Question

Do you want to
engage in horse
back riding as a
team sport?
Are you willing to
devote 15+
hours a week to
the team?
Would you rather
focus more on
school and just
have riding as an
activity on the
side?
Are you willing to
have mandatory
workouts?

Do you want to
only ride one
horse, or are you
willing to ride
new horses
everyday?
Are you willing to
skip class for
team events?

Do you want
athletic
scholarship for
riding horses?
Do you ride
competitively on
the A circuit?

Yes

No

Unsure

What do these results mean?

These are all very important questions to ask yourself before making the big
decision of which path you want to take.
Question 1- If you said yes, you want equestrian to be a team sport Division
1-3 are suited for you. If you said no, you might want to look into ANRC- it is
more individual based.
Question 2- Are you willing to devote A LOT of time to the team? If you said
yes, Division 1 is suited for you. Division one riding is a huge time
commitment. Generally, your day will be scheduled out from 6am-8pm. A
typical day includes: waking up at 5:30 and going to 6am workouts, then
going to class, then going to practice, then to night time mentoring and
tutorings. Expect your weekends to be packed with team events.
Question 3- If you said yes, you want to focus more on school- Division 2, 3
or ANRC may be better for you. These are less rigorous programs, but still
with all the fun and love for horses and competition.
Question 4- If you said yes, you are willing to have mandatory workouts,
Division 1-3 are suited for you. Division is a hardcore more extensive
workout. There are serious consequences if you are late or miss a workout,
and often times workouts are very early in the morning. Division 3,
recommends workouts 1-2 times a week, but the team is never forced to
workout together all at once.
Question 5- Do you want ride only one horse, or are you willing to ride a new
one everyday? If you are willing to ride a new horse everyday, D1,2 and 3
are fit for you. The whole purpose of these programs are to get on a foreign
horse and see how well you can learn to ride it. If you only want to ride one
horse, ANRC may be best for you. You practice on one horse and use him for
competition. Competition is broken down into 4 sections: a written phase,
equitation on the flat, medal phase, and hunter derby phase.
Question 6- Are you willing to skip class? If yes, Division 1 could work for you.
Often times meets run on a Friday, or due to travel the girls will miss several
days in a row. However, these absences will be excused by the school.
Question 7- Do you need equestrian scholarship? If yes, D1 is the only
program that gives athletic scholarship for equestrian programs. D1-D2 can
potentially give scholarship in the form of academic scholarship, if they
recruit you and you are given approval of the school.

Question 8- Do you ride on the A circuit? If no, ANRC or D3 may be best for
you. Division 1 and 2 schools are weighed heavily on recruiting especially
division 1. You may never hear back from a school you really want to go to.
Division 1 schools look for girls competing on the circuit (high form of English
show jumping competition). Often times they look for riders competing in the
36 Equitation (one of the highest forms of Junior riding). Being recruited by a
division 1 school is a very tedious and frustrating process.
Hopefully you can use this checklist to help you pick which type of program
you want to be involved in. They all vary so differently- so it is important to
explore all of the aspects.