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Member
Posts: 44
| I'm a senior in high school and have been thinking about college rodeo for the past year or so. I have a nice 12 year old gelding that is competitive in high school rodeo. I know, college rodeo is a whole new ball game and its crazy expensive. I've heard the, "if your horse is good enough to place at college rodeos, you are better off doing wpra or amateur rodeos." But I want to college rodeo for the experience. I am debating between SDSU and Hastings. I am familiar with Hastings since it is closer to home...SDSU, on the other hand is very appealing to me (majoring in Agbusiness) and I am leaning that direction. Especially since it is in the middle of the Great Plains region. I have searched and read every thread about this topic, and am familiar with how college rodeo works but haven't found anything particular to SDSU's program. I know lots of people at SDSU but it worries me that I don't really have connections to anyone on the team there, especially for hauling partners, etc. It's a long shot but is anyone on this forum familiar with the program there? If so, I would SO appreciate if you shared your experiences!!
1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up.
2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not?
3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August?
4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?!
5. Where did you board at?
6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own?
7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos?
Overall, was it worth it?
Sorry for so many questions but I thought it would be worth a shot to see if anyone has these details for me. Thanks in advance!! 
Edited by rodeocr8zy 2015-10-07 7:49 PM
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 My Heart Be Happy
Posts: 9159
  
Location: Arkansas | Bump | |
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 Don't Wanna Make This Awkward
Posts: 3106
Location: Texas | Alright.. So Im in TX and college rodeo'd my first semester.. I can answer 90% of those questions and I would say... Call the coach! They want you on their team and they need to know you any case of any scholarships!
1. Yes there are scheduled practices, no you do not have to attend. They will probably be fun though if you get along with your team members. My team never had practices for barrels. If we thought we needed it though I know my coach would have arranged something, but we had some of the best barrel racers in the country.
2. You will most likely have a school barn, it may or may not be up to your standards. mine was nice enough and it was free so that wa a plus. ot every keeps there horses there but you aren't required to either.
3. I knew NO ONE going into it, and only knew a few people by the end of it. My roommate(coach picked all the roommates) ended up being our team leader and my hauling partner. I got everything lined up when I found out we were roommates. I would suggest doing some research on twitter/facebook to see who you think you will like.
6. It can be extremely independant, but it pretty much is what you make it. You can haul by yourself to all 10 rodeos and do it on your own if you'd like, you also don't even have to be a part of a team if you wish not to be. The advantage to being on a team is obviously practices, boarding, that kind of stuff, and if the team makes the cnfr in barrels the coach chooses the 4 girls who go, most likely the 4 who earned the most points. You can also be a team member, get involved, make friends, travel together. Everyone usually leaves on thursday, some leave wednesday, some leave friday or saturday depending on classes/tests.
You do not HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos but you are expected too. My coach automatically entered us every week so you have to make sure you know in advance if you aren't going to one so you don't get fined.
I honestly did not enjoy it. I didn't like the sudden mix of partying and irresponsibility mixed with my horses. I am not a country person, majoring in agribusiness sounds horrifying to me. I am majoring in marketing and minoring in fashion merchandising. I would assume with your major that you will fit in with the team well.
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 Expert
Posts: 1525
| ^^^^^Agree with all of it except i LOVED IT. Made some friends for life and get the awesome opportunity to watch many of them at the NFR every year. I came from a party school but did not party...didn't have a lq trailer...didn't haul with anyone...just toughed it out and had a blast. Used my head and learned awesome experience down the road. Go for it | |
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Good Ole Boys just Fine with Me
Posts: 2869
Location: SE Missouri | Im a LOT older and the last paragraph in the long response is hilarious to me. I was an ag major but made friends and college rodeo'd with people in every possible major. (My husband was a civil engineering major.)
So now that is out of my system....
College rodeo is exactly what you make of it. Barrel racing "practice" is going to be on you 90% of the time, most coaches are not going to be experts in that area. I didn't know who I was going to haul with or really anyone on the team when I went to college.. I made friends easily from other schools as well that I have kept in contact with over the years (thank you BHW & FB).. We were responsible for entering ourselves and any trades we wanted.
I will say that it would be hard to justify working one event at college rodeos BUT if you want to do and can swing the financial side please do it. For Petes sake I hope you have a good head on your shoulders and are super responsible. It can be a huge party depending on who you are around. You better have a backbone and you better have your eyes on the real prize! I was always super responsible with my horses but it took a little bit to not stay til the end of the party. I still had fun but aong the way found a balance. | |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 628
Location: Missouri | rodeocr8zy - 2015-10-07 7:29 PM
I'm a senior in high school and have been thinking about college rodeo for the past year or so. I have a nice 12 year old gelding that is competitive in high school rodeo. I know, college rodeo is a whole new ball game and its crazy expensive. I've heard the, "if your horse is good enough to place at college rodeos, you are better off doing wpra or amateur rodeos." But I want to college rodeo for the experience. I am debating between SDSU and Hastings. I am familiar with Hastings since it is closer to home...SDSU, on the other hand is very appealing to me (majoring in Agbusiness ) and I am leaning that direction. Especially since it is in the middle of the Great Plains region. I have searched and read every thread about this topic, and am familiar with how college rodeo works but haven't found anything particular to SDSU's program. I know lots of people at SDSU but it worries me that I don't really have connections to anyone on the team there, especially for hauling partners, etc. It's a long shot but is anyone on this forum familiar with the program there? If so, I would SO appreciate if you shared your experiences!!
1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up.
2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not?
3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August?
4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?!
5. Where did you board at?
6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own?
7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos?
Overall, was it worth it?
Sorry for so many questions but I thought it would be worth a shot to see if anyone has these details for me. Thanks in advance!!
1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up.
As stated above, this is 90% you. Our coach didn't care about barrel racers, they didn't pull in the points and he was a rough stock guy. To him, girls were just drama, which is about 99% true. We had an AMAZING coach, he just didn't know much about barrel racing so really couldn't help. The other events have their practices and you can definitely go and help out or just watch. It's a team and coach loved when we acted like a team and helped each other.
2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not?
We boarded at the school barn. Nothing fancy, actually pretty bad. Stalls were small and turn outs had no grass. This made feeding super expensive because you had to feed hay 8 months out of the year! This may not be the conditions at every school though.
3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August?
I actually knew a few people from high school rodeo. You meet a lot of people and figure out who you want to hang out with and haul with. I do warn, hauling and living with someone is a lot of time spent together! Relationships can get worn and you can get annoyed with each other fast. It helps to haul with multiple people so you can save more money. Also, plan in advance on how you want to split fuel, trailer, some people factor in truck maintenance, some are super picky, lots of things come up when you spend 3 days on the road together sharing items like a 100,000$ rig.
4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?!
Are you talking rodeo or school. For hauling we did the week of. Usually the same people haul all year together. Nothing is worse than having a hauling partner and last minute they decide to haul with someone else and you are stuck trying to find someone or going by yourself. Have someone who is responsible and works with you. Sometimes hauling with people who have done college rodeo a few years really really helps. They know where they are going and what to do.
5. Where did you board at?
The school....
6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own?
Really this is how you make it. Some people will leave together and park together. Others don't. It's really your choice of the matter. I got along with other people at other schools so I would talk and park near them.
7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos?
You don't but you may get booted off the team. I know I got into financial problems and didn't have parents to bail me out so I had to quite college rodeo.
Overall, was it worth it?
I would say no. Mainly because my horse was not a rodeo horse and we were trying to get it together in a super tough field. Knowing what I know now I would have went to a different school and done livestock judging and hauled to barrel races not rodeos, but that is my preference. My school was in the middle of no where and there wasn't anything to do as a college kid. It was expensive and really I lost more friends because of it. I loved parts of it and think if I would have had a rodeo horse and parents to help me I would have enjoyed it more. Knowing what I know now, I would never college rodeo. The choice is yours and you can ask 100 people and get 50/50 on the answer of if they would do it. Like I said, mines boils down to multiple reasons on why I didn't enjoy it.
Sorry for so many questions but I thought it would be worth a shot to see if anyone has these details for me. Thanks in advance!! | |
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 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
| Each college rodeo program is going to be a little different, so to answer the specific questions you should make contact with the coach. Our community college has scheduled practices, provides stalls/pens, has an indoor and outdoor arena, offers scholarships, covers fuel and hotel rooms, to name a few things. The kids travel together as much as possible to save on fuel expenses, and the coaches help set up travel arrangements if needed. They are not required to enter, and it is the student's responsibility to tell the coach if they want entered and which events. I will say though that we have a really good program in comparison to other schools as far as what is provided to students. Our college and community are very supportive of the program. I attended college at a university and rodeod for one year. At the time, they helped with fuel and rooms, but we had no rodeo facilities so we had to find our own stalls, and practice was scheduled at one of two arenas. There wasn't much of anything for rodeo scholarships. Some programs offer more, some less, so you'll just have to find out the specifics from each school that you're interested in.
I'm so glad I rodeod for that one year, just for the experience if nothing else. I had absolutely no clue about rodeo at the time, and I certainly didn't have a competitive horse! A lot of it is going to be the attitude you go into it with, but isn't that how it is with everything in life! | |
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 Not Afraid to Work
Posts: 4717
| I went to U of WI - River Falls (Great Plains)
1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up.
We had scheduled practice, it was pretty informal. We had more barrel racers than anything else so we worked barrels, helped eachother. You didnt have to go and i spent a lot of time trail riding with teammates instead of doing arena work.
2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not?
I boarded at the school barn. I believe SDSU has a shared pasture. We had a barn and they were stalled unless you were there to put them out and watch them.
3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August?
I didnt know anyone beforehand, I ended up knowing a girl several grades older than me once I got involved. Our team took the biggest trailers and packed as many into each trailer. We had a school stock trailer that took about 5 horses and then we had two other rigs that went down the road. All our costs were pre-determined and the same for everyone. For example, $45 for you to go down the road (hotel) and $45 for your horse to go down the road (fuel). I am not sure if the rodeo team had funds that helped us out or what but it was a flat fee.
4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?!
We usually made all arragements at practice which was one tuesdays.
5. Where did you board at?
The rodeo barn near the lab farms - mile from campus
6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own?
We all hauled together, followed eachother. We stayed in the same hotel, drew names on who we bunked with. We all sat together, went together to he rodeo and watched slack.
7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos?
No, a lot of people miss one or two but you could have issues if you are on scholarship or if SDSU makes you earn your spot.
Overall, was it worth it?
There was definetely things I didnt enjoy. More of the unorganized aspect. We got to rodeos and there would be no stalls or no shavings or something. I didnt like that part. However, I met a lot of great people and learned a lot about myself while doing it. I think if you have the financial resources, you will enjoy yourself. | |
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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 396
Location: Iowa | rodeocr8zy - 2015-10-07 7:29 PM I'm a senior in high school and have been thinking about college rodeo for the past year or so. I have a nice 12 year old gelding that is competitive in high school rodeo. I know, college rodeo is a whole new ball game and its crazy expensive. I've heard the, "if your horse is good enough to place at college rodeos, you are better off doing wpra or amateur rodeos." But I want to college rodeo for the experience. I am debating between SDSU and Hastings. I am familiar with Hastings since it is closer to home...SDSU, on the other hand is very appealing to me (majoring in Agbusiness ) and I am leaning that direction. Especially since it is in the middle of the Great Plains region. I have searched and read every thread about this topic, and am familiar with how college rodeo works but haven't found anything particular to SDSU's program. I know lots of people at SDSU but it worries me that I don't really have connections to anyone on the team there, especially for hauling partners, etc. It's a long shot but is anyone on this forum familiar with the program there? If so, I would SO appreciate if you shared your experiences!! 1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up. 2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not? 3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August? 4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?! 5. Where did you board at? 6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own? 7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos? Overall, was it worth it? Sorry for so many questions but I thought it would be worth a shot to see if anyone has these details for me. Thanks in advance!!
I college rodeod at SDSU in Brookings and loved it! The school is great and the rodeo program there is awesome! Ron Skovly can be reached at 605-690-1359. He will want to know if you plan on coming so he can account from horse boarding (which is limited in the brookings area, everyone had thier horses at different places and hauled to practice) and the number of calves to get for the team. I did not have great connections with anyone on the team there when I first went, however Ron is very great at making sure everyone has a hauling partner, the everyone gets to where they need to be and everyone is healthy. Ron had a practice everday from 4-6...he would rotate calves and steers every other day...barrel racers and roughstock rotated the arena after the cattle. He made sure that if you wanted help or needed the area that you got your time...just make sure that if you expect to practice calves that you else help others practice calves. Ron had everything planned for the rodeos...he sent maps. hotel rooms and draws to everyone before hand so you knew when to be there and he asked that if anything happend on the haul that he would be notified. Some people haul together to help with cost while some where very independant. You dont HAVE to go to all ten rodeos...but with SDSU being in the middle of the region our hauls were from 3-6 hours, so it was easy to go to. Ron will ask that you pay you membership and get your transcripts sent in about a month before rodeos start...he will also monitor your grades to make sure you stay eligible. If you want some names and numbers of people to haul with or places to board, feel free to pm me and I can forward those on. | |
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 Expert
Posts: 2457
| Rausch_Jessica - 2015-10-08 10:14 AM rodeocr8zy - 2015-10-07 7:29 PM I'm a senior in high school and have been thinking about college rodeo for the past year or so. I have a nice 12 year old gelding that is competitive in high school rodeo. I know, college rodeo is a whole new ball game and its crazy expensive. I've heard the, "if your horse is good enough to place at college rodeos, you are better off doing wpra or amateur rodeos." But I want to college rodeo for the experience. I am debating between SDSU and Hastings. I am familiar with Hastings since it is closer to home...SDSU, on the other hand is very appealing to me (majoring in Agbusiness ) and I am leaning that direction. Especially since it is in the middle of the Great Plains region. I have searched and read every thread about this topic, and am familiar with how college rodeo works but haven't found anything particular to SDSU's program. I know lots of people at SDSU but it worries me that I don't really have connections to anyone on the team there, especially for hauling partners, etc. It's a long shot but is anyone on this forum familiar with the program there? If so, I would SO appreciate if you shared your experiences!! 1. Is there scheduled practices the whole team attends? How often? I would only be competing in barrels, so what would I even do while they are practicing other events? I would be more than willing to help out and be there, but my horse doesn't really need to be worked on barrels, just kept legged up. 2. Does everyone board their horses at the same place or not? 3. Did you know anyone on the team beforehand, & did you have hauling partners lined up before getting there in August? 4. How far in advance did you line all of these things up?! 5. Where did you board at? 6. How independent is it? As far as traveling, do you all leave at the same time, park together, etc. or are you more on your own? 7. Do you HAVE to compete in all 10 rodeos? Overall, was it worth it? Sorry for so many questions but I thought it would be worth a shot to see if anyone has these details for me. Thanks in advance!!
SDSU is a great college with lots of benefits! Agribusiness is a strong major and you'll have lots of opportunities. It is a great school for the money.
Rodeo at SDSU, when I was there back in the day, our coach had limited practices. We gals actually got together separately and helped eachother. I agree with the above, call the current coach! I'm sure he'd love to talk with you about all the options and oppotunities.
Boarding is limited in the area - but available.
Good Luck!
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