<p>haha yeah i’m one of those “who have basically sold my soul to the barn”. I ride my own 2 horses every day, and then several others for my trainer, and then sometimes I drive up to Lake View Terrace (about an hour away from where I live) to ride another trainer’s horses. So during the summer I ride 5-6 a day, during the school year I ride 2-3 a day (and spend 10+ hours per day at competitions on friday-sunday, which happen about every other weekend…more during september-november because of finals). And I’ve been doing it since I was 7. Many of my nationally ranked friends who compete against me have received scholarships to NCAA schools (Auburn, SMU, U of Georgia). So basically, you have to know what you’re doing for NCAA.</p>
<p>Anyhow, moral to the story: If you are just starting to canter, you should go with IHSA. A LOT of schools have IHSA. Also, you could always just put board your horse at a barn outside of school and take lessons with the local trainer, or, (if you don’t have your own horse) ride on the local trainer’s lesson horses. There’s horse trainers and horses EVERYWHERE, so even if the college of your choice does not have an IHSA team, you will more than likely still be able to keep up with your equestrian pursuits.</p>