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.
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.
Division 1 NCAA Equestrian Programs:
Division 2 NCAA Equestrian Programs:
The UCLA Equestrian Team is comprised of more than 30 highly motivated undergraduate womenwho share a love of horses and dedicate several hours a week to riding lessons, horse care, and representing UCLA at Intercollegiate Horse Show Association competitions throughout Southern California and Arizona.
The team has purchased the Harvard Polo and Equestrian Center and expanded to include men’s, women’s, and junior-varsity teams. United by a love of horses, Harvard’s players hail from a diversity of geographical backgrounds and boast varying levels of polo experience.
With a degree in equine or equestrian studies, you can pursue a variety of careers in the equine industry, such as becoming a horse breeder, barn manager or horse specialist.
The Duke University Equestrian Team participates in the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), an association of student teams from all over the United States. The IHSA promotes competition for riders of all skill levels, who compete individually and as teams at regional and national levels.
The Worth the Trust Scholarship is a $4,000 scholarship available to riders 16 years old or older who have declared amateur status with the USEA. The scholarship aims to reward amateur eventers by helping to fund training opportunities like clinics, working student positions, and private or group instruction.
Georgia equestrian won its seventh national championship after defeating No. 4 SMU 9-7 in Waco, Texas, at the Extraco Event Center. This makes Georgia the winningest team in NCEA history with seven national titles.
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While we work on our Android app, you can still work with the ASM Sports team of dedicated recruiters. Click here to request a consultation.
