Do you dream of continuing your riding in College? What is college riding like?  Is there scholarship money available to you? If you want answers to these questions www.EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com and www.DressageCollegeRecruiter are the web sites for you.  Designed by a frustrated parent and USEF Judge and Steward who was trying to answer those same questions for her 17 year old son, it has become your one stop location to get your college equestrian riding questions answered.  High school athletes can post an academic and riding resume along with photos and full length video of them riding; the athletes are sorted by graduating year and chosen discipline.  This creates a unique location for college coaches who are searching for their future college riding team members. 

The site also is designed to educate the student athlete about the different college riding programs, with more than 48 Intercollegiate Dressage Association college programs, 300 IHSA colleges and 23 NCAA programs, as well as over 130 NIRA Schools there is allot of information to get through, most athletes and parents start out not even knowing the difference between the different college riding organizations or how to navigate their very different recruiting requirements. Many colleges are getting a leg up on their competition and advertising on the site, the college bio pages were created so that the equestrian athlete can go and get a brief overview of a college and then, if interested, link back to the college itself.

The equestrian college experiences are as varied as our disciplines; colleges have programs for dressage, hunt seat equitation, western horsemanship, reining, international jumpers and even rodeo.  In IHSA programs they offer divisions for every skill level, from beginner through open, where Medal/ Maclay riders are sought, in hunt seat and beginner through reining in western. We have had several riders recruited by NCAA schools already!

We have also added a Free National Database for horses that are available for donation to colleges and universities. You are personally invited to peruse the web site; your involvement is encouraged and your feedback welcome.  Anyone with questions can contact Bridget or Mike Imparato at 352-746-5875 or go to www.EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com  or www.DressageRecruiter.com

Founded in 1973, the United States Dressage Federation is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to education, recognition of achievement, and promotion of dressage. For more information about USDF membership or programs, visit www.usdf.org, email [email protected], or call (859) 971-2277.