OREGON HUNTER JUMPER ASSOCIATION

OHJA Collegiate Riding Webinar Summary

April 18th, 2025

 

Guest Speaker: Kristen Terebesi McDonald

talentteqconsulting@gmail.com

610-331-6767

talentteqconsulting.com

 

About Kristen

• Former athlete and coach for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks

• Winner of 3 national championships and 2 individual championships

• Four-time Gamecock Team MVP, a three-time MVP at the Varsity Equestrian National Championships event

• The only rider in history to win individual national championships in both hunt seat disciplines in the same season.

 

Being a Teammate

• Riding as a junior is very different than riding in college, and being on a D1 team is all about supporting your fellow athletes. 

  • Having the ability to be happy for your teammates when they beat you and connect with them when they don’t have a good ride is what can make you a valuable player. 

• Kristen says, “Never forget that you aren’t winning to win, pour everything into the mentality that you’re doing this for the people that support you.”

 

The Recruiting Process

• Recruiters will typically go out to shows and normally start with watching the 3’6” equitation divisions to find someone that sticks out to them. 

  • Coaches will even find young riders from ages 8-10 that have talent and keep tabs on them throughout highschool. 

  • Not to worry though, if you peaked later in your riding career, coaches are always looking for current upperclassmen, even those they haven’t seen before. 

• Riders interested in collegiate riding should reach out to coaches over email, summarizing your riding career, your future riding plans, and your academic profile. 

  • If you do not receive responses from coaches immediately, keep in mind that June 15th after your sophomore year of high school is when coaches are allowed to reach out to prospective athletes. 

 

Kristen’s Recommendations For Recruitment

• Send in videos of your riding that showcase your talent when emailing coaches.

  • If you can include videos of you on multiple horses, even just for flatwork, make sure to do so.

• Coaches skim through videos so having strong fundamentals is key. Many coaches specifically look at flatwork, which frequently can be used to set you apart from other riders. 

• If you’re a working student or do things like IEA, include those details when you reach out to coaches over email, as they make you a valuable asset to the team. 

• You can email coaches every 3-4 weeks, but also respect your own time and know when to stop emailing if you are consistently not getting responses after the June 15th mark. 

• Going to camps hosted by teams can also be a great experience. Whether you’re interested or not in the school specifically, riding in camps is a way to get a feel of how D1 riding works through mock meets and interacting with members of the teams.

 

Q+A

When recruiting riders their junior year do coaches take into account future growth/plans?

• Yes, as long as you’re articulating it in your emails.

• If you’re strong and have a spark, coaches look at how that plan is going already.

 

Is there anything specific coaches will be looking for in videos? Clips from shows? Flatwork? Specific skill sets?

• Good flatwork will be what sets you apart. Anyone can jump, but being able to have the skills to make a horse come onto the bit and use its body is important.

 

How do you go about representing yourself without a show record?

• Start with a journal and log horse shows you're going to this summer.

• Email coaches when you feel like you’ve been improving, detailing what you’re improving on and your perspective on how you approach being an equestrian.

 

Does IEA help with getting recruited? Do coaches look at IEA records differently from your USHJA show records?

• IEA is wonderful and can help you in recruitment especially if you don’t have a variety of horses to ride at home.

• If your only accolades are in IEA, it may not be a huge benefit, but if it helps you be successful in regular showing then yes, absolutely include it.

 

Do you have to attend the big medal finals to get recruited?

• Attending events like the NHS, and Maclay Finals is a great goal to aim for. However, especially for West Coast riders, this can be a difficult goal to achieve, which coaches understand. It is always great to focus on regional or local finals too.

 

Does being a student athlete take a toll on your academics?

• It depends on the rider! Kristen mentioned having some struggle balancing social, academic, and athletic life, but believes that especially nowadays, collegiate riding is set up for riders to have balance and success, and there’s plenty of support from coaches and around campus.

 

Generally how long does it take to be recruited to a team? Is it a situation where a student can apply early decision and be done, or is it later in the application year, with regular decision?

• Typically if you are committed to a team you would apply early decision in your senior year.

• Colleges don’t guarantee admission even if you have an athletic scholarship, and usually look at you as a whole before offering you an athletic scholarship, so things like your grades, and standardized test scores still matter!

• When looking into riding schools, make sure to pick a school that has something that can benefit you after you graduate.

  • For example, if you are interested in going pro after college you want a business degree and a spot on the equestrian team.