Emerging Divison I and II Sport
By now most high school seniors have figured out college plans but if you have juniors who loves to ride you might want to consider a school that offers one of the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s top emerging sports. I’m Susan Allen host of OpenRange and I’ll be back right after the break. In the past if you wanted to keep riding at the university level you could join the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association founded on the principle that any college student should be able to participate in horse shows regardless of his or her riding ability or financial status. Today there are additional options. A Growing number of young riders are striving to be recruited by prestigious NCAA sanctioned universities . Twenty three schools are now part the elite NCAA Division I and II sports that recruit for their Varsity Equestrian Teams with more universities adding the program to their athletic department every year. Schools compete in a head to head format, where each team is required to ride the same horses and judges’ scores are compared across horses. The host school provides the horses and tack at each competition. The quality of horses is top notch thanks to dedicated alumni. The format includes hunt seat equitation flat and over fences, western horsemanship and reining. Varsity Equestrian Teams differ in that they have to comply with NCAA rules in recruiting and scholarships but its a wonderful preparation for becoming a top notch horse trainer or working rider because of the chance to ride so many different horses. Contact www.varistyequestrianteams.com
