The Thoroughbred Education and Research Foundation (TERF) awarded Adrianna “Andie” Swanson ’23 $5,000 in scholarship support. Swanson, an equine studies major, is one of the three Swanson triplets who attend the College. All three ride and participate in equestrian events.

She has loved horses her whole life and rode on trails and around her family’s farm until she discovered and taught herself “showing” at an early age. “I have two Thoroughbreds named Eros and Bear,” she said. “Eros is a 6-year-old, grey off-the-track Thoroughbred from a Pennsylvania racetrack. I have had him with me all through college and have ridden him in all my equitation classes at Wilson. Bear is an 8-year-old, dark bay, almost black off-the-track Thoroughbred that I just got this summer from a racetrack in California.”

Swanson used Bear in her training class this past semester. The class helps “restart” young horses so they can go “from not being touched or ridden to being well mannered under saddle.” Although Bear had been ridden before, she needed holes in her training and behavior filled in. “Bear started this class being a horse that would push you around and just get really anxious. Towards the end of the semester, she didn’t push me around and was really relaxed under saddle. This is why I love this class so much; even though my horse was already able to be ridden, I was able to see some of the training she was lacking and was able to go back to the basics and fix them.”  

She hopes for a career working with horses. The training class “really helped to prepare me for what to expect when I start training off-the-track Thoroughbreds after graduation.” She will use the TERF scholarship to help pay for her Wilson education.  

TERF awards scholarships consistent with its mission of promoting equine education and research by sponsoring scholarships in veterinary medicine and supporting organizations that are educating the public in the proper care of horses. Since 2015, 23 students at Wilson College have been awarded TERF scholarships to continue their education, totaling $82,000 in awards.