As my wife and I found out first hand the world of Equestrian College Recruiting can be very confusing and a bit intimidating. I will try and make some sense of the process in the space allowed. There are many different college riding organizations ranging from the NCAA ( National Collegiate Athletic Association), the IHSA ( Intercollegiate Horse Show Association), the IDA ( Intercollegiate Dressage Association), the ANRC ( American National Riding Commission) as well as the NIRA ( National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association).
First we will cover a little about the NCAA. The NCAA only allows female riders to be recruited and this is a result of Title 9 which covers gender equity. I personally believe this to be unfair as Equestrian is one of a very few sports where men and women compete against each other in the Olympics. The recruiting guidelines are very strict and must be followed to the letter. The NCAA allows each University 15 scholarships and then the schools may do as they wish. Some give partial riding scholarships/part academic so they can recruit more riders. Riders MUST register with the NCAA clearing house before they are eligible to be recruited. A new rule which went into affect this past year also dictates that your SAT or ACT results must be sent directly to the NCAA clearinghouse by the testing agency. No exceptions. Riders must also keep good financial records of any prize money/expenses for any given competition as winning money may deem you ineligible for NCAA. Remember your travel, food, groom, entry fees etc count against your earnings so keep your receipts. There are too many other requirements to list in this article such as contacts with coaches, college visits etc. You can read more at www.equestriancollegrecruiter.com
The IHSA is the oldest and largest nationally competitive college riding program in the United States. Founded in 1967, the IHSA was the first to make equestrian sports part of the college experience for male and female students in a manner that is fun, affordable, educational and competitive. Each year over 6,500 IHSA riders of all skill levels compete individually and as teams at regional, zone, and national championship levels. The IHSA offers opportunities for riders who are just beginning in the sport as well as for students with show experience. Eliminating the expense of shipping or even owning horses puts IHSA competitions within reach of many who would otherwise miss the equestrian experience while in college.
Numerous Olympic riders, including Greg Best and Beezie Madden are alumni of IHSA.The Walk Trot rider is just as important to an IHSA team as their medal and Maclay riders. There are no recruiting guidelines in IHSA, and riders are allowed to win money and not be considered a professional but riders should keep a record of their ribbons won at different levels of showing and fence heights as this may affect your novice status. The IDA provides a series of dressage competitions affiliated with the US Dressage Federation for member colleges and universities.
At each show, individual and team points are earned, which count toward regional
standings and qualification for national finals. Levels include Introductory, Lower Training Level, Upper Training Level, First Level and Open. Riders move up levels based on points earned.
Horses and tack are provided by the host school and assigned by draw. Riders have 10-15
minutes of warm- up time and may be assisted by coaches. There are over 47 colleges that compete at the IDA horse shows.The American National Riding Commission, Inc. (ANRC) was established in 2006 to continue the goals and activities of the Affiliated National Riding Commission, which existed as part of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education,
Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) for more that 60 years. The original purpose was to initiate a standardized method to educate riders in hunt seat equitation and to create a "Rider Certification" system to assess riding ability and knowledge of riding theory. ANRC continues to support these goals with competitions, clinics, and distribution of educational materials.
ANRC's educational system is based on the teachings of Captain Vladimir Littauer, a Russian who came to the United States in the thirties and established a riding school. His progressive riding system has influenced many professional riders and trainers, including Jane Dillon, George Morris, Joe Fargis, Lendon Gray, Pam Baker and Bernie Traurig.The NIRA has 147 member colleges and offer scholarships to both males and females in a variety of rodeo competitions and is unique to the other programs in that the riders bring their own horse to college to compete with.All of the above organizations emphasize that the potential recruit should have good grades, good test scores and a good work ethic. Be as “riding fit” and as in shape as you can be, and make a good impression at your tryout by having your shirt tucked into your clean breeches, wearing a belt, polishing your boots, and have your hair neatly contained in a hair net for the females and be well groomed with hair 1 inch above the collar for the males.
There are several methods of being recruited. Miss Denna Johnson holds a College Bound Horse Show at the end of July in Florida each year which is held in a college horse show format. The weekend is very informative and is attended by many college coaches looking for new talent. The Equestrian Talent Search is an educational clinic and rider rating combine, designed to educate riders and parents about all the options available in collegiate and high school riding, and to rate and track talented young riders for collegiate teams and coaches. Equestrian Talent Search is produced by Beckett Run Inc, the same management company that produces the Tournament of Champions collegiate invitational horse show series. The newest tool for being recruited is the website we built because of the difficulties we faced learning about equestrian college recruiting. EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com allows riders to post an academic/riding resume along with photos and full video. This allows coaches to peruse the site at their leisure. The site has information about all of the college riding organizations in one convenient spot and you can also learn about all of the colleges without going to multiple websites.
