UC Davis cuts entire equestrian team then furious parents investigated

Despite winning its third conference championship in March, a California university abruptly ended its top-ranked equestrian program — leaving student-athletes stranded without a team and a college to attend. UC Davis announced its shocking decision to cut equestrian as an intercollegiate sport in January, citing an external review from Collegiate Consulting that analyzed the cost of the program to justify its decision, The Chronicle reported. Parents said the team was heartbroken about the decision, which left student-athletes in limbo as the deadline to transfer to another program had already passed.Some students who were recently recruited to the team have since been turned away and denied regular admission to UC-Davis. While the university largely cited budget constraints to eliminate the program, emails and documents obtained by parents and provided to the Chronicle paint a much different picture — revealing school leadership was still recruiting and soliciting donations up until a month before the announcement, despite holding internal conversations planning to axe the program for the past year. An independent audit of the university’s report is also coming under fire for allegedly misrepresenting the true cost of the equestrian program, which supporters argue would actually net the university up to $700,000 annually.Rosemary Fritsch, whose daughter Rayna was recruited back in October 2024 — when schools officials behind the scenes had already planned on cutting the program — said she was devastated when she received the news over email. “She knew she would have been overlooked” at other colleges, the mother told the Chronicle, “because she didn’t have fancy clothes or the most expensive horse.”While Fritsch said he daughter was offered a chance to still attend the university, other parents told the outlet their student-athletes were either wait-listed or denied.  California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to y...