Sally Swift Dead at 95

Centered Riding founder Sally Swift died April 2, 2009, just weeks shy of her 96th birthday.

April 3, 2009 — Sally Swift died April 2 at the age of 95. Born April 20, 1913, as Sarah Rodman Swift, she was known all over the world for her innovative Centered Riding methodology.

Swift began Centered Riding at the age of 62 upon her retirement from the Holstein Association in Brattleboro, Vt. Her body-awareness methods helped to change the face of riding instruction. Read her story in Horse & Rider’s online article Sally Swift Shows Us the Way and in The Jurga Report.

Swift was inducted into the United States Dressage Federation’s Hall of Fame in 2006 and received the Equine Industry Vision Award from Pfizer Animal Health and American Horse Publications in 2008.

Plans for a memorial service in honor of Swift are underway and will be announced at www.centeredriding.org.

In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Centered Riding, Inc. P.O. Box 157, Perkiomenville, PA 28074; Windham County Humane Society, 916 W. River Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301; The Heifer International Foundation, 1015 Louisiana St., P.O. Box 727, Little Rock, AR 72203; or Amnesty International, 16th Floor, 5 Penn Plaza, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10001.

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