equestriancollegerecruiter.com/blog

Equestrian College Recruiter LLC in partnership with ShowtimeHorseSales.com has placed some very nice donation horses to various colleges over the past two years.
Some of the schools include Oneonta State, William Woods, St. Andrews Presbyterian, SCAD and Valley Forge Military Academy and College. If you would like to be included in the list of our schools that receive priority for donation horses you can do so by advertising your school/riding program on EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com with packages starting at $100 per year. Contact Mike for more info:
Mike@EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com

Equestrian College Recruiter LLC would like to team up with local and recognized shows. We can offer gift certificates that you can give away as prizes which allow the rider to post a profile on our website in exchange for an ad in your prizelist. The number of certificates depends on the size of your show. You will also receive a banner ad on our home page.
For more details email Mike@equestriancollegerecruiter.com

‘ Going to college would be a great experience once admitted at central methodist university.’

During the past several weeks I have been to many different horse shows from Florida to New York these shows have encompassed everything from the “A” shows to schooling shows. Over that time period I have had the opportunity to speak to many parents and riders about the college recruiting process. I am hoping to clear up some misconceptions in this article about the level of riders that make it onto the college teams.
As far as the NCAA is concerned, it is true that they are seeking the riders who compete and do well at the 3’6” level. However, what many riders do not realize is that not all of the most successful riders wish to ride for an NCAA school. Under NCAA rules the summer before you begin your college career you can no longer win prize money at a horse show. This rule will remain in effect as long as you are competing in college. I spoke personally to some very prominent trainers that told me that their child would not even consider an NCAA school for this reason. This opens the door for the 3’6” rider who does not wish to compete on the “A” circuit while in college. For this reason do not sell your self short thinking only the best Maclay riders get recruited to NCAA schools, many of the best riders have their eyes on an IHSA riding program or do not plan on riding in college at all.
As far as the IHSA teams are concerned, they are looking for riders from beginner walk trot through the advanced riders. This is where many parents and riders were surprised. They all assumed that only the “A” show kids would ever be recruited by a college riding team. When I explained that the beginner rider is just as important to the team as the advanced rider in IHSA competitions, they were elated. Many of them never even thought that their child, who has only shown at schooling shows competing in the 2’6” division, should even consider trying out. In fact, these are just the types of riders that coaches are looking for. The IHSA coach loves to find the very experienced local rider that just never had the funds to burn up the “circuit”
So if you are interested in riding in one of the college programs you must be proactive in your approach. If you are a hard worker and are a good rider, even though you may not have tons of show experience go ahead and put a video together along with a resume, send it to some schools that you may be interested in and profile yourself on EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com. Remember the coaches do not have the time or resources to scour the country looking for good riders competing at schooling shows. Yes they may be at some of the “A” shows competing with their teams and they may be looking for talented riders. However NCAA coaches can not approach you at a horse show unless they are certain of your age and that information is often not available to them in the show office because of privacy laws and they can not risk a recruiting violation. Many riders therefore think “Oh well, I haven’t been contacted by any schools so I must not be good enough”, it is your job as a potential recruit to make yourself known to the coaches. There are several methods of accomplishing this task; Miss Denna Johnson holds a College Bound Horse Show in Florida each year which is held in a college horse show format. The weekend is very informative and is attended by college coaches looking for new talent. The Equestrian Talent Search is an educational clinic and rider rating system combined, designed to educate riders and parents about all the options available in collegiate and high school riding. The newest tool for being recruited is the website I built because of the difficulties my son and I faced learning about equestrian college recruiting, EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com, where equestrian athletes post an academic/riding resume along with photos and full video. This allows coaches to peruse the site at their leisure and contact athletes directly. The site also has information about all of the college riding organizations in one convenient spot so you can use it as a portal to learn about all of the colleges that have riding programs. From the site you can also visit individual school websites, fill out their recruiting forms, inform them that your profile is posted on EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com and on which graduation year page you are located. In any case sell yourself, brag about your accomplishments however small you feel they may be. You may just be the next diamond in the rough that becomes a collegiate riding star.

Mike Imparato
www.EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com
mike@equestriancollegerecruiter.com

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. 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. If you have any specific questions about college recruiting please send them to Mike@equestriancollegerecruiter.com