ADVICE FOR HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES
Q: What can I do to start preparing for your NCAA Equestrian Team?
A: If possible, attend an NCAA Equestrian competition (
NCEA) so that you can get a better idea of our different format and the level of riders that we are looking for. Organize your horse-show records. Start making a list of year-end awards and/or seasonal show highlights and update it regularly. Also, from the 9th grade forward, start keeping a detailed accounting of all prize money won and expenses incurred at horse show, which includes saving and organizing all receipts. You may fill out a questionnaire and send in a DVD or YouTube video link at any time to schools you are interested in. (Plan on sending updated information and video during your junior year).
Q: Can I contact the coaches?
A: You may send an email or make a phone call to the Coaches at any time. However, coaches are not permitted (per NCAA rules) to initiate a contact (which includes replying to an email or returning a phone call) to you during your freshman and sophomore years. If you would like to schedule a visit, your best option is to keep calling until the coach answers. When emailing coaches, please include your year in school.
ADVICE FOR HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND SENIORS
Q: When a candidate has completed the SMU Equestrian Athlete Questionnaire, what is her next step?
A: After submitting the questionnaire, put together video of your riding and showing abilities along with a riding resume, if you have not done so already. A riding resume can include highlights from your horse show experience. Please list the names and contact information for the trainers with whom you have ridden during the past five years; the names of any outside clinicians you have ridden with and your membership ID numbers for the equestrian organizations you belong to (i.e.
USEF,
AQHA, and
NRHA etc.). Create a one page non-riding resume that includes any academic achievements, honors or awards. Also list your participation in volunteering, extracurricular activities, leadership, and community
involvements.
Q: Once a candidate has established contact with a coach, should she continue to update the coach on her riding progress and accomplishments? And if so, how often should she submit updates?
A: After a candidate has submitted her video and resume, she may hear back from certain coaches who express an interest in keeping her on their radar, so to speak. In those cases, the candidate should continue to update those coaches (via email) on her riding progress and accomplishments – as well as letting coaches know of specific upcoming horse shows (and their dates/locations) in which she will be competing, in case coaches want to come and watch her ride.
Q: When should I send my DVD/Video link, cover letter and resumes?
A: Preferably by the start of your junior year.
Q: Who should I send my DVD/Video link, cover letter and resumes to?
A: Send all videos/documents to the coaching staff member of your discipline. Contact info can be found on the
SMU Athletics Staff Directory.
Q: At what point is it recommended that a candidate make a personal campus visit to an Equestrian college in which she's interested?
A: Under NCAA rules, if a candidate wishes to make an
"unofficial" visit (i.e., the candidate covers all of her own travel expenses), she is welcome to visit an Equestrian campus at any time during her high school years – although sophomore or junior year is recommended. On those unofficial visits, the candidate is permitted to
make an appointment to meet with the Equestrian coach. It is recommended that you make an appointment with the coaches several weeks in advance of your planned visit to ensure that you will be able to meet with them. In addition, it would be wise to set up a campus tour as well contacting an academic advisor in the area of study that you are interested in.
If a candidate is
formally invited by an Equestrian coach to make an
"official" visit” (i.e., the host college covers some or all of the candidate's travel expenses), she cannot make that official visit until after the first day of her senior year in high school. Under NCAA rules, candidates are permitted to accept up to five official visits (to five different NCAA Equestrian colleges) during their senior year. While a candidate may wish to make a campus visit during her high school's spring break, coaches caution that this may not always be the best time – as NCAA Equestrian colleges often are at the height of their spring competition season during that period.
COMPETITION
Q: What events do you compete in and what are you looking for in an equestrian athlete?
A: There are four collegiate equestrian disciplines at the NCAA level: equitation on the flat, equitation over fences (based on
USEF standards), western horsemanship and reining.
NCEA is recruiting riders who not only have proper equitation and horsemanship, but for those who are also functional on any type of horse. We are very excited about the opportunity our team gives to equestrian athletes entering college. This sport gives women the opportunity to be a college athlete while continuing their passion for showing horses. It also puts all riders on a level playing field, as riders do not know until immediately prior to the competition who they will be riding and who they will be competing against. The emphasis is put on the rider’s true riding talent, including their ability to feel and adjust to different types of horses.
Q: What is a typical competition like?
A: The basis of collegiate riding is to award the rider based on their ability to successfully ride unfamiliar horses. Colleges hosting team competitions provide all of the horses and tack that will be used at the competition. Riders learn what horse they will be showing using a lottery system. The unique aspect of
NCEA competitions is that each team will compete with other teams in a head-to-head format. Each rider that has been chosen by their coach to ride for their team will compete on the horse they have drawn, while one rider from the opposing team will also have an opportunity to ride and be scored on that same horse. The rider who gets a higher score on that particular horse earns 1 point for their team. This system helps to level the playing field and gives both teams the same opportunity on the same horses.
Q: What is the typical show season?
A: NCEA show season usually begins in September and ends in April. December and January are usually slower months for competing.
LIFE OF AN ATHELETE
Q: How many times do student athletes practice per week?
A: Typically, student-athletes practice on average three times per week. Coaches build a practice schedule and assign student-athletes a different horse to ride at each practice. Because of the competition format, it is important for student-athletes to ride different horses for practice.
Q: What type of horses do you ride?
A: Most equine athletes at NCAA Equestrian programs have previous extensive show careers. Western horses are predominately Quarter Horses and Paints. Hunter Seat horses consist of “A” Circuit quality Thoroughbreds and
Warmbloods.
Q: What other activities are mandatory for student-athletes?
A: Equestrian student-athletes have additional responsibilities in addition to riding. As with other sports, all athletes are required to participate in team strength and conditioning sessions. The SMU equestrian team works with strength and conditioning coaches three times per week. Academics is also an important component of being a student-athlete. Most freshmen have to log study hours their first semester. Study hours are a way to ensure that student-athletes are setting aside time each week to study so that they academically remain eligible. Often, study hours are reduced for good grades and are reassessed and assigned based on the student-athlete’s GPA. The SMU equestrian team will have other requirements such as team community service involvement, team meetings, stable chores, competition preparation, fund raising events, etc.
GENERAL FAQ
Q: Is a PSA allowed to win prize money at horse shows?
A: Under NCAA rules, athletes must be certified as an NCAA amateur athlete. The NCAA’s amateur status is determined differently from USEF’s, AQHA’s, ApHA’s, and other equestrian competitive associations’ definitions.
PSAs will be classified as amateurs if the prize money won any given year prior to college does not exceed the amount of expenses incurred that year. Examples of those expenses include: entry fees, meals, lodging, stall fees, feed, trainer expenses, and gasoline and hauling expenses.
PSAs that compete in the lucrative jumper divisions (or the newly-formed
USHJA Hunter Derbies and/or other high-level classics) are advised, from the 9th grade forward, to keep well-organized records and detailed receipts of their earnings and expenses. If a PSA is determined to seek a spot on an Equestrian team in college, she is urged to keep an ongoing close eye on the balance between those two columns.
PSAs who compete at the higher levels might consider the viable option of requesting a reduced payout of prize money at any given show, an amount that does not exceed her expenses. (Horse show secretaries are becoming more aware of the NCAA rules that affect PSA Equestrian athletes).
