Next Step Consulting Provides Solutions
“Horse For Sale, owner off to college.”
Tugs at your heartstrings, doesn’t it? Sending a horsey kid off to college is a big deal. No doubt, you’ve had lots of conversations about riding in college, whether on a team (did you miss part 1 of this series on making the team? Click here to catch up) or with your personal horse.
If you are thinking of sending your child and a horse to college, consider bringing in an advisor to help you plan the whole transition. This might be your trainer, but could also be someone like Next Step, who specializes in creating custom solutions for horse people.
Once you’ve decided that bringing your horse to school is an option, the biggest question is now, “To school or near school?”
Several equine-centric colleges allow kids to bring their horse and board it on the college grounds, which could be a great option for those wanting to be near their horse.
The downside to this option is that at many of these schools, the student is required to provide all the care for the horse. If the student has never been responsible for the day-to-day care of the horse, going away to college can be a tough time to start!
Additionally, if boarding at school, students are usually required to ride with the school’s instructors. Don’t get us wrong, this can be a perfect pairing! But if you are sending a top-level show horse to school, who is used to a certain level of work and type of care, your child could quickly be in over their head!
The pros of keeping your child’s horse off-campus are numerous. College activities can take up a lot of time, leaving the horse low on the priority list. Instead of making your horse and child fit into the box, you get to custom-make the box to suit you, your child, and the horse.
You can shop around for the right instructor and the right level of care. Maybe your kid wants to horse show while in college but doesn’t love the idea of jumping on horses they don’t know and going into the arena (this is how IHSA – Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, shows work). This is a great alternative.
A real-life example:
Next Step Consulting can help find the perfect solution. Photo Meg Gehron
Sally (name changed for anonymity) came from a boutique hunter/jumper barn. Having horse shown at the AA (Premiere) level in the hunters and the jumpers all through high school, she knew she wanted horses in her life through her college career but had chosen a non-equestrian college. She could bring her show horse to a nearby boarding barn but he was used to life on the road as a competition horse. A high-level athlete in the wrong program could put everyone in a dangerous position. Plus, she had no idea how to find a new barn in a different state!
Next Step used its nationwide contact list to help Sally find a barn whose program met her needs and found her a talented horse who didn’t mind that she didn’t ride him seven days/week. She would get to learn how to do more of the day-to-day care of her horse in a safe way and had the option of doing some local horse showing.
Sally’s equine college experience was a success! She got to learn a little more about the hands-on care of her horse and did a little local horse showing while she was in school, which was exactly what she’d hoped for. We often hear from our clients that they didn’t know they had any other options (after sticking with option #1 for too long when it didn’t work for them). There are so many ways to ride in college or use riding in college in your child’s favor, no one should have to settle.
Let Next Step design a roadmap for your child. Shoot us an email, your first consultation is on us!
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