1. Hannah Swanson
Ms. Tillery
Senior Project
10 April 2012
Senior Project Speech
The great Winston Churchill once said, “No hour of life is wasted that is spent in the saddle,”
implying that no greater life lessons are learned than those unearthed while riding a horse. My
name is Hannah Swanson, and for my senior project, I further pursued my passion for horses and
love for children by teaching horseback riding lessons.
Spending much of my childhood either inside a barn or on the back of a horse, I immediately
knew that I wanted my senior project to be equine related. However, it wasn’t until I began
volunteering at Bethany’s Equine and Aquatic Therapy Services, which is a therapeutic riding
center for disabled children, that I knew I wanted to be involved with the riders and to teach
lessons. While volunteering, I immediately was able to interact with two particular children,
McKayla and Eric, helping teach their lessons and aiding them in improving their overall being.
BEATS and the incredible children I met there gave me the inspiration for the topic of my
research paper, which discerns the benefits of hippotherapy versus therapeutic riding. To be
brief, hippotherapy revolves around the movement of the horse stimulating the child’s brain and
muscles and the repetition of these movements to strengthen the his or her speech and physical
mobility; whereas, therapeutic riding not only focuses on the physical and cognitive disabilities
of special needs children, but also on the social and emotional aspects of their bodies as well. My
involvement with the lessons at BEATS dramatically helped me in creating my overall product.
For my product, I compiled a series of clips from the various lessons I taught to form a

2. video, showing the different obstacles and lessons the riders and I conquered. [play video] In
my first lesson, I taught Carson on Bo, and since it was my first time teaching a lesson, I only
walked with her, and we worked on her form. We first began working on her concentrating on
putting her knees in the saddle, calves out of the saddle, heels down towards the ground, and
toes pointed slightly inward. I stressed to her the importance of good form while riding because
it affects the comfortability of the horse and the way the horse will perform. I really struggled
with Carson to get her to focus on maintaining her form throughout the lesson, but I can relate to
this issue because I struggle with this as well. However, as an instructor, the lack of consistency
was frustrating. During my second lesson with Carson, we progressed to the stage of trotting,
which is a gait that is more than a brisk walk but a step below the canter, and during this lesson,
I encountered my greatest obstacle: trying to get Carson to land the correct diagonal. A diagonal
is the position of the rider in relation to the horse, meaning while the rider is coming out of
the saddle, the horse's outside leg must be extended or moving forward. Here, Carson is on the
incorrect diagonal because she is up in the saddle, while Bo's foot is bent. Carson changes her
diagonal to the correct one by sitting for one beat, making her posting easier on the horse's back.
In order to succeed in the division Carson shows in, she must be on the correct diagonal the
entire time while trotting. My third lesson with Carson was much more successful in the diagonal
department, and I believe it was because I reformed my teaching technique, which included not
being as harsh on her and giving her more time to correct her mistakes.
Unfortunately, due to scheduling conflict, I only was able to teach Jack one lesson, but I
enjoyed this lesson immensely because Jack is a more experienced rider so we were able to go
outside. Riding outside in the arena is a much different experience than riding inside because of
the distractions that can spook the horse. Jack was really aware throughout his lesson, but his leg

3. form was lacking. I had to constantly remind him about keeping his heels down and his calves
out of the saddle. However, he landed the correct diagonal much better than Carson had. I felt
most proud of my lesson with Jack because he really came a long way, and I believe he is ready
to make his debut in the show ring.
For my final stint as an instructor, I was able to coach Carson and another girl Jewellee on
the rail while they were showing. The experience was so exciting but also nerve racking because
the girls’ parents were counting on me to help their daughters succeed. They both showed in
three twenty minute classes back-to-back, and it was evident that the exhaustion was wearing on
them by the third class. In the final class, after both had two great rides, someone in the audience
scared Bo, so he jumped and Carson lost her stirrup. In addition, Jewellee’s horse, Willy, started
cantering, and she went almost fifty yards before she was able to get him stopped. Overall, the
girls had a successful show experience, and I was extremely proud of both of them for handling
their mishaps eloquently. The process for combining all of the lessons I taught into a video was
fairly simple because I was able to have someone video tape the lesson for me, or I could do
it myself. I used iMovie to construct my final product, and I also used online video tutorials to
make iMovie more accessible.
My project facilitator, Amanda Ward, has been a horse trainer’s daughter since the day she
was born, her father being a world renowned man of the trade. She grew up riding and showing
horses, and after a radio broadcasting stint in Nashville, she returned to the family business,
Ward Stables, and began teaching lessons to adolescent riders like myself, Carson, and Jack. In
this project, I observed many lessons she taught in order to get a better feel of how to instruct a
lesson, and she worked with me on many scheduling conflicts. She also helped me periodically
throughout the lessons, giving me tips on how to enhance the rider’s performance.

4. Dealing with horses and multiple parties, there were bound to be some conflicts and obstacles
in the process of creating my product. Originally, I had planned to host a day camp for young
riders at my barn and to educate them on the anatomy of the horse, but because I am taking four
AP classes this year and am involved in many other outside activities, I was unable to do this.
The biggest challenge I faced throughout my whole process was scheduling conflicts. During
the week, I am either babysitting, volunteering, or doing various other activities almost everyday
after school so I was unable to teach as many lessons as I had hoped. In addition, Carson and
Jack many times had alternative plans, such as vacation, resulting in them not being able to come
to the barn regularly on Saturdays. I overcame these challenges by doing the best I could to work
around people’s schedules and to teach as thorough lessons as I knew possible.
From being on the other side of the horse for so many years, I had no idea of the frustrations
and challenges that came with being a horseback riding instructor. Trying to get the rider to
really absorb what you are saying and having them execute it properly is so incredibly difficult,
and I never imagined the amount of patience I lacked while doing it. I can honestly say that I
would not further pursue this career path because of the hard labor and frustration that comes
with it. I also enjoy more being on the other end of a lesson and not feeling all of the pressure of
helping your rider excel in the show ring.
Through this process, I have learned a lot about myself and have gained several virtues as
well, such as patience and appreciation. I believe the senior project is a great opportunity to
exhibit to the community how advanced the next generation has become and to show them the
potential we have to make the future promising again. I hope by listening and observing my
experience as a horseback riding instructor that you will realize the great characteristics that are
carried through riding and that you will encourage young boys and girls to become involved

5. with horses because they are truly amazing creatures. Thank you so much for your time today; I
greatly appreciate you taking time out of your schedules to be here.