When Bridget Imparato, a USEF judge and steward was faced with her son, Michael, being a high school junior, her sights started to focus on college riding opportunities. The difficulties of navigating through the recruiting process led her to start of an exciting new website, www.EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com. This website has become a one-stop location to get college equestrian riding questions answered. High school athletes can post an academic and riding resume along with photos and full-length video of them riding; the athletes are sorted by graduating year and chosen discipline. This creates a unique location for college coaches who are searching for their future college riding team members.

The site is also designed to educate the student athlete about the different college riding programs, with more than 300 Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) colleges and 23 NCAA programs there is a lot of information to get through. Most athletes and parents start out not even knowing the difference between the two college riding organizations or how to navigate their very different recruiting requirements. Many colleges are getting a leg up on their competition and advertising on the site, the college bio pages where created so that the equestrian athlete can go and get a brief overview of a college and then, if interested, link back to the college itself.

The equestrian college experiences are as varied as our disciplines; colleges have programs for dressage, hunt seat equitation, western horsemanship, reining, international jumpers and even rodeo. In IHSA programs they offer divisions for every skill level, from beginner through open, where Medal/Maclay riders are sought, in hunt seat and beginner through reining in Western.

You are personally invited to peruse the website; your involvement is encouraged and your feedback is welcome. Anyone with questions can contact Bridget or Mike Imparato at (352) 746-5875 or go to www.EquestrianCollegeRecruiter.com.