What experience is necessary to ride competitively in college? This student has ridden since the age of six, has ridden many different types of horses due to budget constraints, some nice ones, many average or challenging. She is super hard working, talented, and is grateful for every opportunity she gets. She currently has a green we bought (and love) with the hopes of doing the jr, hunters, which he has the brain and scope to do, but he’s not fancy, and he’s wound up not looking very huntery in the ring. They were really successful in the jumpers at KHP, but she has her heart set on getting a shot at the jr hunters for at least one of her two remaining jr. years. In addition, she’s been told that if she doesn’t do 3’6" hunters or the Big Eq, no D1 school will look at her, and that it’ll he tough to get an IHSA spot too. Is that true? Any thoughts or advice? Can she go off and do jumpers and still ride on a team? Thanks in advance!
For a realistic shot an NCAA team, yes, a rider would need to be putting in competitive rides at the 3’6, most likely specifically in the eq ring. Spots on D1 teams are filled almost, if not entirely, by recruits that have been very successful in the eq, most of them probably went to all the finals and at least put in respectable trips, if not placed.
IHSA on the other hand, takes riders of all levels. From the walk trot (riders with less than 24 weeks of instruction), all the way up to Open (riders who have won 6 or more blue ribbons at the 3’6 height). From your description it sounds like this is where your kid would fit in.
For IHSA, you can be riding for the first time. Every level is useful for IHSA - you don’t get more points for winning an Open flat than winning a walk/trot class. I think that’s probably the best option for your student based on your description.
Thanks for your response - that’s very helpful information. She’d be incredibly happy to do IHSA. So what do the great-riding kids who don’t have the money for a competitive Eq horse or the money to go to medal finals do? Do they just not ride D1?
I might be wrong but there are D2 and D3 NCEA teams, I think.
A lot of great-riding people do IHSA. Kels Bonham (winner of the USEF Medal Finals) comes to mind.
Depending on how many blue ribbons she’s won at 3’ or above, IHSA could be an excellent place for her. A solid 3’ rider who just happened to always be the bridesmaid can still be eligible for Intermediate (or maybe even Novice? I’m not sure of the rules anymore) which is incredibly attractive to a team looking to build out strong riders in all levels. I’d encourage her to start talking to colleges, go to fairs and prep events, and look into where her skills might be a good fit.
If she has the talent and experience in the ring, even if she doesn’t have the ribbons to back it up because of horsepower, she has a shot at some of the non-tip-top programs, including the D2 and D3 NCEA schools. Work hard on her application videos, including borrowing horses if possible. Also get her in to some of the talent scouting showcases like CPI.
And yes, she’ll have plenty of IHSA opportunities if NCEA doesn’t pan out. Many of the larger IHSA programs are at CPI too.
I rode IHSA, and competed against a wide variety of riders - including some with placings at the big eq finals, and others who are now respected professionals.
Only a tiny percentage of athletes in any sport earn a spot on a D1 team. You could ask the same question about any of them. These days, investing thousands/tens of thousands to play in travel and showcase leagues all through high school is considered to be pretty much a necessity for kids who hope to play on D1 and D2 school sports teams. Maybe that’s not quite in the same league as the income it takes to be competitive in Big Eq, but it certainly beyond the average family’s means.
Beezie Madden competed in IHSA in college and won the Cacchione Cup. I wouldn’t think of IHSA as “lesser” than NCEA just because it’s more open to riders of different abilities. IHSA is also much more popular across the US, as I believe there are just over 10k riders registered to compete in IHSA.
I’d have her figure out what area of study she wants to focus on (liberal arts, sciences, etc), and then research schools with decent programs in those fields. Odds are, they have an IHSA team.
Some big-time IHSA teams in the nation are SCAD, Skidmore College, Penn State, Goucher, Mt Holyoke, VA Tech, Averett, Findlay, St Andrews, Sweet Briar, University of Delaware, Cazenovia, Emory & Henry, etc etc. I’m sure I forgot a huge player somewhere but those are the names I remember hearing about a lot in college.
What is the goal of competing equestrian in college teams? Are there scholarships? Does it subsidize the cost of keeling a horse at college? Is it a route to being a pro rider like playing football or basketball?
Or is it just a nice, self funded extra?
If the latter, pick the best college for your chosen field and figure out the horse stuff afterwards.
Many thanks to each of you for all of this great information. I hope I didn’t give the impression that we thought IHSA was lesser, quite the opposite. They are just very different college experiences. She wants a more diverse college exoerience while still getting to be around horses and compete - it balances out her intense academic side. So she’d decided IHSA was the route for her unless something crazy happens (isn’t there a tiny part of most athletes that would love to be good enough to be recruited!) However lately we’ve heard that IHSA spots are almost as tough to get at many schools as division spots. Sounds like we’ve gotten some bad information. That’s the trouble in our area - a lack of information-the high school counselors know plenty about football and soccer but nothing about riding and equestrians. So again, thank you - the information above is a relief. I guess my D1 question was more wondering about the kids who don’t have the means but have the drive and desire to compete on a big college team. CPI shows make sense. Probably also being a working student for opportunities on some nicer horses . It would be nice to have a roadmap for students who, even in late elementary or middle school, think they’d like to compete in college. Everybody knows what to do for soccer or basketball, but for riding not so much - at least in our area.
Schools with IHSA teams are recruiting just as much as schools with NCEA teams and some offer scholarships. New students have a higher chance of getting to show in IHSA because most of the shows offer a lot more rides per school. As always, choose the school for the academics it offers in the students chosen field of study then worry about the riding piece. If she’s got experience on a variety of horses, she’ll get show time on any IHSA team.
Keep in mind that NCEA falls under NCAA, and IHSA teams are run like a club team. Following NCAA rules and restrictions is a PITA 
I rode IHSA in college and my advice to you is that it greatly depends on the team. Some teams are more competitive than others and each year is different. My graduating year, half the team consisted of seniors, so the next fall they had a lot of spots open in a variety of levels from needing kids who had never shown/sat on a horse before to kids who could be competitive in the open divisions. In prior years, they might have only been looking for a few Novice kids or Intermediate riders. A really good question to ask coaches is what level of riders are they most in need of right now (or in the time frame that your student would be looking to join the team) and what level do they think your student might be in IHSA terms.
I think if you try to get on IHSA teams of schools like SCAD, who until last year were on a winning streak for IHSA Nationals, you might have a harder time getting on the team than another school. But there’s plenty of really nice teams out there who are more accepting of new members. If she places in the higher levels, she’ll be more likely to show more.
Here’s a basic outline of the IHSA placements for divisions:
Walk/trot = less than 24 weeks’ instruction; can only show in this division for 2 years before being automatically brought up to WTC. Flat classes only.
Walk/trot/canter is the most populous division, so it’s split in 2 groups: Beginning WTC and Advanced WTC. Flat classes only for this division.
Beginning wtc is for those who have more than 24 weeks instruction, but maybe have never shown before or have very limited showing experience.
Advanced WTC is for those who have some showing experience, and (theoretically) less than 6 months’ instruction over fences.
Novice = riders who have experience showing over fences, but not at A-rated shows. Think like local shows or B-rated shows. Must have at least 6 months instruction over fences to show in the over/fence classes.
Intermediate = some show experience at A-rated shows, but limited blue ribbons.
Open = this is for riders with a history of success at rated shows, including Maclay, medal finals, etc etc.
I can’t remember the questions associated with the placement test, but this should give you a basic idea of where she’d be at.
IHSA asks for your USEF record if you have one to help place you. Also, if you end up “placing” in Novice but ride at the level of Intermediate riders, the coach can move you up a division, but they can’t move you back down.
It’s worth noting that in some cases, schools with IHSA teams that are classified as varsity teams are still held to NCAA rules as well. It’s worth looking into which schools classify their teams as varsity vs club. In general, though not always, the varsity teams are better funded and can get more riding time. Club teams may be more self-funded. But, the varsity teams also tend to be a more intense experience than club teams. Just little things to consider.
I know someone who was on a very competitive NCAA team, and the riders had to log hours in the weight room, work with the nutritionist, and keep track of all kinds of things. Not to say that was good or bad, just a little unexpected for her.
When she started, she could only lift the empty bar in the weight room. :lol:
Have her join an IEA team for her last year (2018-2019 season ends in April so she’d only be able to do the 2019-2020). IEA will give her the opportunity to potentially win a national final, for the overall cost of approximately one A show. Riders qualify for regional and national finals both as a team and individually, so even if her team isn’t super strong, she can qualify for national finals as an individual. IEA won’t get her recruited for an NCEA school but it will certainly help for IHSA if she manages to qualify for and place at regionals and nationals. The IEA is run in the same format as IHSA, so IEA experience indicates to IHSA teams that she can ride competitively in that set up and it will look good on her resume. In my area, many kids who show on the A circuit also show IEA, so the competition is strong, it isn’t entirely composed of kids who just ride school horses (though there are lots of those, too, which is great).
The other consideration is the two Ivy League NCEA schools. It is my understanding that while equestrian is a Varsity sport at both Brown and Cornell, they do not recruit for the teams (or at least barely) and have open try-outs for the team after the beginning of the school year. If she’s strong academically and able to get into these schools on her academic merits, the equestrian teams of these two schools may give her the opportunity to ride on an NCEA team. If you read the profiles of the kids on Cornell’s team, they have very varied experiences prior to college. Some have BigEq and Jr. Hunter experience but quite a few of them have lesser A show experience.
PSU currently has several “Devon level Junior” types on its IHSA team.
I’m curious why your daughter isn’t currently doing the 3’3 or 3’6 Eq? If her horse is scopey and good brained enough for the junior hunters, but just isn’t very huntery, then he sounds like he could be a decent Eq horse, especially if he’s brave enough for the jumpers. The good Eq horses are not at all huntery, they don’t have that long and low way of going nor the beautiful dramatic bascule over the jump, rather jump much flatter to help the rider stay in place. If she’s talented enough and her horse isn’t a hunter, why not the Eq?
