Over the weekend, the University of California—Davis’ Division I Women’s Equestrian Team hosted (and beat) the University of Tennessee—Martin in what should have been just another home meet. Instead, it may well be the team’s last home meet ever.
Almost two months ago, UC Davis administrators announced the school is dropping its two-time conference champion equestrian team as a Division I NCAA sport, returning it to club status and replacing it on the school’s D-I women’s roster with a stunt cheerleading team. Since then, the university has faced significant pushback, including questions about the evidence used to support its decision, an organized effort from parents and alumni lobbying to delay the change, as well as a federal lawsuit, which has since been withdrawn but will likely be refiled in the coming weeks.
In response to the outcry about the Jan. 9 decision, the university released a second, more detailed statement on Feb. 17 as well as the third-party report it commissioned to study the long-term viability of equestrian. The equestrian team’s supporters say the report is deeply flawed and elicits more questions than answers.
The result is that the team’s current roster of 33 riders, as well as new recruits, fear they won’t be able to compete in the 2026-2027 academic year—or potentially compete at the collegiate level at all—because of application deadlines that have passed, the limited number of roster spots at other schools and restrictions on their eligibility to compete at the club level.