During weeks of competition at the major winter show circuits, on-site classrooms help young riders keep up with schoolwork.

At the beginning of each December, Reed Kessler of Armonk, N.Y., says goodbye to her classmates and teachers and heads to Florida to show for four months. When she returns in early April, Kessler said she’s far enough ahead in her studies that she can “pretty much coast for a month or so.”