Winning is a collaborative effort between horse and rider, but much of the success in equestrian sports lies with rider nuances, including equitation or appearance, and horsemanship. Stand-out riders open doors to scholarships to some of the best academic universities in the country.  Use your passion and equestrian skill to land access to college. The NCAA offers some excellent tips on preparing for recruitment, including this suggestion: Riding videos submitted to campus equestrian programs for review should demonstrate your skill level, but also your versatility.  Your attire should accurately represent the standard for whatever equestrian style you are engaged in.

NCAA requirements include registration with the athletic Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse. Remember to follow recruitment rules, like the one prohibiting student-athletes from communicating with college coaches prior to their high school junior years.

How to find universities that offer equestrian scholarships in America?

When you’re looking for an equestrian university team, it helps to know which programs offer your equestrian class: hunter seat (including flat and fences), western, eventing, and dressage. You can use our university search tool which provides a comprehensive regional listing of college equestrian teams, as well as statistics about each school’s equitation class and team size.

The NCAA limits equestrian scholarships to 15 per college or university–Div 1 and Div 2—that operate programs according to the NCAA Emerging Sport of Equestrian Women’s protocols. Equine scholarship eligibility requirements vary across individual schools, so interested applicants are encouraged to contact individual programs for the most current information.  As an NCAA Equivalency Sport, equestrian programs are allowed to divide scholarships into partial awards, as a way to distribute scholarship dollars among greater numbers of players.

Colleges with equestrian scholarships:

Division 1 NCAA Equestrian Programs:

• Auburn University in Alabama
• Baylor University in Texas
• Brown University in Rhode Island
• California State University, Fresno
• College of Charleston in South Carolina
• Cornell University in New York
• Delaware State University
• University of Georgia
• Kansas State University
• New Mexico State University
• Oklahoma State University
• Sacred Heart University in Connecticut
• University of South Carolina
• South Dakota State University
• Southern Methodist University in Texas
• Stephen F. Austin University in Texas
• Texas Christian University
• University of Tennessee, Martin
• Texas A&M University, College Station

Division 2 NCAA Equestrian Programs:

• University of Minnesota
• Pace University in New York
• Stonehill College in Massachusetts
• West Texas A&M