This is a great point. When you add up the costs incurred to get the experience to be a contender for an NCAA riding scholarship in the equitation, it is likely higher than the cost of college tuition itself.
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Realistically, scholarships are probably the most helpful to the people who are the offspring of trainers. Those kids might ride a million different horses and develop that skill set, especially for getting on strange horses and making it work, which is extremely useful for the college show format.
Depending on who their parents are, it might make a big difference on whether they can afford a college education.
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You did a really good job of articulating in your post what I was trying to say.
Div 1 football scholarships and the path to the NFL and a pro career is a very different thing than the Div 1 equestrian programs, and the path people typically take to be a well qualified equestrian professional.
And thatâs ok. It doesnât mean one or the other is better ⊠itâs just really different.
I definitely think many people and parents get very confused about Div 1 sports, and the availability of significant scholarship money. From everything I have been told by a family member who was a Div 1 athlete, is a high s hook coach, and has friends who are Div 1 college coaches⊠when it comes down to it, there really are only a few sports where there is significant scholarship money available to students.
However, college athletics do indeed frequently translate to admissions advantages, financial aid advantages, and can be a source of significant pride for the athletes and their families, and result in lifelong friendships and memories.
The main thing I object to is how hard I see some parents pushing kids from ages 8-15 in hopes of some sort of college athletic dream. There are a lot of distorted perceptions about how likely this is. And many kids get pushed way too far, and really discouraged. And thatâs unfortunate. Sports should be healthy and a source of self esteem for kids.
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Thatâs an interesting angle and a different take on it, it definitely makes a lot of sense too.
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But it costs soooo much money to get into a D1 program with travel teams etc. who cares if you get a scholarship? And as said below equestrians arenât getting full rides on a D1 team.
ETA: I see this was mentioned above, but itâs often about getting into a school you might not have with academics on their own.
I was shocked when I did purchasing for a Div 1 hockey program that the vast majority of students paid for their own equipment, except goalies who at least one had to be outfitted in the sponsors equipment. Sticks were available but the 1k skates etc. were only for your starting forwards basically. everyone else footed their own bill.
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our oldest son was offered a full ride to Oklahoma State, they combined an academic and equestrian scholarship that would have been a fully funded scholarship
He did not accept as he took a position in the IT department of Southland Corporation as he had gotten advanced Microsoft certifications even while in high school
honestly Iâm shocked that a male was given that. Since as mentioned above itâs usually women only to help with title IX.
And ok, one equestrian has gotten a partial ride with the rest being academic. I certainly do not think it is happening en mass for anything but the money making sports.
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I have no horse in this race, and quite frankly think this whole discussion about making such major (and expensive) life decisions around riding horses is bananas! Someone just asked about why D1 would attract interest, and I answered.
I was a D3 athlete on a softball team for one season (recruited out of a very mediocre public high school), but left after my freshman year because it interfered with my ability to take an extra course for free every semester as part of the Scholars (Honors) Program that I was in. I went to a small liberal arts college where sports were no big deal, except hockey, which was D1. Most of those slots were filled by Canadian students looking for a path to the NHL and they were not really much a part of the college culture (nor generally successful at going on to the NHL).
I wouldnât trade my college experience for anything, and it put me light years ahead in my PhD program, which I went to fully funded. And in turn, that PhD gave me job opportunities that allow me to have a beautiful farm and horses in my early 40s. So if I were in the position of advising a teen about these kind of decisions, I would be focusing wholly on academics, not riding. Thereâs plenty of time for that as a hobby later in life.
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This. To get the highly-prized skills that enable you to be eligible, you have to have parents well-heeled enough to get your butt in the saddle on many, many horses at many shows, and the right type of horses. (The one exception might be well-heeled trainerâs kidsânot even trainers who are operating at the middling level at that.) Horse sports are always going to be more difficult to get ahead without money because your âequipmentâ is a living, breathing animal, and even the ability to ride one competitive horses isnât enoughâyou need the opportunity to ride and compete on many, which is why so many trainerâs kids do have an advantage, or the kids of very wealthy people who can afford access to multiple show horses.
Obviously, some other sports are also expensive in terms of equipmentâhockey (ice time can be costly, plus coaching and equipment), sailing, crew, and so forth. Basketball, football, soccer track and field, tend to have more historically discriminated-against groups represented because there are more opportunities to practice and the equipment is somewhat less costly, although still, given how competitive things are nowadaysâŠnothing is cheapâŠ
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Respectfully, that would not be a scholarship in the category of what is being discussed here. These D1 scholarships are National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) - and only for women. Your son would not be able to receive one of these. He could, of course, receive scholarship funding from other areas, but that is different from what the OP is hoping to vie for from Texas A&M or another D1 equestrian program.
Here is a link to the programs that have Division I and Division II teams: https://collegiateequestrian.com/sports/2020/5/6/schools.aspx
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I mean one of my friends who I used to show with got a riding scholarship to TAMU a few years ago. She didnât do the equitation, wasnât very wealthy, the highest thing she did was the 1.10 jumpers at very small local A shows. She got a scholarship because she rode well and effective.
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My point about the fantasy was that an equestrian scholarship does not seem to lead to the same tier of pro sports as a football scholarship. Itâs great that your friend got an equestrian scholarship. But what did she do after university? Did she become a horse pro? Did she compete Grand Prix?
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Look at the roster for TAMU jumping seat. Its public, this doesnât have to be a mystery. There are not many if any surprises. I know one of the lesser-known riders well. Nicest kid ever. Worked extremely hard. Typically showed 4 horses per season.
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Not just âaâ D1 school, that D1 school. OP didnât mention âa D1â school, she mentioned only Texas A&M.
Possibly family legacy. This is one of those universities with a fanatically loyal generational devotion. She doesnât say that this is so, though. Itâs just one possible reason for a single-purpose focus on Texas A&M.
This would be a degree that could serve as the âfall-backâ. If pro trainer doesnât work out, this is a degree that would open doors to any number of other positions somewhere in ag, including equine-based ag.
If her emphasis is ag and equine sciences, you canât do better. They have an over-the-top amazing equestrian facility that opened in 2014. The university has made a commitment to equine sciences and business as a growing industry, and has gone all-in on it, to the tune of over $30 million for this 100% new facility (as of 2014). (Their other major commercial equine emphasis is reproduction.)
I doubt that any university degree is help toward becoming a pro trainer. But a degree from Texas A&M will certainly set people up for a well-compensated lifetime career in the ag industry, doing something.
The university web pages, Iâm sorry to say, do not have a good photo tour of the equine complex. Iâve got better iphone pix from when I toured it several years ago. The web page photos cover the dumb stuff of office, trophy shelf â oh who cares, show us the horses and barns and arenas! They didnât.
Their site.
My pix below ⊠There is no concept of the size, though. This facility is huge. Has tons of my favorite things. Capacity I think 100 horses stabled, more in pasture. Not sure though.
The entire equestrian building is fireproof material.
âBVRIâ is the local recycling company.
grooming bay / wash stall
Plus a hay barn that I didnât see, but that Iâm told is impressive in its size.
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Some TAMU info on being selected for their NCAA equestrian team. Iâm sure OP is already familiar with this.
There are four collegiate equestrian disciplines at the NCAA level: equitation on the flat, equitation over fences (based on USEF standards), western horsemanship and reining. We are looking for riders who not only have proper equitation and horsemanship, but for those who are also functional on any type of horse.
The new recruits for 2024:
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Thatâs great.
Just some food for thought on tuition & scholarshipsâŠ
During 2022 - 2023 public information indicates tuition at Texas A&M was:
$13,239 for In-state
$40,139 for Out-of-state
Per Niche, tuition at The Grier School:
$67,500 (tuition plus boarding)
Soooo⊠Iâm not so sure it makes much common sense to spend major dollars to attend a private high school that costs $67,500 per year in hopes of getting an athletic scholarship to attend a public university that costs under $14,000 per year for in state students.
Of course there are other reasons why the private high school and TAMU might be great places to go to school and ride, but I just donât see a reason to focus on any sort of athletic scholarship to TAMU. It already is a good value for in state students 
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Wow. Thatâs quite a gap. And it does seem remarkably reasonable for in-state students.
Iâll add my pictures to the collection. As I recall, the facility has a connection to a well known vet from the area, so there is a statue of him examining a horse by the entrance.
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OK, I had to laugh at the bios of a couple of those kids that included all their extremely extensive competitive records and activities, plus the things they like to do in their spare time.
What spare time?? Lol.
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What a beautiful work of art. And a really cool idea for perspective.
Itâs really hard to beat the $$ value proposition when it comes to attending a good public university as an in state student. Especially in many southern states.
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And it is an equine agriculture degree that leads to good career employment. Not as a pro trainer. But in equine management fields, and in the huge array of knowledge based products that are available to horse owners and managers.
Feed alone is a big employer, as an example. Not just feed, but the science of feeding, how feed is provided to horses, under what conditions, is a key field for feed promoters to show results. Targeted mostly at owners and managers of large horse facilities.
Further context is that Texas has hundreds of major horse ranches that do commercial breeding and other horse related services. Millions of horses whose owners are consumers of horse related goods and services.
Plus education, research and government agencies.
And of course thatâs also true across the agricultural west.
Anyway. Just some reasons why an ag degree of some kind from Texas A&M does lead to career employability.
I have no idea if that is OP strategy, of course. But it would be a legitimate approach.
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