Sarah “Sally” Rodman Swift, the author and creator of Centered Riding, died on April 2. She was 95.
Ms. Swift was born on April 20, 1913, in Hingham, Mass. At the age of 7 she was diagnosed with scoliosis or lateral curvature of the spine. Her first physical therapist was Mabel Elsworth Todd, author of The Thinking Body, who helped her into her 20s. Todd encouraged Swift in her riding, which she’d started as a small child.
She was home schooled until seventh grade and then attended Milton Academy (Mass). Ms. Swift worked in the horse world as an instructor for 12 years before enrolling in college at age 30. She graduated from Cornell University (N.Y.) in 1947 with a degree in agriculture and worked for 21 years at the Holstein Association of America in Brattleboro, Vt., retiring in 1975.
When Ms. Swift retired, she began giving her friends riding lessons. She never advertised; her teachings spread by word of mouth, and before long she was traveling up and down the East Coast to teach. In the early 1980s, she began traveling to other locations in the United States, Canada, and eventually Europe. In 1988, she went to Australia to work with Richard Weis, who was her first apprentice.
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Ms. Swift’s groundbreaking book, Centered Riding, was published in 1985. It described her revolutionary approach to developing a balanced seat and two-way communication with the horse. She published Centered Riding II—Further Explorations in 2001. The two books have sold more than 860,000 copies worldwide in 15 different languages. She continued to be active in Centered Riding until her recent illness.
In 2006, Ms. Swift was inducted into The Roemer Foundation/U.S. Dressage Federation Hall of Fame. She earned the seventh Equine Industry Vision Award from Pfizer Animal Health and the American Horse Publications in 2008.
During the days of her illness, Ms. Swift was surrounded by her friends and Centered Riding family. Despite her fame, breadth of knowledge and accomplishments, she greeted all who journeyed down her path with warmth and humbleness and was well loved by many, many people.
Memorial donations may be made to Centered Riding Inc., P.O. Box 157, Perkiomenville, PA; The Wyndham County Humane Society, 916 W. River Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301; The Heifer International Foundation, 1015 Louisiana St., P.O. Box 727, Little Rock, AR 72202; or Amnesty International, 16th Floor, 5 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10011.
