, Beezie Madden rode on an IHSA team!
As others have said, a dressage rider is highly unlikely to be recruited by an NCEA team. Your daughter will be a much better match for an IHSA program. There aren’t many schools who have both programs (yet), but there are dozens of schools all over the country with IHSA clubs/teams. She should look first for schools who meet her academic needs and then start narrowing down that list based on other interests (location, riding opportunities, etc.).
I am a faculty member and academic advisor at a school with both NCEA and IHSA teams. If you have more questions about the college search process, I’m happy to answer them via this thread or PM.
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I do know someone who made it onto an NCAA team without a ton of show experience, but she was a pretty competent 3’ rider at home and always had good form. She also put in a ton of work senior year of high school; she leased a schoolmaster and did the working student thing every weekend to pick up extra rides. The NCAA coaches also didn’t pick her for the team until she was a sophomore - I think she ended up spending freshman year riding at the school’s barn and trying to prove to the coaches that she was committed to putting in the work.
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So did Peter Wylde, Greg Best, and Lucy Davis - along with many other names that would be quite recognizable in the hunter/jumper world. The IHSA is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. An amazing organization that has done incredible things for thousands of riders.
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What are the advantages of being on an NCAA riding team?
Young men want to be on team sports scholarships for several reasons. First, some young men are recruited above their actual academic level to play at a good college. Second, they have full and generous scholarships, and are given consideration in terms of late work and extra tutoring. Third, of course, is that the payoff for going pro can be immense, life-changing.
The downside is that many of these young men do not graduate, and many, maybe most, don’t get the pro career. So there are risks involved.
Speaking as a college professor, for most students the most important thing for life-long achievements is getting into the best college they can be accepted at or afford, majoring in a subject in which they have talent and interest, and then figuring out how to make that subject into a well-paying career. If an athletics scholarship gets you into a better school than you would have been able to manage otherwise, that’s great! But unless you are potentially headed to a sport with a big payoff (hockey football basketball baseball), don’t sacrifice anything for the sport.
Unfortunately, there are few or no sports that offer young women these kinds of payoffs. So while it’s wonderful that colleges are now legally obliged to figure out how to offer sports scholarships and opportunities to women, a lacrosse or riding scholarship doesn’t carry the potential of future pro prosperity that a football scholarship does, and should be considered in a different way.
So, I would want to ask OP: what are your motives for wanting to be on an NCAA team? Is it the scholarship money, the team involvement, or the chance to ride? If it’s the money, go ahead and apply; nothing lost, nothing gained, if you are turned down. If it’s team involvement, you can look for other kinds of riding teams or clubs. And, if it’s just a chance to ride, and you can afford it, then just bring the horse to a good barn in the area and have that be recreation. For this, of course, you’d want to pick a school that was in a smaller town. It isn’t going to work at NYU.
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There was a post within the past few weeks from a college student who had joined a team, I think IHSA not NCAA but not sure, and was complaining she wasn’t getting any practice ride time, let alone show time, because she was a little hefty for the coach’s taste. I can’t find the post, but the comments were tending to tell her to just quit and go ride somewhere else. The point being that you might not get the ride time on a team that you want and need, and could end up a bench warmer. You might make better progress off campus in a good training barn.
I was on a NCAA team at one point. It is very difficult. Many girls do not last for a variety of reasons including the stress getting to them, classes being too difficult, not liking being excluded from travel trips, not getting told they riding amazingly all of the time, etc. it is not just something simple to partake in, but if you can hold out it is a great experience and looks phenomenal when applying for internships or jobs.
Now, onto your point, there is basically no chance of her being recruited to a big school and receiving money from somewhere like auburn or Baylor, etc. However, schools do take walk-ons. There could be a chance of her being in contact with a school that is not constantly in the top like South Dakota state, Tennessee martin, or Delaware state to name an few to see what they are looking for. Of course, they would rather obtain someone capable of participating in both, but many times some girls so just flat (which is similar to a dressage test in the NCEA) and may be looking for something. It definitely doesn’t hurt to ask, but if looking to be more than a walk-on, contacting auburn, South Carolina, Baylor, will be a waste of time.
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Former NCAA rider here! To answer your first question, your daughter doesn’t need to be showing in the hunters. Most riders have been showing in the equitation or jumper rings, with a few hunter riders sprinkled in. To be recruited she would need to be competing (and winning) at a high level, however a lot of teams accept walk-on’s. Be aware that one of the downsides to NCAA is the limited roster size for shows (typically 6 riders in each phase), so her likelihood of showing as a walk-on may be slim, but she could still enjoy the team experience. As many have already mentioned, IHSA may be a better fit for her. These teams accept every level, and offer more riders the ability to show. Do your research but there are several IHSA schools that take their teams just as seriously (if not more so) than an NCAA school does.
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Side note. I believe both Beezie Madden and Peter Wylde won the Cacchione Cup in the IHSA before going on to win Olympic gold medals.
Yes - both Beezie (1984) and Peter (1986) won the Cacchione Cup. Beezie also won the Open Individual over fences (1983) and Open Individual Flat (1984) and Greg won the open Individual Flat (1986). Pretty sure Beezie also helped her team win the Collegiate Cup those two years as well.
As a parent of a current NCAA rider, I could not disagree more with the premise this post! “Don’t sacrifice anything for sport” is a ridiculous statement. You clearly believe your wisdom as a college professor is the most impactful event that will happen to a young person. I’m here to tell you it is not! The relationships formed, learning to support a team mate who just beat you out of a roster spot, getting up at 5 am to workout, deciding to study instead of party, working for a team goal instead of an individual goal, these are a few of the things that will have lasting impact on students. Sure they will gain a little knowledge and if you are going to graduate school your major might matter. But the assumptions you’ve asserted are wrong. As relatively successful business person I will tell you the school you choose will have very little if any impact on your employment beyond the relationships you’ve formed. Choosing a more rigorous academic environment, just because the acceptance rate is 15% as opposed to the school that accepts 35% is the absolute wrong way to go about choosing a college, contrary to what Scribbler says. Ask around successful people you know and admire and see what impact their college major played in their career. The successful people I know always discuss the people way more often than the academic prowess of their University.
To the OP, I agree with others, IHSA is likely the more realistic choice for you. IHSA teams are great, still a team and all the benefits that come from team before me. Good luck!
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