High Schools with horses?

[Chenalie]

Has anyone gone to a high school with horses? I've been looking into them and I know they are soooo expensive. $40,000 a YEAR? :eek::eek::eek:
Is it worth it?

[AKB]

My daughters went to Madeira. There are horses at Madeira but also some academic opportunities that they would not have found in the public schools. The money was well spent. After high school, both picked inexpensive colleges and got merit based scholarship money because of their "impressive" academic qualifications. Both daughters are intelligent but by no means brilliant. They benefited from the extra academics that were available in a small, all female, high school.

If a high school with excellent academics also has horses, it may be worthwhile.

[etc.]

Chatham Hall has a wonderful riding program as well as strong academics.
Most boarding schools also have financial aid if you qualify.

[In_]

The Barrie School in Silver Spring, MD has horses - they have been the Champions of the localish horse division for four years in a row. Their tuition is not near 40K - but they are not a boarding school either. www.barrie.org

[Guilherme]

Culver Military Academy was famous for it's Black Horse Troop. Maybe it still is.

G.

[nadasy]

The Grier School, Tyrone, PA. They have an excellent riding programme, and they are the oldest all girls school, since 1853, in the US. Not sure what the tuition is now, I went from 1958-1962. I was able to take my horse(s) there my 2nd year. The coaches were fantastic, and we showed at Harrisburg, Quentin, Sewickly Hunt, and inter school shows with Penn Hall and Penn State. We had 2 'A' graded Hunter/Jumper shows as well.

The programme has changed with the times, and they now have a large new indoor/attached barn. You can get all the information by going to www.grier.org

Joan Gosnell, owner of horses ridden by Karen O'Connor, and Edie Harrison Conyers, former organizer of Rolex are among two of the former graduates.

[ryansgirl]

http://www.nhequestrianacademy.org/

This one opened up recently in New Hampshire... it's considered a public school so tuition is free though I have no idea about any other fees - haven't read everything on the site. :)

[dghunter]

I live by Andrews-Osborne and often attended camp there. I always dreamed of going there, but alas spending college tuition on a high school was never in the budget :lol: From what I've seen and heard, however, they offer a lot of opportunities that most public schools do not so it can be worth it.

[Nootka]

There is Foxcroft in Middleburg, VA


http://www.foxcroft.org/Default.asp?bhcp=1
http://www.foxcroft.org/community/riding/

[Kestrel]

Or head West:

The Thacher School, Ojai, CA

http://www.thacher.org/

But again, same cost as a year of college.

[Ben and Me]

These schools are expensive because they're boarding schools. You're paying for 3 meals/day, a dorm room for 9 months (unlike a day school) and weekend activities to keep you busy along with awesome facilities (for the most part...the library at Madeira is absolutely beautiful), great teachers, etc. Do a search -- you'll find a lot of threads on horsey boarding schools, with posts from lots of alums who have experience with each of the schools. I went to a non-horsey boarding school, but also looked at Chatham Hall (even donated a horse there), Foxcroft and Madeira. All three of those schools also have day students--if you live locally to any of them, your tuition would be a lot less.

[RoyalTRider]

I think she was saying she knows what the schools are/ about them, but is wondering whether the cost is worth it. :yes:

When it was time for me to go to high school, my family looked into most of the eastern schools (Atlantic coast west to Andrews in OH). Granted, this was several years ago, but very few schools were $40,000 a year. By and large they were $30,000 and in that area. Every one I can remember was cheaper by $10,000 for day students.

I am fortunate to live in one of the finest areas in the country for education. Madeira and Foxcroft are both easy distance for me, but my county's public schools are also among the top-ranked in the country and many of our private schools are excellent. With that in mind, my parents and I decided upon a smaller prep school where I received an EXCELLENT education. I happened to be in an area where it was not necessary to send a child elsewhere to receive that type of schooling.

I say that to say this: I don't believe there is one answer to whether it is "worth it" to pay any particular price for any particular school or type of school. It depends on endless factors. If the child doesn't go to a different area, are there local options for a comparable education? If riding is that big a deal, is the same caliber available at home? What is the sacrifice level for tuition? I know families who have children at schools that are $40,000 and don't feel it at all. For other families, it would be a huge sacrifice and not a wise investment. It just depends on too many factours.

[furlong47]

Is it worth it? Probably not if you only want to go there for the horses. $40,000/year ($160,000 for 4 years of school) could buy a nice horse, training board, and a heck of a lot of lessons while you stay in public school or a non-boarding private school. If the education you receive at the private school is honestly worth that much, and the bonus is the horses - then it could be worth it. Depends on what you are looking to get from the experience, and whether or not you can get that elsewhere for less.