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I don't know anything about writing that kind of email, but it sounds like you're kind of blocked at this point. Don't think about other times you've failed, just write a bad one and then edit it until it's good. Get out all the information that you want to, ramble, make weird side comments that you wouldn't normally say formally, anything as long as you're getting through. :)

Thank you guys. I don't know why I'm fine with asking for help on this relatively large community, but I'm so nervous to message a lady that is probably perfectly nice. I guess I know most of you... but still

I really like that approach, with asking about the recruitment process. It is true that that part I don't really know much about. I was hoping to go pinto world or paint youth world and someone would magically see me and want me. But due to a bunch of drama that has never worked for me. I thought about asking random questions, but what if it was already on the website? Blindly saying "you need to let me on the team" is frankly quite rude and would never work. But the asking about recruitment shows I'm interested and puts me in the question and not statement which is better.

I'm going to go try again.

I would go through the website thoroughly before sending any emails to make sure questions you asked aren’t answered there. Just so it doesn’t look like you didn’t do your research before asking. Good luck, and I would be more than willing to help more if you need it!

Ok, sounds good. I did read something about signing up through NCAA, which I did, but that was about when the questionnaire stopped being helpful

Hello,

I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit more about the recruitment process for the equestrian team at Texas A&M. I've been riding horses since before I could walk, and now compete in the APHA all around events (including working hunter and reining), and the regional, and hopefully soon national level. I would love to continue my equestrian passion into college as I pursue a degree in engineering, so Texas A&M sounds like the perfect school for me. I am a senior in a college preparatory high school in Arizona. I hope to tour Texas A&M later in the year, but was wondering if there was anything I could be doing now to start the process.


Thank you so much,

Danielle Stephenson

Perfect! Thanks. I'm going to go send that email before I lose my nerve.

That last one sounds good to me!

Texas A&M has an excellent vet program as well. It was one of my top choices too, but I wound up going the community college route and dropped out from sheer boredom. Hope she’s one of those people that checks in periodically and maybe you will get a response in the next few weeks

It sounds like you have some unique experiences, which could make up for the lack of the experience in some of the other areas. And you could always look at trying to work on those areas now if you have the opportunity :)

I feel the same way, the people here are much closer to me than most people I know in person.

You've gotten some great advice so far, but you're luck just got even better! I'm pursuing a career in college athletics compliance, so feel free to keep me on chat/pm speed dial. ;)

Definitely get registered with the Eligibility Center (EC) and check your profile regularly for new tasks (it's the one thing that can get frustrating). It'll ask you for a lot of information: transcripts, test scores, competitions entered, prizes/awards earned, etc. It can be lengthy but the more you give the NCAA upfront the easier it is. Talk to your high school guidance counselor so that they can send an official 6 semester transcript to the NCAA. If you've attended multiple high schools, each school will need to send an official transcript. Once you graduate, a final transcript will need to be sent as well. If you've taken any classes through a PSEO or CCP+ program, you may also need to have the college send a transcript also.
If you've already taken the SAT or ACT (varies regionally, make sure you've taken a test the university accepts) you will need to submit a request for the testing agency to send your score to the EC. There may be a charge to do this. However, if you know you will be taking the test in the future and still need to register, be sure to add the NCAA as a recipient (typically you'll send it to yourself and your high school as well). At the registration phase there usually isn't a change to send to multiple recipients.

If you've got the time/interest, it could also be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the NCAA bylaws that could come into play, amateurism certification can get tricky, as well as outlining what types of contacts are permitted. The entire Division 1 manual is available for free download on the NCAA publications website.

I know I won't be able to answer any questions as they specifically relate to A&M's process, but I can help with general NCAA information and norms of college athletics.

The $30 fee is required in order for the schools to be able to see your profile. I haven't heard anything about equestrian being taken off the sponsored sport list but can look into it tomorrow.

As far as scholarships go there are a few different ways they are issued. The first is academic aid. This is counted separately from athleics aid from the school perspective. You may or may not get the breakdown of what comes from where. Academic aid is based on your grades and test scores, so even if you don't get much from athletics you can still get a nice chunk of you do well in the classroom. Talking to admissions or looking over admissions offices web pages can give you an idea of the scale they use.
Athletics aid is regulated by the NCAA and all the information about it can be found in the handy 700 page manual! But here's the highlights: A&Ms FAQs page says they have 15 scholarships divided amongst 50 student-athletes as they are considered an equivalency sport. So that's 15 "full rides" portioned out on a percentage. One person could get 50% and the next could be getting 5%. Not everyone gets the same amount and there's probably quite a few who receive no athletics aid.
And then there's grants and other need based programs which can act as a filler if you qualify. I would recommend talking to your guidance counselor about these. Just keep in mind that any combination of the 3 may be used but you can never claim more than the value of a full ride. There are so grants though that cannot be used in conjunction with other aid, but like I said your guidance counselor will be able to help you through it.

No problem! The process can be a bit stressful with all that's going on. Feel free to ask me anything as you go through this whole thing. It's been a few years for me since I was on the "I want to play college sports" side of things, but not that much has changed.
You should be fine timewise. I know some D1 schools will push a high level recruits through the whole process in a matter of months.

And I looked into the potential removal and it doesn't seem like it. The CWA confirmed continued support in 2016 for the NCEA. I believe there are currently 22 sponsoring schools across the 3 divisions (17 D1). Taking a look at the association's website is another good resource. A lot more universities also sponsor equestrian sports under the IHSA rather than the NCAA\NCEA, but may not offer scholarships.

Most of the D1 institutions are state schools so they may offer paths to becoming classified as an "In State" student which can make a big difference in the cost of tuition.

eek. This sounds horrible even to my own ears.

Rip it apart for me?

Ok, thank you for your time.

I have registered with the eligibility center and NCAA. Do these applications get sent to you to look through?

I was wondering if we could set up an official visit later this year. What steps would I need to get that rolling?

I have put together some videos, but am concerned that they may not be what you are looking for. My mare currently has an injury and I most likely won't be able to jump her until well into next year. I am hoping to join an english IEA team this year. Would I still be considered for either team with somewhat minimal reining and jumping experience?


Thank you

Danielle

Is this too ramble-ey again?

Ok, thank you for your time.

I have registered with the eligibility center and NCAA. Do these applications get sent to you to look through?

I was wondering if we could set up an official visit later this year. What steps would I need to get that rolling?

How much experience would you recommend for either of the teams? I have ridden probably dozens of different horses but not much time specific to jumping and reining. I have put together some videos but don't have any of me jumping as my last horse was unsafe to jump, and my current horse has an injury and I will be unable to jump her until well into next year. I am hoping to join an english IEA team this year though, and should be able to take a video then over fences. The reining horse I took lessons on is not currently available to me. I do have an extremely green reining horse I am riding, however, I do not have a reining trainer so I have had to work with videos.


Thank you

Danielle

Ok... fixed. Going to stare at it a few more minutes, hold my breath then hit send.

Its hard because I have a trainer I love that does paint all around but she doesn't do jumping or reining per se. But she knows good horsemanship so its frustrating when she feels can't help with reining/jumping but I know she can, and when I've been at the barn lately she's been working too so only get a random blip of advice. The green reining horse is a long story in its own right but coincidentally he's actually my trainers horse that she bought for her nephew because he wanted to go into reining. But the deal she made with a different reining trainer fell through and the nephew never fell in love with the horse anyway. But the horse was only ever a 2YO with reining training so all he knows is what I've been able to pick out of my high school teacher's brain then come home and try to work on. (He was an assistant trainer with a famous reining trainer for 8 years)

Ok, thank you for your time.

I have registered with the eligibility center. Does this application get sent directly to you or do I get new videos to send you when I am ready?

I was wondering if we could set up a formal visit later this year. What steps would I need to get that rolling?

How much experience would you recommend for either of the teams? I have ridden probably dozens of different horses but not much time specific to jumping and reining. I have put together some videos but don't have any of me jumping as my last horse was unsafe to jump, and my current horse has an injury and I will be unable to jump her until well into next year. I am hoping to join an english IEA team this year though, and should be able to take a video then over fences. The finished reining horse I took lessons on is not currently available to me, however, I do have an extremely green reining horse that I am currently working with.


Thank you,

Danielle

Fixed it.

Its so confusing what all of these different things mean....

I wouldn’t ask that, it’s probably against the rules and policies anyway

Eh, probably borderline. I wouldn’t this time. But maybe tell your dad in order for scholarships to be considered and offers of recruitment, you really need to attend this show. Tell him there’s a strong chance the coach of the team will be attending.

The reason your dad may have thought that is due to the 10 year rule for all sports added under the Emerging Sports for Women program. Technically that time period would expire this year, but due to the growth of the NCEA membership the NCAA intends to continue to sponsor Equestrian Sports.

From my research each of the emerging sports have their own association in which they compete. This association is essentially a partner with the NCAA as the NCAA does not hold championship events until there are 40 participating institutions.
NCEA and IHSA are different associations performing similar functions. As part of the Emerging Sports Iniative, I believe the NCAA cannot use an existing organization. IHSA has been around for quite some time and to the best of my knowledge all members compete on the same level. So a D1 institution could be competing against a D3 institution or Junior College (for example, may not actually happen).

So if you scoll down towards the recruiting section on the Q&A, they outline what consititutes an official vs unofficial visit. Basically an official visit has all aspects paid for by the institution including travel and hotel accomodations. These are typically done for high profile recruits, not getting one doesn't mean you can't get a scholarship or be on the team though. An unofficial visit is paid for out of the recruit/prospect/prospective student-athlete's pocket. PSA is shorthand for prospective student-athlete.

Definitely go through the Q&A and write down anything you have questions about (you can always ask here first as well).

The profile with the EC you created does not get sent to coaches. In order for the coach to see it you will need to give them your NCAA ID number, which should be somewhere on your profile. *if you have already sent your response without it, don't worry. When she responds back you can always give it then.

The EC also does not have a video upload section, so I would recommend creating a YouTube account to have your collection of videos in one place. As far as generating new videos, is there anyone at the barn you feel comfortable asking for them to record you? The structure of the shows themselves have multiple levels of competency so they aren't neccessarily looking for all discipline grand champions.

Definitely pitch the recruitment show to your dad as an opportunity for scholarships. If you do go, make sure you've got someone ready with the camera!

If any other acronyms are confusing, let me know, the NCAA really likes their shorthand! I'll also try not to give you massive information overload constantly. haha

I'm not 100% on this but usually official visits are offered by the institution. I would just stay in touch with her as well as any other coach you reach out to.

Once you pay the fee and send her your ID number, she'll be able to add you to their recruiting list and view your information. You will still want to send the videos to her directly or for the sake of file size the link to the video on your YouTube channel. The YouTube method also helps the recruiter keep all of the videos in one place.

Is there anyone else, doesn't neccessarily have to be someone at your barn, that might be willing to help? A friend from shows? Classmate or friend from school? Anyone halfway decent with a camera/smartphone?

Yes, - I LOVE my trainer. She even bought a horse when we were having to sell my horse just so I would have something to ride. Even put her in my name and everything. Problem is she gets people shy ? (that doesn't sound right though as she has a bold personality). So absolutely no reference letters from her. (A girl a couple months ago asked and ended up having her mom write it and Carla (my trainer) sign it.) Sigh*. But I think she would call someone though.

All summer I rode horses all day, but we only ended up with bad videos (kill lot mare was doing fine until we ended up going over an orange whip lying on the ground which made her do a sliding stop, me slam forward and then she jumped it.....) Other video was of that reining horse I was talking about earlier. I had stopped riding him for a couple months because a different lady wanted to try him out to buy him. After she decided no thank you (she let him get lazy then couldn't get him to go past a walk....) then I didn't have time to start riding him until a couple months later... Video was a disaster. It including him being lazy, then me forcing him forward only to have him buck in protest... So yea... videos have been disastrous lately.

If you go to the A&M Equine page, under the Students drop down there's a link called community resources. That page gives you about 6 links for potential boarding Facilities. Unfortunately you wouldn't be able to board at the university.

Nevermind, go google search!

The next 4 pages had empty pages, or website down.... This one looks ok but I fell in love with the last place

https://www.onthebitfarmtexas.com/facility

First place said please call (or email) for pricing. So down the road when things get more serious I'll have to message and see.

My friend today highly recommended Baylor. I've never heard of it. Have you?

I was supposed to get my SAT scores a few days ago so very curious what those are. I think they can either open doors or get doors slammed in my face...