Optimum Youth Equestrian Scholarship
The mission of the Optimum Youth Equestrian Scholarship (OYES) is to provide opportunities for youth aged 17-27 from marginalized communities to become involved or stay involved in horse sports through financial awards and mentorship focusing on not only horsemanship and equestrian pursuits, but also career planning and education.
We believe that opportunities for riding, training, and showing are not easily attainable to individuals facing socioeconomic and accessibility hurdles as well as overt and passive discrimination based upon their race, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Together we seek to bridge this gap through the sharing of knowledge, opportunities, and solidarity.
Apply
Offered twice per year (spring and fall), one applicant will be chosen to receive a $1,000 scholarship to be used in pursuit of their equestrian goals. Multiple smaller-sized awards are available, and no further action is required to be eligible for these awards.
All applicants who wish to be paired with a mentor have the opportunity to work with their mentors on not only equine pursuits but also career planning, higher education, overcoming obstacles to training and riding, and solidarity in facing discrimination in and out of the horse world.
All young equestrians aged 17-27 who are facing challenges in becoming involved or staying involved in horse sports are encouraged to apply.
The deadline for the Spring 2023 award is April 30, 2023. We recommend drafting your essay and budget before completing the application form. Page limit 2-3 pages double spaced. Maximum length for video submissions is 5 minutes. Recipients will be chosen on the clarity of their goals, the proposed use of the funds, their fit with the OYES mission, and the quality of the application.
OYES Awardees
Mentors
Mentor Requirements
All applicants will be matched with at least one mentor who will be asked to meet virtually with the youth applicant at least once. Ongoing communication will be up to the mentor and the applicant to decide upon, but our goal is that within these meetings, mentors can provide perspective on career choices, share resources and ideas to help further that applicant’s riding goals, or even connect applicants with potential opportunities within the mentor’s circle– opening doors for connections that lead to internships, jobs, or meetings with helpful horse people from the applicant’s area.
To date, we have enlisted dozens of mentors from a variety of riding backgrounds and a wide range of professions. Our mentors have competed or trained in eventing, dressage, hunters, jumpers, trail riding, western, and even working equitation. We have amateurs and professionals alike who have started young horses, retrained off the track Thoroughbreds, and competed successfully both locally and nationally. The horsemanship skills range from running a backyard farm, to showing on a budget, to managing an equine business. With mentors from most major cities across the US and a wide variety of colleges and universities, we hope that these connections will open doors for the applicants and provide opportunities for young professionals.
A few of our mentors have careers within the horse industry, but most are ambitious amateurs who have chosen careers that will help fund their riding and competition plans. Our mentors’ careers encompass nurses, doctors, lawyers, scientists, researchers, programmers, engineers, entrepreneurs, authors, yoga and pilates teachers, vet techs, photographers, farriers, trainers and more. The mentors have joined the program because all of us believe the horses have given us so much: it is time to give back and help others find the empowerment of being a horse person.
To be a mentor for OYES, you simply have to be an equestrian who believes in giving of themselves to help young equestrians trying to find their way in the equestrian space, in their career pursuits, and higher education goals. We believe that every rider from any background has a unique perspective and skills to share with our mentees: all that is required to join is an honest desire to devote your time via virtual meetings and help give a leg up to the OYES riders.
Donors & Sponsors
Want to donate to OYES? Click the button below to donate via PayPal.
For individuals and businesses interested in sponsoring a specific award cycle ($1,000 donation) please contact us directly at oyes@optimumequinellc.com to discuss the details of your sponsorship. You may also opt to sponsor specific individual awards (minimum $150 each) which are given each cycle when we have applicants who meet the criteria to receive those awards.
OYES Board Members
Shaq Blake
I am the author of theblackequestrian.com which is an online blog created to chronicle my journey as a black adult beginner rider chasing my dream of becoming a showjumper. I began riding in the summer of 2018. In the past two years I have been a working student and a consistent lesson student. I bought my dream horse, a 5-year-old off the track Thoroughbred named Bear in February of 2020 and we are growing together to make our debut in the hunter and jumper ring. As a rider of colour in a predominantly white sport, I use my blog and social media platforms to highlight and uplift other riders of colour as well as to touch on ways to encourage more diversity and inclusion in the equestrian community.
Mandy Collier
I am a mental health researcher by day and an equine massage therapist by night. Horses have been an all-consuming passion for as long as I can remember but riding lessons and horse shows were hard to come by until I joined the University of Pittsburgh’s equestrian team in college. This opportunity was a wonderful springboard into the equestrian life and through my connections on the team, I found the barn where I would meet my heart horse, Charlie Brown. I hope to act as a conduit for other passionate young equestrians to find opportunities that enable a joyful, passionate life full of aspirations and, of course, horses.
Jacqueline Ely
I began competing with horses at a young age in 4-H and then with the intercollegiate equestrian team at Indiana University of Pennsylvania where I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dietetics and Nutrition. I continue to start young horses under saddle and re-train problem horses through my business, Ely Equine LLC. I develop all of my own competition horses from the ground up, often raising or buying youngsters to bring along. I enjoy riding all disciplines and any breed of horse. My main passion however is Dressage and Working Equitation. I feel we never know enough and can always gain more tools for our toolbox when working with horses.
Kaley Tomsic
I am an email marketing specialist at Cornell University by day, and by night (as well as a few days in the morning before work), I am a barn worker/dressage rider/injury cleaner for my accident-prone OTTB Clever. Horses have been a lifelong passion for me, and it has not been something that has come easily. It is no secret that this sport is not cheap, and if you want it, you are going to have to work hard. I’ve cleaned stalls, dumped water buckets, and walked horses out to and from fields in the rain/sleet/snow more times than I could possibly count, but if I could go back in time, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Throughout my horse life, I had to work very hard in exchange for lessons, boarding, etc., and I’m always willing to be a sounding board for someone who may be in that position as well!
