Transfer student horse Question!

AngelinaVita

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Hello all!

Bit of a weird question today! I'm from the US but my uni has offered me an opportunity to take a semester to a year abroad on scholarship. I'm still back and forth in whether I want to do it... One of the deciding factors is honestly getting my horse fix ?

Currently considering Cambridge, Winchester, or possibly something in Ireland although that will take some extra work to get approval.

My question is for anyone local to the universities or near nice ones in Ireland. What are your lesson/loaning options like in those areas? I'm not too thrilled with Cambridge's team so if I choose that school I'll definitely be riding off the campus.

I won't be bringing my horse (if anyone follows him The Potentially Possessed Horse) he really could not handle staying alive with all those changes ? so I'll be looking for a loan or, if that's not possible, weekly to twice a week lessons. Does anyone know of private/public barns in the areas that I should check into? So far, due to Covid, this wouldn't be happening until Fall 2021 but I need my decision in by this spring so basically... I have to figure this out ?

I would be looking for a jumper barn, showing opportunities really not necessary but a horse with the ability to go at least 1m is important. Also ability to handle me being dumb. I.e. mostly matchy photos, not a lot of riding ??

I know looking into this from so far away isn't ideal but the school I choose really will be at least 50% impacted by the riding opportunities around it and since I can't pop over to look myself... Hoping someone has some ideas!
 

teapot

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I think you should consider universities that are close and/or use the big training centres (Talland, Wellington possibly (though they're about riding properly, not the height), Ingestre etc) to really get what you want. UK university sport is subsidised, making it cheaper for students to partake, but don't necessarly use the best centres around because it's too expensive. They all ride off campus too as an extra sport/hobby unless you're wanting to go to one of the agricutural/equine based colleges, or the RAU at Cirencester (not sure they have school horses though with Talland up the road).

Winchester I think only play polo, dont think they have a riding club. Big difference between Winch and Cam too. What are you hoping to get from the year abroad? Don't write off joining a uni riding club, they're good fun, especially if you're on a team and that'll give you your jumping fix at bigger heights.

Loaning in the UK isnt like the US leasing system, and you may struggle to find something if no one knows you. A lot of UK loaning is done by word of mouth, or even with references taken up.
 

shortstuff99

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For Cambridge is it University of Cambridge or Anglia Ruskin University as they have different teams. You might be able to find horses to ride around Cambridge but all of them would be out of the city and unless you're hiring a car then they would have to be on the busway route which makes it a bit more awkward.
 

Shay

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Showing in the US and UK is not the same thing. Nor is loaning. You can lease here - like the US system - but it is almost exclusively word of mouth with you needing a serious presence within that affliated discipline.

BUCS riding teams are very different from privately owned riding. Its intended to be accessible so students compete entirely on borrowed horses similar to pentathlon. The centres which loan for this purpose are often harder to see from the internet that the "major" training centres. The expereince is quite something though. 30 mins to get familiar with your horse then into a 1m+ course. A serious level of horsemanship.

Probably the first place to start is really what you want from your horse fix. You say it is mainly matchy photos and not a lot of riding- but you prefer a jumper? There is so much that is different between the US and UK horse scenes. Might it be an opportunity to experience something that you could never get in the US? Hunting in Ireland. Trail hunting in the UK. Riding a heavy horse on the beach. Race riding or work riding for a race yard. Learning to drive for showing or for scurry. Concors D'elegance. Side saddle.

Yes horses are massively important - entirely and absolutely get that. But a year abroad is a wonderful opportunity to do things you can't experiecne at home. Don't discard that too easily. (But factor it into your budget!)
 

Caol Ila

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I would not be planning on a year or semester abroad right now, given the pandemic situation in the UK (clusterf*ck) and US (bigger clusterf*ck).

That said, the university riding teams operate just like IHSA and you would go to wherever you're competing and ride their horses, and the team/uni will provide lessons and training on school horses at whatever barn they are affiliated with. For places that aren't equestrian colleges, that would be some off-campus riding school that has a deal with the univiersity club, because liberal arts colleges like Smith, Mt. Holyoke, etc. that have their own barn definitely aren't a thing (though I don't think it's a thing at Smith anymore, either, last I heard). That would be the easiest way to ride. Don't have to putz around with finding a share/lease while knowing no one in the horse community. That's assuming university riding clubs are operating as normal, and they probably aren't. See earlier point about pandemic clusterf*ck. The universities are a disaster.

You might get lucky and a find a share (lease), but you will need to sort out transport faff. It's really not that different than a part lease in the US, but like the US, 99.999999% of barns have rubbish public transport links and aren't within walking distances of campuses. And the cycling is probably terrifying. When I was still a student in the US, I spent three months abroad in Ireland at the University of Limerick and then Trinity College (Dublin), and rode twice. Accessing barns without a car was a nightmare. When I moved to the UK for postgraduate degrees (with horse in tow), the very first thing I did after stepping off that plane in a jet-lagged haze of befuddlement was buy a car. Because why else would anyone buy a ten year old Land Rover?
 
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