1. 120 Soapstone Way
Canton, GA 30115
April 19, 2012
Judges, Senior Project
Creekview High School
1550 Owens Store Road
Canton, GA 30115
Dear Judges:
My name is Hannah Swanson, and for my senior project, I chose to teach horseback riding
lessons to adolescent equestrians. I first unearthed my love for the American Saddlebred horse
at a summer camp I attended over ten years ago, and the passion I have for the breed and horses
in general has never been lost. By eight years old, I was regularly taking saddleseat lessons at
Ward Stables in Alpharetta, where I began actively showing horses in competitions all across
the southeast. I still currently ride at Ward Stables, showing my horse, Gigolo Joe, and I hope
to continue riding while attending college next year. After observing countless lessons and
receiving a decade’s worth of instruction, I realized I, myself, had never taught a riding lesson
and was curious to see how I would fit into the profession of a riding instructor.
My inspiration for my product and my research paper came from volunteering at Bethany’s
Equine and Aquatic Therapy, a therapeutic riding center for special needs children. After falling
in love with the children at BEATs, I was eager to learn more about the effects of hippotherapy
versus therapeutic riding on special needs children through composing my research paper. To
be brief, hippotherapy manipulates the movement of the horse to stimulate the child’s muscles
and brain activity, using repetition to strengthen their physical and mental abilities; whereas,
therapeutic riding not only focuses on physical and mental stimulation, but also emotional
and social progression. For my product, I compiled video clips and pictures taken throughout
lessons I taught to a ten year old girl and a twelve year old boy at Ward Stables, and from
doing my research and volunteering, I learned many techniques about teaching lessons and the
fundamentals involved with it. My research and stint at instructing lessons also taught me to be
patient with the children I worked with, no matter the situation.
As a riding instructor, one must have copious amounts of patience in order to handle the
frustrations that coincide with working with young children and horses. A flexible schedule, an
open mind, and a high level of professional riding experience is needed in order to be successful
in this career field. From completing this project and working with my project facilitator at horse
shows, I have determined that I do not wish to pursue a career in the professional equestrian field
due to the high level of physical labor that is required to work with horses in this manner and the
unreliability of having a steady income. Even though I do not wish to become a riding instructor,
I still have a great passion for horses and barn life, something which I believe will never fade. In

2. result, I will be attending Auburn University in the fall as a pre-veterinary medicine major with
hopes that this career field will give me the best of both worlds: being able to be around horses
and having a steady career path.
The Senior Project is designed to challenge the mind and abilities of a high school senior and
encourage them to break outside of their comfort zone. I personally found the research portion
of the project very interesting and pleasurable because I chose a topic I am highly enthusiastic
about. I also enjoyed teaching lessons to the children and appreciated how the project challenged
me to explore alternative aspects of the equestrian world. Through this project, I unveiled many
important characteristics of my personality to myself that I had not previously known existed. I
would like to thank you immensely for donating your time to judge my senior project; it is due to
community members like yourself that the newest generation of students is able to learn in new
ways that have not previously been possible. Once again, thank you.
Sincerely,
Hannah Swanson