UCLA Equestrian: Galloping Towards Nationals

The UCLA Equestrian Team has come a long way since being established in 2005.  What originally consisted of a small team of five riders has grown into a riding program boasting over thirty competitive riders.  We are a large group of highly motivated undergraduate students who share a love of horses, dedicating several hours a week to practice and horse care. We spend our weekends representing UCLA at Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) competitions throughout Southern California and Arizona. We have had a successful season so far this year, having competed in three Hunt Seat Shows and two Western Competitions! We are looking forward to three more shows for the whole team, and our qualifying riders will continue into the postseason for Regional, Zones, and Nationals!

This year we have chosen to host a SPARK campaign and we need your help! The UCLA Equestrian Team competes under the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association which reduces the costs associated with equestrian competitions, as compared to other non-collegiate shows. However, though the fees associated with the competition are reduced, the costs associated with travel begin to add up as postseason shows are spread throughout the state and country for qualifying riders. Since we are a club sport, this financial burden falls on the competing riders, dampening the excitement of qualifying! Because of this, we decided to host this SPARK campaign to raise money to subsidize the costs of travel for competing riders, and we are asking for your help in achieving our goal of $5,000!

We plan to use this money to mitigate the costs of travel for riders competing in the postseason, beginning in March. Such expenses include airfare and hotel rooms, and we hope to be able to cover some, if not all, of these costs in order to reward our qualifying riders for their achievements.

We understand that $5,000 is a large fundraising goal. However, even a donation as small as $10 goes a long way towards our team's goal. Any donation will contribute to lessening the burden of travel expenses for our riders. We truly appreciate any donation to the team, and no gift is too small.

We are so grateful for any and all contributions, as each has the potential to increase our team's success and the well-being of our equine athletes.

We would like to thank all of our families, friends, alumni, fans, and the wonderful staff at UCLA for their continued support of the UCLA Equestrian Team. We truly could not do it without you. Even if you would not like to donate to our SPARK campaign at this time, we welcome donations of gently used saddles, bridles, girths, and other equipment and show apparel such as hunt coats and boots. Please email us at uclaequestrian@gmail.com for any tack-related donations.