Suggestions to make money as a junior

[Halternatively]

Am I understanding correctly that you believe that you could lease your horse for $100K per year? Ummmmmm. I do not know of anyone who is going to drop 100K to lease a horse that is shown only a few times a year, is not in a professional program, lives in someones back yard and does not have repeated championships at WEC Ocala or similar.

A $100,000 lease means the horse is worth around $200,000 and that means the horse is a 16.2 + warmblood under the age of 12 with dozens of pages of current USEF records showing top A/AA placings with a junior or amateur at 3’3" and 3’6". It vets near-perfectly, has no spook or buck, always gets a piece of the hack and is decent on the ground. There are variations on this, but it generally fits within these parameters.

Also, if you only show a few times a year and are not in a regular program, you are likely to have a lot of fun at JHF, but be prepared to be a bit mind blown by your competition. The kids who place well there show most weekends with their BNTs and are unfazed by the magnitude of the venue or pressure. They have horses worth far, far into the six figures and many are into the sevens, and the horses are handled entirely by grooms. The kids lay down foot-perfect rounds, hand the horses off at the gate and move on to their small jr or 3’6" ride. It’s very, very difficult to come into this scene and do well if this is not your usual show routine.

All this being said, I think you are on a path of success, and are lucky to have supportive parents and a nice horse. Often, success is taking a breath and a moment to feel gratitude for all that you have, embracing it, and finding a way forward without making drastic changes.

[Mara]

In defense of the OP, I don’t think she’s given any indication that she’s unaware of her privileges, or in any way ungrateful for what she has. She’s well aware her parents cannot afford the difference in tuition and accepts that.

We (I mean people over the age of 30ish in general, not just COTH) really ought to stop assuming that all Gen Z’ers and younger are ungrateful and demanding. Some are, of course, but let’s listen to the individual speaking before mentally assigning traits they don’t exhibit.

[OverandOnward]

OP/Lilah – With luck you & parents have already done this – Whatever school you are going to, FIRST get in touch with TAMU admissions and make SURE that they see it as a credible school and a good background for admissions. And that your class ranking will count toward their 10%, even though your boarding school is not a TX school.

Whatever boarding school you go to may be the best on the planet. But as I hope guidance counselors are advising you, there is a name-recocgnition factor, and a small school in another part of the country may not be known at TAMU. If there is a need to verify it and make sure that TAMU gives full credence to all grades/coursework, now is the time to do that directly with TAMU admissions. Before the big plan and all expenses are committed.

With luck TAMU has already admitted graduates from the school. But especially with a small school located states away, maybe not.

[OverandOnward]

So I’m beginning to see OP’s strategy – possibly.

Going by the roster of current TAMU NCAA team members, posted above and I’ll post again, most are from out-of-state. And yes they have impressive credentials from showing during their high school years.

That’s interesting because out-of-state tuition at TAMU starts at around $40k per year (= 2 semesters).

So, I’m speculating that the team has scholarship money to help get their favored candidates on board, and that explains why so many out-of-state students are on their team roster.

If OP can also qualify for scholarship money, it would go even farther for OP’s in-state tuition. About $15k+ per year. By the time OP attends it may be as much as 10% higher.

And more robust showing qualifications may also open up OP’s options for other schools in other states, as well. As OP’s focus may adjust over the next few years.

OP seems to already have some quite impressive credentials among her qualifiers. She’s a legit ‘A’ jr competitor, even if she hasn’t had many chances to show.

OP seems to be expecting that attending her first choice riding/showing boarding school could boost those credentials quite a bit. That’s how I read her earlier posts, that showing more, and showing at name shows, is a major incentive.

So – assuming success in riding and academics at the boarding school – this may well be a helpful strategy in a highly competitive bid for admission, scholarship money and NCAA team membership at Texas A&M.

This is how young athletes often approach D1 admission, and admission anywhere, really. Focus on the high school and programs that give them the best leg up to get into their first-choice university/college. And get some scholarship money as well. Sometimes families do move to give their kids a chance to compete in the best high school and/or best programs to further their college ambitions.

It is easy to dismiss this perspective from all angles – that’s how people typically react to ambition. People generally seem to be uncomfortable with ambition and with reaching out beyond one’s usual parameters.

But from this perspective, as I see it, this is a more realistic plan. Now that OP has some funding coming in for the boarding school tuition. If it’s (mostly) paid for (it wasn’t at the beginning of the thread, but things have progressed), I’m all for it. Go get 'em OP!

2023-24 Equestrian Roster - Texas A&M Athletics - 12thMan.com

Texas A&M Tuition Calculator

[dags]

To be fair, I don’t think OP thinks they’ll get 100k/year for the mare, but I’d venture that even 40k/yr will be a stretch. I hope that’s closer to what they’re thinking than the 100k number.

[NC001]

OP it sounds like you are working through figuring things out- good for you! I would also still try to make some extra money to help. Working hard for extra cash isn’t going to hurt and it may really come in handy.

I absolutely think where you go to high school impacts you chances of getting into college. My daughter is heading to her first choice college this fall and I work at a major univeristy that is highly selective. The past year has been a whirlwind of college stats and decisions. Honestly, all you hear about is how hard it is to get into college these days but honestly, outside of the top ivy leagues, I think it’s over hyped to a big extent.
OP do your best academically, take the hard classes, do everything you can to get into TAMU but don’t feel like its unattainable. Stranger things have happened. Do what you can and good luck with riding in high school. My daughter has been lucky and has been able to show and train while taking multiple AP classes and doing a varsity sport (and was captain) and other clubs. She would go to her varisty sport inthe mornings before school, school all day, then go to the barn in the evenings, then study.
She is taking her horse to college which hopefully works out and will ride on the college’s club team.

There are lots of options- keep working towards your goals and best of luck!

[Halternatively]

I’m not sure if your comment is directed at me, but I did not mean to insinuate that OP is unaware of her privileges, demanding or ungrateful. As a parent of children around the same age as OP and having been along side them as they encountered similar forks in the road, I remind them to breathe and feel gratitude - this is different from telling them to have gratitude where there is none.

OP, I am not suggesting in any way whatsoever that you are ungrateful, demanding or unaware of any privileges you may have. If I came off that way, I sincerely apologize. I think quite the opposite - you seem well aware of the financial involvement required to send you to this school, and to have horses, and grateful to your parents for all they are able to give. This is commendable, and I applaud you for this and for looking for ways to make your goals reality. I hope that you find success in whatever form it takes.

[BAC]

@Night_Flight

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…

Maybe one of their horses won a ribbon in a conformation or breeding class where looks are considered?

[BeeHoney]

OP, I just want to point out that some of the people posting on this thread and sharing wisdom with you are extremely knowledgeable and experienced people within the h/j industry.

I remember what it feels like to be young and ambitious and eager to spread my wings, so I have a lot of empathy for your situation.

I think what many of us are trying to convey is that riding is, as another poster put it, a “Pay to Play” sport. This is true NOT just for the amateurs, but also for many professionals. Many of the successful professional riders you see out there are bankrolled by behind the scenes wealth (typically family money or a wealthy spouse). Yes, these pros have paying customers, but those customers do not bring in enough income for a trainer to pay for their own horses or their own showing. Being a professional horse trainer often does not even bring in enough money to pay for basics like health insurance or retirement savings.

Any “working student” or “intern” you see out showing and winning is not having their horses and show fees provided by the person they are working for. That’s just not how the world works. Those students and interns are paying their own way with money from somewhere else. If you get one of these internships or student positions, most likely you would still end up paying your own expenses, in some cases paying quite a bit to the person you are “working for” because horses are so expensive and the value of their services is so much more than yours.

I think you there could be good academic reasons to go to a private high school, and in that instance, if your family can afford it, I think it is reasonable. But it would be very naive to rely on a lease fee for your horse to pay that $50,000 per year. Your horse could go lame tomorrow, or the day before the lease started. As others have mentioned, it’s very difficult to lease a show horse out of your back yard, especially a a horse that has only been showing 3x per year. You would need to get the horse moved to a barn and get it in a program, and then cross your fingers that you are able to find a person interested in leasing (there are some timing issues as others have pointed out). There are commissions that will need to be paid, and there is risk that the horse will not stay sound. There’s risk that the person leasing the horse would break the lease and dump the horse back on you and you’d be stuck with vet bills and rehab. It’s unwise to count on income from the sale or lease of a horse.

[DownYonder]

I was thinking about this thread last night and it occurred to me that I am not sure why there is such a fixation on “D1” athletic programs. It seems to me that although the upper echelon of college athletics could certainly be a draw for athletes who are gunning for pro teams like MLB,. NFL, NBA, WBNA, etc., I can’t wrap my mind around why someone in a sport like equestrian would be so adamant about attending a D1 school. Do BNTs in the equestrian world really consider a college’s athletic rating when they are looking to hire working students or apprentice trainers?

[MorganMaresVT]

@DownYonder

I can’t wrap my mind around why someone in a sport like equestrian would be so adamant about attending a D1 school.

That’s where scholarships are offered

[fivestrideline]

OP said she wanted to got to TAMU and ride on the team, so that’s where the focus went. TAMU and similar D1 schools that recruit and pay out scholarships for equestrian teams.

[DownYonder]

@MorganMaresVT

@DownYonder

I can’t wrap my mind around why someone in a sport like equestrian would be so adamant about attending a D1 school.

That’s where scholarships are offered

Ah, I see. Thanks!

Just out of curiosity - does anyone know offhand how many D1 schools offer Equestrian scholarships? Are there a lot of them? And I assume they are offered primarily for females only to meet Title X mandates - is that correct?

[MHM]

@DownYonder

Do BNTs in the equestrian world really consider a college’s athletic rating when they are looking to hire working students or apprentice trainers?

If anything, it’s the opposite.

Most kids probably need the BNT to get into the D1 school in the first place.

I’ve seen D1 shows the week after the Maclay final where most of the kids on both teams were either ribbon winners or solid contenders at the Maclay.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@MorganMaresVT

@DownYonder

I can’t wrap my mind around why someone in a sport like equestrian would be so adamant about attending a D1 school.

That’s where scholarships are offered

This… but for men’s sports, almost all of the scholarship money is in football and basketball. For women’s sports, basketball also involves lots of scholarship money.

For smaller sports like riding, there is minimal scholarship money, or it gets split between multiple team members.

I know with lacrosse (both men’s and women’s), the key thing is that people focus on is how the sport results in an admissions “side door” for some kids. Recruited athletes can have much less competitive academic profiles, and still get in to great schools. This is true for most of the Ivy League, many NESCAC schools, and other very competitive & prestigious schools like UVA and Duke. I have no idea if the whole admissions side door thing applies to any of the major riding teams though… but it definitely does for other sports. And that is why some wealthy parents spend huge amounts of money on their kid’s youth sports pursuits… it does help some of these kids get a leg up in the competitive college admissions arena.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

@DownYonder

Just out of curiosity - does anyone know offhand how many D1 schools offer Equestrian scholarships? Are there a lot of them? And I assume they are offered primarily for females only to meet Title X mandates - is that correct?

For D1 schools, there are very strict rules on how scholarship money is distributed between men’s and women’s sports. Another thing to consider… the major scholarship money tends to go to the sports that actually generate revenue for the schools in terms of ticket sales and merchandise. For men’s sports, that definitely means college football and basketball. For women’s sports, basketball can be a big deal as well. And… I know for a fact there is more scholarship $$$$ available for Div 1 women’s lacrosse than Div 1 men’s lacrosse. But… there are very very few full athletic scholarships awarded for that sport… period. It’s mostly partial awards.

Again… it’s just a guess… but I would assume that there are not many full scholarships offered for athletes on Div 1 riding teams. In general, these programs help Div 1 schools with pretty specific men’s sports programs balance out their total athletic programs so that they satisfy Title IX requirements.

[MHM]

@Virginia_Horse_Mom

I would assume that there are not many full scholarships offered for athletes on Div 1 riding teams.

I know of at least one person who got a full scholarship. But she won an equitation final first.

[Virginia_Horse_Mom]

Interesting. Well, good for her

Here is a link to an Associated Press report on the whole admission’s side door issue, from back in 2019 when the Varsity Blues Scandal was in the news. I thought I would share it to the thread for people who don’t have college bound kids and aren’t necessarily on top of all this stuff and the implications.

Bribery scandal exposes sports side door to admissions

Private and public schools with even the most rigorous academic entry standards allow leeway for student-athletes to keep their teams competitive. Coaches provide school admissions officers, often through the athletic compliance department, with lists of “designated recruits,” even in cases where they might only receive a partial scholarship or limited financial aid. In most of the sports involved in this case, few athletes receive full scholarships.

It’s those “designated recruit” lists that opened a pathway into school for students who would never compete.”

…

The Ivy League does not give athletic scholarships, but student-athletes are given preferential treatment when it comes to admission and financial aid, said Ed Boland, a former assistant director of admissions at Yale and expert on college access.

There are what we called ‘hooked’ students and ‘unhooked’ students,” he said. “Hooked students have some kind of advantage, either from an underrepresented geographic area, a recruited athlete, son or daughter of an alumus or alumna or an underrepresented ethnic group. Athletes certainly enjoy preferential treatment in the admissions process.”

[Scribbler]

Equitation scholarships might work for those at the top of the junior game, but in order to be at the top the family needs to be so rich that they could already afford college. There might indeed be a back door entry for these very wealthy girls.

I think that for various middle class dreamers, who aren’t in the pipeline to be top juniors through skill, talent, location, or cash, the equestrian scholarship fantasy is based on a misconception.

Everyone knows about the power of athletic scholarships in the big men’s sports. A football or basketball scholarship gets you a full ride, extra help, and a back door. It also puts you in the running to earn a spot on a pro team, be one of the best in the world, and retire rich. It is the pipeline to being a pro athlete.

Teen girls sometimes seem to extrapolate that it must work that way in horses too. I will go to university, study equestrian management, ride on the college team, and then hopefully get recruited onto a “pro team”. Or situation. And then I will be wealthy and able to do what I want.

But it doesn’t work that way for horses. College teams and equestrian management programs are a detour away from being a pro. Indeed I’ve read many threads here on COTH saying such programs don’t turn out skilled employees and the jobs they qualify for are entry level grooms who could get the job with no education. And the IHA doesn’t ladder into USEF in a meaningful way.

I think it’s wonderful there is any equestrian stuff on campus, there was nothing around me when I was an undergrad. I do think that both boarding school and college equestrian programs in the US tend towards being a very nice perk for wealthy girls who will be adult amateur riders, which is wonderful. But it is not a pipeline to being a pro.

The horse business is structured around self employment and small business. There are no teams, except temporarily for specific competitions. There is virtually no audience and no ticket sales. There is also no credentialing, you make your way based on the skills you can demonstrate. It runs very much on levels of formal and informal apprenticeship and paying your own way. It’s also a segment of the agriculture industry and shares many of the low wage and harsh working conditions of agriculture, as well as many of the skills. A barn manager is ahead of the game if they can use a tractor, repair fences, fix drainage, and maybe even grow their own hay.

Most horse pros spend much less of their barn time riding their own horses than the average ammie. If you are a coach, trainer or barn manager, most of your time is spent facilitating the success of your clients. You will take your kiddie students to cross poles on Saturday,.not your own jumper to a 3 foot 3 course an hour in the other direction. You will pack in fee paying lessons and have no time to school that jumper anyhow. You will ride client’s cranky horses and sort them out without making them too reactive rather than your own lovely young jumper. You will lose your own riding time to any number of barn emergencies, vet calls, hay deliveries, farrier visits or maintenance jobs. You will fill in feeding or cleaning if your low wage employees flake out of can’t get to work because of snow or hurricane. Etc

The exception is the pros who have the family cash, the connections, and the sponsorships to ride at the top levels and just do clinics and coaching with their names. But even there we dint know how they spend their days.

Teens seem to imagine that being a pro rider is just like being a junior but with more horses and getting paid for it. That’s not how it works.

Also, anyone with a strong work ethic can get the skills to become a pro at some level (groom, colt starter, lesson barn manager, instructor of beginners etc). But unless you are already super well funded and in the big leagues as a junior you are very unlikely to emerge at 25 as “the youngest rider on the Pan Am team” or whatever form the fantasy of being pro takes.

[Foitin]

Some of the biggies are: SMU, Auburn, TCU, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Georgia, South Carolina, and Baylor. Go to most of the tippy top juniors’ public instagram accounts and you’ll see one of these universities or too often (I’d argue) an ivy league school, depending on which route the’ve CHOSEN. Either route is about opportunities!