Correct. I believe this is the case for almost all the Div 1 riding programs. I know some programs are used to offset certain men’s programs - like football. I would imagine that’s the case with Texas A&M
Yep. They have to balance their massive football program and other male dominated sports like baseball. Not to mention that there are so few male riders at the caliber you need to be to ride on these teams that it’s a “safe” sport for the schools to use to fulfill their requirements. Western is smaller and newer than the hunt seat programs, so that may change eventually.
It does stink for the guys, but same for the women who might want to get into X program or do Y men’s sport. Also, IHSA is co-ed so anyone can ride in college if they want!
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I think the school in question is Grier School in PA - but could be wrong.
I think everything else people have contributed about comparing OP’s current experiences against her aspirations is very valuable. It does seem like there is a disconnect between the OP’s aspirations and her real understanding of the monetary reality of achieving those goals. I also don’t think someone who really wants to be an equine professional as a top grand prix rider/trainer achieves this through going to a private boarding school with a riding program or riding a a D1 university. They do it through training with BNT, and showing competitively at the highest levels possible, as much as possible. As others have mentioned - this is why adult ammies exist. Those of us who pursue an education that will allow us to afford our horses vs pros, those who try to make a riding career provide horses for them.
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I googled them out of curiosity and they claim that one of their school horses won “prettiest horse” at Devon. I’ve never been to Devon, but I feel like perhaps that’s not an actual prize there…
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It is not.
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I am feeling weirdly elated. Late, middle age elated.
Hearing this is almost as good as that time I realized I was accidentally adding a year onto my age.
See how I am with numbers? 
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This is the part that seems to be overlooked. No one who is anyone in the business got there because they went to an equestrian school or rode at college. You get to be good in the business by learning how to ride, working for someone with a good reputation and paying your dues. Then you hope to find a couple good clients (wealthy) to get out on your own. If the OP really wants to be a professional she needs first talent and then willingness to go live and work at a top barn and show 40 weeks a year. It will also help to have some money. But spending 60k a year for high school and riding horses that a school owns isnt going to do it. That money would be better spent on lessons and showing. Also if you dont have the money to do either its a moot point anyway.
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What? Really?
Grier and “prettiest horse.”
Grier is on the edge of my neck of the woods. I can’t speak to their riding program but a childhood trainer was an alumna. I went to a show there once as a kid in the 80s and remember three things: the smell of the paper plant, I fell off, and we went to Gardiner’s Candies. Wait. Four things. Trainer lied about how many of us were sharing a motel room and I had to hide in the car a while.
Sorry. Carry on.
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I believe the person that rides with Laura Kraut that won a 2* Grand Prix in Miami in the last year went to https://www.grier.org/
I desperately want to read “tongue-in-cheek” into that but this is the horse world and if I’ve learned one thing, it’s overestimate nothing.
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And let’s also note that the horse she won on is owned by the family LLC. Further supporting the socioeconomic differences other posters have been trying to emphasize for OP. Makes it a lot easier to succeed at the top of the sport when your family can use their wealth to provide you with the quality of horse who can compete there.
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Hmm interesting.
I’m not sure what the difference is between USEF HJ premier, national and regional. I know that in EC Dressage, you can compete Gold national, silver provincial, or bronze local. The difference is the cost to compete and the level of award you are collecting points on. It isn’t necessarily the level of competition. We have some very sparsely attended Gold shows, where it’s much easier to ribbon than some of the very popular and much cheaper unrated schooling shows (that use the same judges). Now h/j is a more popular discipline than dressage but I’m sure the same thing applies. Going to a national rated show is not necessarily a huge deal. I see Grier also has reining, dressage and recreational riding programs.
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That individual has definitely had connections and experience in the horse world far beyond this boarding school that helped her get where she got (not trying to say anything about talent/commitment/whatever, just that the training received at this school would be a very minor part of this rider’s journey to where she is today).
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Aw, come on! I think it’s kind of apparent that a kid provided the “prettiest horse” language for the website and didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just teens being proud of their school horses.
I am guessing they decided that since his photo was used on the prizelist, it must be that DHS decided he was the prettiest horse…
He is pretty 
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Googling further I see Grier prides itself on dance, the arts, music, theatre and riding. I would have loved that at 15 but I’m not sure how well that serves a middle class girl in 2024 who needs to make her way in the new millennium. I’m sure they have math and science courses, but there is zero zero zero on STEM careers on their website. I don’t see how this ladders into doing business and science adjacent courses in agriculture management at university.
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Agreed.
The op is young, and she wouldn’t be the first kid to think they wanted to be a horse pro and later on decide otherwise. And that’s ok.
Hopefully her parents can comfortably afford the school, and it helps her get a great education that she can’t get at her local school in Texas. If so, then good for them and she will figure it out eventually, and hopefully have a solid education to use to pursue a rewarding career… maybe a career that will allow her to fund a nice horse or two, and enjoy competing as an adult amateur.
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I think Foxcroft has a solid riding program, but also has robust academics. At least, that’s what I have heard. I knew a few people who went there 30 years ago
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Ohmygodyes. Ditto on how it depends on your team.
Ours was small. We took anybody (though I can’t say it was calculated sourcing of WT riders, lol) … and anyone who wanted to, showed. It was that way for a lot of schools in our region – and now, several decades later (gag), despite some changeups in the schools included in that region, it’s basically the same way.
But mainly I came back here to say I hope the OP updates us and also to wish her well.
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The Reins? I literally cannot think of a family that owns/has owned more top horses. Maybe the Magniers. That’s it.
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