<p>Think about it this way, your D has found something she is good at, can succeed at, something that makes her feel special, needed, worthy, and that WILL carry through to other parts of her life</p>
<p>If she has to take a joke of a gym class a few times a week for two years so that she can do something that is doing wonders for her self worth, I think she should take the gym class</p>
<p>Think of it this way, IF she does want to go to college, she won’t be a cooky cutter applicant- she will have something she can write about, something that makes her glow inside, something she does for others…that is invaluable for life and for college- joke of a gym class or not</p>
<p>I can almost bet you if she has to give up horses for sports, she will probably do it, eh, whatever, and be resentful…so what have you gained in the long run</p>
<p>My S was never the hyperactive type ADD. Because he could focus for hours on end, I never dreamed he could have ADD. But then, his 5th grade teachers picked it up, because his mind always wandered…to me he just seemed curious about everything. But he, too hated school. There were times we literally had to drag him through the door. Now he is a high school freshman, on meds, attends a pretty rigorous prep school, and seems to love it. Unfortunately, if he forgets his meds, teachers can tell.</p>
<p>She has stated quite clearly she would not give up horses for anything. Horses are her priority.
When she is playing her sport she is happy. It is a sport that can give her a lifetime of recreation. At one of her high school choices the sport team practice is during the school day. I know we are not going to get her to do a sport that practices 5 days afterschool. If it came to that she is prepared to do swimming which meets at 6 am.
Horses are great. Riding and jumping which she likes to do are wonderful activities. But the cost of riding even with her helping out and working at the barn is expensive. We have offered to buy her a trail horse to keep at home but for her she said that would be like only bumping the volleyball in the driveway and never getting to play a game with a net. For her the jumping is what she loves.</p>
<p>Another horse career: I have a cousin now in her early 50’s who bought land in Colorado and uses it to board horses. That way she gets to play with lots of horses without having to own them. I don’t think her boarding business can pay all the bills - she has another job on the side - but she’s been able to do what she loves for all of her adult life.</p>
<p>Boy do I understand the horse love thing. My daughter loves the jumping, and just hanging at the barn and helping with everything. At 11 she started working the summer camps so she could get credits for lessons. At home she make little jumps around the house or the back yard and sets up courses so they can practice timing lead changes and counting strides. (And talk about good exercise, it’s kind of like hurdling…) But yeah, we looked into the costs of jumping higher. A horse lease for a horse that can jump 3" and up ran higher her sister’s UC education/room/board and everything for a year. </p>
<p>But in high school, around here there are “high school” teams that are associated with barns, not high schools, that compete in jumping. One of her slightly older friends joined one this year, and we are seriously looking at this for next year when D2 hits high school. They practice a few times a week. For competitions they go to other barns, they pick names of horses out of a bucket, and then they get to show how they can jump horses they aren’t familiar with. They aren’t jumping high, but apparently this is similar to how the University Equestrian teams compete. Since they are high school teams, maybe your high school would give her a PE exemption.</p>
<p>I know someone who had another career and went into a business involving horses. It became a family owned business. They boarded horses, and then provided them for riding to resort hotels. I believe hotel guests were brought over to the stables (not sure) to ride. It did pay the bills. They are no longer involved in this business, because they could never manage to get away together as a family. They were able to sell their business after many years of enjoyment.</p>
<p>UCDAlum-sounds like my D. The girls at the barn also love to go in the ring and jump the jumps. It is cute to watch them. At home she sets up a course for our poor dog. She uses the noodles toys from the pool and patio chairs to make jumps. She puts the dog on the lease and leads him through the course.
Your high school teams sound like a great idea. It does sound like what the University teams do. One of my D’s barnmates is a freshman at Fresno and actually got an equestrian scholarship. I haven’t heard of anything like that in our area for high school students.
We are lucky to have found a lease that has no lease fee other then we pay the board, training and vet bills. Still way to much money. My D would love to own her own horse but what a show jumping horse costs it is not happening.</p>