Showing in College!

[Amelia_Decardy_Torris]

Hi friends!

This is my first post here, but I need some help as my trainer doesn’t know the answer. I am a 17 yr old senior and recently just bought my first horse, he is the love of my life and I regret nothing buying him… but Im starting to stress out a bit on whats gonna happen as I head into college. To start, I am taking a gap year to explore opportunities in the equestrian world; in my dream reality, I would be working in a program to help start ponies (I’m very short) and healthily learn more about young horses! After that year, I plan on going to college in San Diego and bringing my horse with me, although I don’t know what my schedule will look like or how often I can ride him if I can still show. I’m very blessed to have a family supporting me financially, but I do pay part of it. Just wondering what showing in college looks like, as well as boarding, care, and timing!

Also I’m looking at programs in san diego right now and have found a few though I’m scared they might be out of my budget. They are
BEE LLC
DVG
LUCKY KID FARMS
EE Show Stables

[aBayDay]

How important is going to school in San Diego to you? There are a number of east coast schools with excellent equestrian programs where you can bring your horse, study, and show on a regular basis. Some of these schools have barns on campus, others have barns a short drive away with a strong equestrian cohort. These programs are designed to work around your school schedule (early morning or late afternoon lessons, or lessons integrated into your school schedule. There may be similar programs in CA, but I am not aware of them.

[Amelia_Decardy_Torris]

I was more focused on the West Coast since it’s close to home, and I know more about the thermal, third, and desert shows, so I haven’t really explored the East Coast much other than some schools in Boston! Id love more information on your list of schools with these programs!

[aBayDay]

This is by no means a comprehensive list, but some programs that I am aware of:

University of Virginia
Savannah College of Art and Design
Sweet Briar College
Mount Holyoke
Emory & Henry University

There are lots more, and I’m sure others can chime in with their favorites, but a lot will depend on what academic environment you’re looking for as well.

[albytb]

Seconding SCAD on the East coast unless you are pursuing a specific degree. Beautiful facilities but idk what board is nowadays there. It was $1100 in 2015 lol!

[LilRanger]

I think most state universities have equestrian teams and centers. I know NMSU and CSU both have good equestrian programs. They aren’t so far from CA. ASU too.

[GraceLikeRain]

Anything is possible with enough money and willingness to put horses before education.

I’m not saying I recommend this approach but it’s possible.

I think a very realistic goal would be to identify your why behind going to college, and shape life around that. If you decide to take a horse, it is done with the understanding that the why is at the forefront and that might mean there are semesters where your horse gets worked 2-3 days/week max or a year where you don’t show at all. Four years feels like a long time but over the course of a lifetime it is a blip on the radar. What you major in, internships, building relationships with peers and professors, study abroad, volunteering, working, etc all can completely change the trajectory of the rest of your life.

I wasn’t even focused on showing but I put my horse first and looking back, I said no to a lot of amazing opportunities both big and small that would have had a much bigger impact on where I’m at today.

Think ten years down the road and then start working backwards. If in order to show you’ll need to work, consider that school plus work plus riding plus showing will fundamentally impact your college experience leaving very little time for anything else.

Personally, I wouldn’t decide the foundation of my adult life around the showing circuit I prefer. Find the best program for your interests and then from that list overlay quality of life, cost, feasibility of a horse, etc.

[Foxglove]

Many, many years ago, my horse was allowed to go to college with me and was part of the lesson program at the stable affiliated with the college. My Jr. and Sr. years, I gave lessons to beginners in the program under the supervision of the head of the program as a TA. It paid my horse’s board and gave me a chance to ride and learn. No showing involved.

Two of my kiddos took horses to college on the condition that GPA remain at a pre-agreed level. If grades dropped, horse came home. I paid for one lesson a week and the horse’s board, and one show a year during college time.

It worked well for one, the other found it too difficult to get to the stable regularly. Her horse came home. She continued to ride and show in the summer.

The other (youngest) took her horse to school and continued to ride undergrad. She sold the horse to pay for her first year of law school. No regrets as she rode 3-Day upper level and did not have the time to keep the horse competitive.

As soon as she passed the bar, she bought a new horse and started over. She continues to ride 3-Day .

[blondewithchrome]

OP, as someone who gave up horses in college because i just didn’t have enough time, know that this is a prioritization exercise. If you want to ride on a team, make it a priority - and that will be where your free time goes. If you have a horse with you at school, ditto - likely forget about any other clubs or social activities, student org, Greek life, with exception of maybe your “horse club” or IHSA. A full time class load is 15 hours a semester. That’s 5 classes, typically. If you can make it work to take early classes every day, you can make time for the barn every afternoon. But again - know that that’s the “thing” you’re doing.

As others have mentioned, you can make it work if you invest the time in making it work. For me, I just didn’t have the time to get to the barn (30+ min drive, an hour or two there, 30 min back) on top of school schedules and other activities I wanted to do while in school.

Boarding and showing costs are the same regardless of if you’re in college or not - it’s just a question of how many pro rides you need to pay for for the days you can’t get there/days you need help at shows/etc. I went to school with many ladies who made it to the barn daily. I also knew some that could only make it 1-2 days a week and paid for pro rides the other 5 days a week to keep the horse going. Again - if you can prioritize it and make it work, you can do it - just know that has to be your #2 priority (after school and classes of course)! Good luck!

[LCDR]

As you are taking a gap year after high school working full time with horses, you may find that college is no longer the path for you. You have given yourself time to decide.

If you do decide on college, and are interested in riding on a team, one potential problem could be that the NCAA may not approve you to compete because you have worked as a paid rider. If the team is just a club sport then you should be OK. This happened to DD and required an appeals process.

[NC001]

My daughter is a freshman this year at a college a couple hours away. Taking her horse with her was a priority for her so we made it happen. She picked a school that was a great fit for her and that has better boarding options locally than we have at home. Most people on these boards and other horse people advised against her taking the horse. I have one good friend who said her daughter had her horse during college and it had a big positive impact on her first year of college. We also have friends currently doing the same successfully. Some showing with the college club teams and some not showing. You don’t have to be on the school team to compete. There are plenty of great club teams and IHSA teams.

3 months in and my daughter is riding more than ever. Her horse is a 5 minute drive from campus, she goes 5-6 days a week. Its far easier than when she was in high school to get in ride time and lessons because of her class schedule (high school was 8 am to 3 pm). She is also on the IHSA team which is another lesson a week and does other club sports. She has an easier schedule this semester so that helps but she did a varsity sport in high school and rode/showed/did IEA at the same time plus 5 AP classes so it’s not much different . She is also at a pretty competitive college so the work load is intense.

She is not showing this semester other than IHSA but probably will over breaks.

My opinion for success- 1. I support the horse financially. I consider him my responsibility and even if she stops riding he will stay with me. 2. We are lucky and pay a small fee at college barn and the home barn so he can go back and forth for breaks. 3. He is a horse that can sit for weeks and is totally rideable. He does not have to stay in training to be safe. 4. We have a good support system of horse people to rely on (vets, farriers, barn owners, trainers)

If she does any internships over summers that are away we will keep the horse for her. We know plenty of people that will be happy to lease him to keep him in shape.

Good luck- its totally possible IF you have the financial piece figured out and there are quality barns close the college.

[Amelia_Decardy_Torris]

If you dont mind me asking, what college does she go to?

[NC001]

I prefer not to say but it’s on the east coast. Im sure there are schools near you that are similar. If you havent already, reach out to the equestrian clubs at schools you are interested in, follow them on social media, etc. You will get an idea of how they work and the time commitment. And there is always online schools if you need to go that route!

[aBayDay]

What level are you planning to compete at with your horse? A lot of college programs are well set up for Hunter/Eq riders, but less equipped to train upper level jumpers, from what I’ve seen at least. If you’re a competitive 3’6 eq rider, you could look into NCAA teams. Schools with IHSA teams may also have programs suitable for independent Hunter/Eq competitors as well. If you have strong academic goals and would like to also compete hunters/eq during your school year, I think a lot of the schools I previously mentioned would be a great balance between horses and academics.

My friends who were doing the 1.10+ jumpers prior to coming to my school had to readjust their expectations/goals for their school year shows. If those are your goals, and you are serious about pursuing them while in college, I would go your current route of finding external training barns close to where you want to go to school.

[clanter]

@NC001

Most people on these boards and other horse people advised against her taking the horse. I have one good friend who said her daughter had her horse during college

both of my daughters had a horse with them in college, the oldest went to a private college in Virginia where she was able to take riding as a class each semester for the four years.

The younger took her horse with her to Texas A&M College Station where it was actually less expensive to board him than it was to keep him here at home.

Both had grown up with horses so they were accustom to managing their horse needs while experiencing college life.

[Peggy]

What you can do likely on your class load and schedule, commute time to the barn, and how much your parents are willing to chip in. And, as someone noted above, if you have a horse that is OK with not getting out every day (and a boarding situation where he can move around), that will make things more flexible.

I took my horse to college (UC Irvine) decades ago, kept her at a co-op barn affiliated with the college, and didn’t even think about trying to show. I was a STEM major and had a lot of time-consuming labs. I was lucky that my parents paid for my education (UC tuition was a lot cheaper back then too) and the horse. They would not have paid for a show barn or horse shows. I did not have a car as an undergrad. I think it did help to have the horse at college, though there were conventional school activities that I didn’t do because of time constraints. I did not take the horse to grad school because it was cold there, she was getting older, and I knew that I wouldn’t have time. So, I first leased and then sold her.

When I finished grad school, just about the first thing I did was to buy a horse.

[BITSA]

@Amelia_Decardy_Torris

This is my first post here, but I need some help as my trainer doesn’t know the answer. I am a 17 yr old senior and recently just bought my first horse, he is the love of my life and I regret nothing buying him… but Im starting to stress out a bit on whats gonna happen as I head into college. To start, I am taking a gap year to explore opportunities in the equestrian world; in my dream reality, I would be working in a program to help start ponies (I’m very short) and healthily learn more about young horses! After that year, I plan on going to college in San Diego and bringing my horse with me, although I don’t know what my schedule will look like or how often I can ride him if I can still show. I’m very blessed to have a family supporting me financially, but I do pay part of it. Just wondering what showing in college looks like, as well as boarding, care, and timing!

I would post this on the Facebook Thermal Classifieds group. Its predominantly California and you will get a lot of good advice on barns and costs.

My daughter took her horse to college at Cal Poly SLO as a freshman this year, although she will only be doing more local type shows versus the longer, bigger shows she did in high school. She is so far able to ride 5x a week, is in a sorority and doing well in classes. Board is more expensive in CA than it was in OR. If you have a job on top of that, which is not at your barn, that might be touch as most jobs won’t allow a lot of time off. You will just need to be diligent about your time.

Good luck!

[fivestrideline]

My $0.02, worth what you paid and speaking generally:

If you are footing the horse bill - as in needing to work while going to school to pay for more than car insurance and snack money - horses and especially showing in college is not a good idea for most people. There are not enough hours in the day to go to class, study, and work for anything more than pocket change. If you’re working off school expenses too? Forget about it.

If your parents are paying for the horse upkeep and you’re on scholarship and have all your school expenses (including housing, transportation, food, not just tuition) paid for… you have more of a shot of riding and maybe showing some. College students have little time and less money unless they’re being funded by someone else.

The people who rode the most when we were in college sold their horses but got on the NCAA team, sold their horses but were on the IHSA team and half leased at school, or were fully funded by parents and maybe even flying out every break and most weekends to meet up with the barn at shows. Those of us paying our own way rode very little or did it in spurts and bouts depending on class load, and showing was a rare thing.

[trakehners]

@fivestrideline

There are not enough hours in the day to go to class, study, and work for anything more than pocket change. If you’re working off school expenses too? Forget about it.

If your parents are paying for the horse upkeep and you’re on scholarship and have all your school expenses (including housing, transportation, food, not just tuition) paid for… you have more of a shot of riding and maybe showing some. College students have little time and less money unless they’re being funded by someone else.

I’m just going to second this. I was very lucky in college to have free tuition courtesy of my dad working at my university, and I took out a very small amount of loans over my first two years to cover housing and food before I moved home and commuted for my last two years. I stayed at the barn I was during the end of high school rather than join the IHSA team, and my first semester of school my best friend would drive me to the barn since she had her own car and we rode together. My second year I spent weekends at home and could drive myself.

I didn’t own. I usually rode Fridays and Saturdays during the school year (one lesson and then catch-riding whatever I was thrown on). I took most of my freshman year off from horses (mental health reasons), worked part-time at minimum wage on campus to cover my lessons my sophomore year, my (very small) academic scholarship covered lessons and my parking costs on campus my junior year, and my summer internship covered my costs my senior year (the second half of which I took another break from horses). I was also in two honor societies, wrote an honors thesis, and very much did not have time to work more than I did while maintaining the level of academic rigor that I was pursuing. I showed once at a local schooling show during that four years, it cost me $700 for the weekend, and I concluded I was not spending what little money I had on that (I really shouldn’t have spent any money on horses in college because that trainer seriously messed up my confidence, but hindsight is 20/20).

My best friend was in a similar situation re: tuition but she brought her horse here and rode and showed all the way through school. Her parents footed the bill for most of it. The same is true for everyone else I know who brought a horse to school and rode seriously while also being academically successful.

Don’t sacrifice your education for horses unless you’re completely sure horses are what you want to do with your life, OP (which your gap year should help you decide). Horses are very much my life now that I’m an adult with a salary that can support my habit, but that wouldn’t be possible if I hadn’t focused on setting myself up for success in the long term when I didn’t have that kind of money.

[paw]

4 year colleges in San Diego are fairly hard core. You may not really want/need the distraction of a horse while you’re getting a degree.

If you are sure about bringing your horse and shwoing, you may want to look (in your gap year) for smaller farms, at least for your horse - the cost of boarding a horse at a well-known show barn is more than $2000/month.

Consider geography (if you’re looking at SDSU, you may be able to look at barns more towards the border or out east) and commute (are you planning on staying in the dorms, or will you be travelling to school?). There are ways to make it work, but you’ll need to set your self up for success.

At the base, though, you’re in college for 4 years. It’s pretty much your last time to explore options without (much) recourse. Take the gap year, and be open to ways your outlook might change. You may realize that horses are wonderful, but not completely your calling and you may realize that you want to be an equine vet, or a sports physiologist, which might chage your plans. Or you might find that perfect place for you (get good health insurance!) and move into a job that will keep you and your horse happy.