<p>My D currently competes on her school equestrian club team. In choosing a school, she did research equestrian teams - both NCAA and club.</p>
<p>There are two types of NCAA equestrian: western and eastern. Also, while (I believe) equestrian has been designated as am “emerging sport” by the NCAA, progress in enticing schools to upgrade their club programs to the NCAA level has been very slow.</p>
<p>Stanford probably has the best club team in the country. I believe Stanford decided not to go NCAA because it wanted the team to be coed.</p>
<p>In Ds case, there were so few school in the country which had NCAA teams and which matched her academic desires, she decided to go the club route. That having been said, the club competes against NCAA teams (usually getting trounced). Her club team attends two day shows away from school; at the conference championships except for team size, club teams were not distinguished from NCAA teams. While she doesn’t ride nearly as much now as in HS, she fills in the extra time with other clubs (she is on the rock climbing club team) and, of course, studying (engineering).</p>
<p>You’re at the beginning of solving the puzzle that is choosing a college. Slow steady research will allow you to digest the mountains of information you will uncover.</p>