Horse People- Colleges in CA where you can board a horse and there are other equestrians and maybe an IHSA team?

[...................]

I'm just tired of googling..the place doesn't have to have an IHSA team but maybe just have other people who ride, a club or other equestrians...

I'm making some decisions about whether my dd will go private or UC and need to factor in the love of her life ?  She's pretty convinced he needs to go there too ?

[gstharr]

https://animalscience.calpoly.edu/FacilitiesCenters/Facilities_Centers    Cal Poly San Luis Osbispo

[...................]

Yeah Cal Poly even has a new arena and everything- the only problem is that unlike the UC's and other CalStates they do not like taking a lot of transfer students.  It's less than 11%....so the likelihood is reallllyyyy low that she'd get in...but it's definitely on our list!

[obsidian]

Here's a list of IHSA teams, if that helps. Y'all are Zone 8, regions 1& 2 - all the way at the bottom of the page. Does she ride hunter/jumper or another discipline? Honestly, just about any college is going to have people that ride. What I found more useful was to look at barns and trainers in the immediate area around the school to find a good fit in that respect and then I met people at the farm. My school does have a club focused on the discipline I ride in, but it wasn't a good fit. There was a lot of money, a lot of buying high five figure 'made' horses, and a lot of people paying full board at the high end boarding barns. I ride on much more of a shoestring budget than that, lol.

[gstharr]

11 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

Yeah Cal Poly even has a new arena and everything- the only problem is that unlike the UC's and other CalStates they do not like taking a lot of transfer students.  It's less than 11%....so the likelihood is reallllyyyy low that she'd get in...but it's definitely on our list!

I would investigate Cal Poly a little more and check the classes for its typical  freshmen and sophomores. Will yourt daughter have similar completed.  California  community college students know its 60 transferable credits, plus appropriate gpa for auto transfer to UC/CS.  I suspect that a lot of transfer applicants treat Poly as another UC/CS, instead of being more along the line of Georgia Tech or RPI.  Most STEM degrees are going to require at least CALC 3, and a couple of college science lab classes, by junior year. .  I know many smart community college students, but I don't know any taking calc 3.  

[...................]

14 hours ago, obsidian said:

Here's a list of IHSA teams, if that helps. Y'all are Zone 8, regions 1& 2 - all the way at the bottom of the page. Does she ride hunter/jumper or another discipline? Honestly, just about any college is going to have people that ride. What I found more useful was to look at barns and trainers in the immediate area around the school to find a good fit in that respect and then I met people at the farm. My school does have a club focused on the discipline I ride in, but it wasn't a good fit. There was a lot of money, a lot of buying high five figure 'made' horses, and a lot of people paying full board at the high end boarding barns. I ride on much more of a shoestring budget than that, lol.

WHy would students buy five figure horses for IHSA when you can't even ride your own horse for shows?  Somehow I got the impression that some money was involved (show clothes and semester fees) but not much more than we are already spending and even less than it would have been, if she were going to breed shows (which she doesn't like).....would you say that IHSA is like that in general?  If it is then she won't even bother.  The ONLY reason she's even looking at IHSA is to make friends and find horsey people.  She does not like competing and doesn't like the limelight or the spotlight (or having to make her horse or any other horse ride when it's 110 degrees just because it's show day, and doesn't really appreciate what people do to show horses either.) But she thought that IHSA sort of avoided many of those trappings. Also as to your question, at this point more western than English.  But could brush up on English-not enough to compete at high levels though- I do have a feeling her and her trainer are going to train her western pleasure horse for HUS as well as low level jumping becuase they both will need a change soon. ? But I doubt his conformation would allow him to jump more than 3 feet.

[Selkie]

16 minutes ago, Calming Tea said:

WHy would students buy five figure horses for IHSA when you can't even ride your own horse for shows?  Somehow I got the impression that some money was involved (show clothes and semester fees) but not much more than we are already spending and even less than it would have been, if she were going to breed shows (which she doesn't like).....would you say that IHSA is like that in general?  If it is then she won't even bother.  The ONLY reason she's even looking at IHSA is to make friends and find horsey people.  She does not like competing and doesn't like the limelight or the spotlight (or having to make her horse or any other horse ride when it's 110 degrees just because it's show day, and doesn't really appreciate what people do to show horses either.) But she thought that IHSA sort of avoided many of those trappings. 

If she doesn't want to compete, you could look for schools that have Equestrian Clubs. We're not in California, but the college my boys are going to in the fall has an Equestrian Club in addition to an IHSA team. The club is for socializing with other horse lovers, doing service projects, etc. I believe they have an arrangement with a nearby barn for students who want to bring their horses to school with them. (My kids will be living at home and commuting, so our horses will stay at home.)

[...................]

Thanks Selkie that's a great idea!  That would be ideal.

[...................]

3 hours ago, gstharr said:

I would investigate Cal Poly a little more and check the classes for its typical  freshmen and sophomores. Will yourt daughter have similar completed.  California  community college students know its 60 transferable credits, plus appropriate gpa for auto transfer to UC/CS.  I suspect that a lot of transfer applicants treat Poly as another UC/CS, instead of being more along the line of Georgia Tech or RPI.  Most STEM degrees are going to require at least CALC 3, and a couple of college science lab classes, by junior year. .  I know many smart community college students, but I don't know any taking calc 3.  

Well my son will take Calc 3, 3 physics, linear algebra and discreet math among many other amazing courses at CCand all by the age of 17.  However, he scratched CalPoly off his list because they absolutely will not accept the application if you don't have certain courses, which I believe was Chemistry as well as communications.  He spoke to an admissions counselor and was trying to streamline his courses so he could apply to several UC's as well as CalPoly - trying to see how he could fulfill different requirements, and she was absolutely unbelievably RUDE.  She even said, point blank, that they do not cater to transfer students as that was not their niche.  It was so unbelievably rude and offensive the way she emailed AND Spoke over the phone that we crossed it off our list for him.  It's still on the list for dd but not feeling very excited or hopeful about it.  

This is so far from our / his experience at the UC's where they literally bend over backwards to help you on the phone, in person and via email, answering and re-clarifying all your transfer questions. In fact, UC Davis seems like they're actively recruiting him.  

So....idk...at this moment I think my dd is also aiming for UC Davis?

[Laurel-in-CA]

Davis is sort of *the* college for vet science & etc. and they also sponsor a lot of 4H-related events (including horse project stuff). Used to live near Cal Poly Pomona, where they have the Arabian center (but also do research w/other breeds) and the area arabian club works with Cal Poly on horse stuff and will work w/students and 4Hers. In fact my dd got a scholarship from the arabian breed association because of her work w/4H. And one of her fellow 4Hers graduated from thei CP-P equestrian degree program and is now a trainer.

That said, both Cal Poly schools have the luxury of being very selective (SLO more so). I think I read CSU Fresno has a riding team, but that was awhile back. I hope you find what your kiddo is looking for; Davis has a great reputation.

[obsidian]

7 hours ago, Calming Tea said:

WHy would students buy five figure horses for IHSA when you can't even ride your own horse for shows?  Somehow I got the impression that some money was involved (show clothes and semester fees) but not much more than we are already spending and even less than it would have been, if she were going to breed shows (which she doesn't like).....would you say that IHSA is like that in general?  If it is then she won't even bother.  The ONLY reason she's even looking at IHSA is to make friends and find horsey people.  She does not like competing and doesn't like the limelight or the spotlight (or having to make her horse or any other horse ride when it's 110 degrees just because it's show day, and doesn't really appreciate what people do to show horses either.) But she thought that IHSA sort of avoided many of those trappings. Also as to your question, at this point more western than English.  But could brush up on English-not enough to compete at high levels though- I do have a feeling her and her trainer are going to train her western pleasure horse for HUS as well as low level jumping becuase they both will need a change soon. ? But I doubt his conformation would allow him to jump more than 3 feet.

Not IHSA! This was a separate club. My school is in horse country - we have a polo club, an eventing club, an IHSA team (western and English), an IDA team, a rodeo team, a horse racing club, and a saddle seat team. I haven't done IHSA because it's quite pricy at my school, due to fees and lesson prices. I can't speak directly to that. Anyway, I have found more luck with looking directly at barns, but ymmv of course.

[obsidian]

6 hours ago, kand said:

If people board their horse at/near college, what do they do on breaks? This is something I’ve been trying to figure out. And then when Summer comes, seems it could be hard to find a short term boarding situation near home that has an opening right when you need it. Although if the horse lives on your own property, that wouldn’t be an issue. I don’t think we can risk losing our current boarding arrangement here, so I think  horse has to stay home and be ridden on weekends and breaks. 

 

A lot of people just stay where their horses are, if they have them at school, honestly. Either that or they live close enough to easily go back and forth between school and home. This partly depends on your board situation too - full board or not, etc. Also, where I am, getting short term board for the summer wouldn't be much of an issue. 

[...................]

That's a good point and something to consider! Where her horse is currently boarded, it's a big facility and sometimes there will be several stalls available, and sometimes none at all and you never know.  We couldn't expect the manager to keep spaces open for us.   It seems it would be better to leave the horse at the school boarding facility until a space opens up at home, and it could happen like that for the whole summer.  

[...................]

exactlly...other than living at or near home there is no perfect option..and living at or near home isn't perfect either as I do want my kids to enjoy living on campus and not having the trouble of commuting.

[Selkie]

There are several threads on the Chronicle of the Horse forums about taking horses to college. Might be worth a read if it's something you're considering. Several people recommended waiting until after the first semester to bring your horse, so that you have time to settle into college life. Some said that having the horse at school was a positive experience, while others regretted it and said it left them with too little time to focus on academics and a social life.