Research Collaborator
Secondary Data Collectors
Bolstering
Customer Horseback Riding Skills
A new tool to quickly make horseback riding safer for beginners at a trail riding stable.
Who I Worked With
My Role
Lead Researcher
Research Planning & Execution
Data Collection & Analysis
Videography
Behavior Change Design
Project Management
Research Methods
Ethnography
Field Experiment
Descriptive Statistics
Inferential Statistics
Tools Used
iMovie
Paper & Pencil
Microsoft Excel
SPSS
The Challenge
Quickly Teach Beginners How To Safely Ride a Horse
Recreational horse-related activities have evolved into a booming industry, with trail riding particularly popular in the United States. Trail riding offers a chance to enjoy the outdoors and relieve stress, while not requiring the rider to be physically fit.
Rental stables, such as Giant City Stables in Illinois, are especially popular among inexperienced riders. Here, riders pay for a horse rental, rather than a riding lesson. Although most rental stables are appropriate for beginner riders (Pavia, 2005), there is no guarantee that riders will be taught basic riding skills.
Although horseback riding carries risks, with injuries ranging from minor to severe, many incidents are preventable. To ensure a safer and more enjoyable experience, trail riders should know the basics of how to ride and operate a horse before embarking down the open trail.
Design Process
Discovery
Stakeholder Interviews
Understanding the Business
I began this project by talking with stakeholders to:
- Understand business goals and challenges
- Gain insights about business processes, policies, and customer expectations
By speaking with stakeholders, I learned that:
- Trail rides were typically booked in advance, but pre-booking was not required
- Customers were asked to arrive 30 minutes prior to scheduled ride time(s)
- All customers were required to sign a release form prior to riding
- A maximum of 8-10 customers could participate in a trail ride at one time
- All trail rides were led by at least one stable wrangler
- Efficient and low-cost solutions were necessary
- Paid staff had busy workloads, with minimal extra time in their day
Surveys
Gauging Customer Riding Skills
Upon arrival at the stables, customers were asked to complete a short survey to assess their competency in horseback riding. Data confirmed that a majority of customers were beginner riders with less than 10 hours of prior horseback riding experience.
Ethnography
Observing Business Processes and Customers in Action
I conducted multiple, all-day ethnographic research sessions at the stable to better understand the full scope of business workflows from open until close, the business-customer dynamics, and customer needs. I was also looking for recurring challenges and potential design opportunities.
Concerns & Noteable Observations
- Once clients checked in, they sat around waiting until the trial ride was ready to begin.
- When the entire riding group had congregated near the arena, the manager of the stable gave a brief explanation (~3 minute) of how to get on a horse, steer, and mandatory rules to follow. The instruction provided wasn't consistent across trail rides.
- No teaching demonstrations were provided.
- Customers were welcome to ask questions but none did during observations.
- Horses were assigned to riders based on their weight and/or riding experience.
- Multiple customers experienced similar challenges with a particular horse(s).
- Customers were required to ride single file down the trails.
Observations also revealed potential behavioral barriers, such as cognitive overload from brief verbal instructions, and social hesitations that prevented customers from asking questions during group briefings.
I conducted multiple, all-day ethnographic research sessions at the stable to better understand the full scope of business workflows from open until close, the business-customer dynamics, and customer needs. I was also looking for recurring challenges and potential design opportunities.
Concerns & Noteable Observations
- Once clients checked in, they sat around waiting until the trial ride was ready to begin.
- When the entire riding group had congregated near the arena, the manager of the stable gave a brief explanation (~3 minute) of how to get on a horse, steer, and mandatory rules to follow. The instruction provided wasn't consistent across trail rides.
- No teaching demonstrations were provided.
- Customers were welcome to ask questions but none did during observations.
- Horses were assigned to riders based on their weight and/or riding experience.
- Multiple customers experienced similar challenges with a particular horse(s).
- Customers were required to ride single file down the trails.
Intervention Design
What Behaviors Need to Change?
Identifying Target Behaviors
The project's goal was to improve beginners' horseback riding and safety knowledge through targeted behavior change. To pinpoint the target behaviors of interest, I consulted the authoritative literature and expertise of the stable owner, who had more than 20 years of experience with horses. We identified four essential behaviors critical for a safe and successful riding experience:
- Mounting
- Steering
- Riding
- Dismounting
By focusing on these core skills, we could help new riders build confidence and enjoy their time in the saddle safely, addressing both safety outcomes and rider self-efficacy.
Identifying Constraints & Opportunities for Behavior Change
Exploring Potential Solutions
Discovery research revealed two main barriers to safe riding:
- Psychological Capability Shortfall: Many customers lacked the basic knowledge required to safely ride a horse
- Physical Opportunity Shortfall: Many customers had little or no prior horseback riding experience
Using the ethnography insights, I identified an ideal behavior change opportunity: the downtime after customer check-in. Customers were already waiting during this period, making it a natural moment for a behavioral nudge by converting passive waiting into a structured learning opportunity.
Based on research insights and known business constraints, the behavior change design solution needed to be:
- Quick and easy to implement
- Compatible within existing stable spaces
- A low-cost and sustainable solution
- Require minimal staff time or effort
- Fit seamlessly into the stable's operational workflow
Literature Review: Potential Interventions
Reviewing Evidence-Based Behavior Change Strategies
When designing a behavior change intervention, it's crucial to start with a review of existing scientific literature. I conducted a literature review to find proven approaches for improving safety behaviors in high-risk activities.
My research revealed a surprising gap: there were few empirical studies specifically addressing the adoption of horse safety practices, teaching horseback riding skills, or trail riding. Consequently, I explored findings from the athletic safety and skill training literature to broaden my understanding and inform the intervention.
Virtual Rider Safety Program
The University of Kentucky Healthcare sponsored a five-year Saddle Up Safely Rider Safety Program aimed at educating riders on horse handling safety and reducing horse-related injuries. The program featured an interactive website with safety quizzes, tips, blogs, expert advice, and brochures. However, the program's effectiveness was not directly assessed.
Safety Training with Video?
One way to convey safety education is through video.
Numerous commercially available options can be found on platforms like Amazon, covering topics such as boating skills, stranger safety, gun safety, fire safety, water safety, hunter safety, and bicycle safety.
Additionally, many safety videos have been systematically evaluated in the behavioral safety literature addressing issues like home hazards, domestic violence in the workplace, child passenger safety, proper patient lifting, and injury prevention in sports.
Virtual Rider Safety Program
The University of Kentucky Healthcare sponsored a five-year Saddle Up Safely Rider Safety Program aimed at educating riders on horse handling safety and reducing horse-related injuries. The program featured an interactive website with safety quizzes, tips, blogs, expert advice, and brochures. However, the program's effectiveness was not directly assessed.
Safety Training with Video?
Additionally, many safety videos have been systematically evaluated in the behavioral safety literature addressing issues like home hazards, domestic violence in the workplace, child passenger safety, proper patient lifting, and injury prevention in sports.
Video Modeling: a Tool for Learning
Video-based training emerged as a consistently effective approach for teaching skills in physical sports and high-risk activities. Research showed that video modeling, which leverages observational learning, can improve skill acquisition and promote safe behaviors in sports including basketball, climbing, football, gymnastics, lifting, skiing, tennis, softball, and volleyball.
Observational learning is a well-established behavioral science technique for teaching physical skills through demonstration.
Sports Safety Can be Taught with Video
One notable study by Cook, Cusimano, Tator, and Chipman (2003) found that a safety video reduced dangerous penalties in hockey while improving players’ concussion knowledge, demonstrating how video can drive both immediate behavior change and longer-term retention.
Video Modeling: a Tool for Learning
Video-based training emerged as a consistently effective approach for teaching skills in physical sports and high-risk activities. Research showed that video modeling, which leverages observational learning, can improve skill acquisition and promote safe behaviors in sports including basketball, climbing, football, gymnastics, lifting, skiing, tennis, softball, and volleyball.
Sports Safety Can Be Taught with Video
One notable study by Cook, Cusimano, Tator, and Chipman (2003) found that a safety video reduced dangerous penalties in hockey while improving players’ concussion knowledge, demonstrating how video can drive both immediate behavior change and longer-term retention.
Why Video Modeling was the Right Behavioral Solution
Based on the scientific literature, video modeling offered several behavioral and practical benefits for this project:
- Cognitive Load Reduction: Videos simplify complex skills by allowing users to visually process and mentally rehearse actions at their own pace.
- Observational Learning: Riders can watch modeled behavior and immediately apply it on the trail.
- Effort Minimization: Watching a video requires no extra effort from customers. Learning happens passively during an existing waiting period.
- Consistency & Standardization: Every customer receives the same clear, high-quality instruction, reducing variation between rides.
- Nudging via Default Design: Embedding the video during downtime naturally encourages learning without requiring active choice.
The video solution also aligned with business needs. It was a low-cost solution, staff just had to press play, it seamlessly integrated into the current wait process, and could be customized for this specific riding stable.
For safety precautions, verbal instructions remained in place at the key stakeholder's request. The video offered a valuable, supplemental training layer.
Changing Behavior
Recommended Intervention: A Safety Video for Skill Building
What: Customers watch a safety traiing video demonstrating essential riding skills and rules.
Where: Waiting area at Giant City Stables
Who: Facilitated by staff or a stable volunteer (minimal involvement needed)
When: After check-in, before the trail ride begins
How Often: Before every trail ride
This approach transformed existing downtime into an opportunity for structured, low-effort behavior change that builds confidence, reduces safety risks, and improves customer experience.
By embedding this intervention into the natural flow of the visit, we created a low-friction, default behavior change opportunity that aligns with both safety goals and business operations.
Implement & Test
Behavioral Task Analysis
Deconstructing Behaviors of Interest
Together with the stable manager (combined 40+ years of horse experience), we developed the Horse Operation and Riding Safety Expectations (HORSE) Task Analysis. The detailed task analysis broke down the four key riding skills (mounting, steering, riding, and dismounting) into step-by-step observable actions.
The task analysis allowed us to clearly define the expected riding behaviors. It also provided a consistent framework for instruction, behavioral shaping, and performance measurement.
Video Prototype
Designing the Behavior Modeling Intervention
I created multiple iterations of the instructional video script and storyboard, in collaboration with the stable manager. All footage was filmed on-site at Giant City Stables and edited using iMovie.
The resulting 4-minute instructional video used behavioral modeling techniques, showing step-by-step demonstrations with subtitles of how to mount, steer, ride on the trail, and dismount a horse.
The steering segment featured a rider's point of view to visually model common maneuvers such as turning and stopping. The video was directly aligned with the HORSE task analysis, ensuring consistency between the learning materials and performance expectations.
The video prototype was reviewed by stakeholders and revised based on their feedback. It was then field-tested with customers and refined again after observing its impact.
Behavioral Field Experiment
Field Testing & Fine-Tuning the Video Intervention
New Iteration: Contextual Examples Added to Video
During the first field experiment, I observed recurring challenges across groups while managing their horses (e.g., stopping a horse from eating grass, steering horses who veer off the trail, and making a horse stand still).
These challenges highlighted the need for context-specific behavior modeling. I created a second version of the video (5 minutes 30 seconds) that included:
- Specific demonstrations of common troubleshooting scenarios.
- A review of key concepts at the end to reinforce learning.
The revised video (Vr) replaced the original version (V) for the next field experiment.
To assess the intervention's impact on beginner riders' performance, I conducted a one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests. This allowed me to compare the average percentage of correctly completed behaviors across three instructional conditions:
A one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests were computed to compare the mean percentage of Horse Operation and Riding Safety Expectations (HORSE) task analysis components completed independently (overall and across categories) by customers who qualified for the study (i.e., beginner riders) across all three instruction conditions. The one-way ANOVA revealed a significant difference for the type of instruction (F (2,42) = 6.797, p < 0.05). Consequently, Tukey’s HSD was used to determine the nature of the differences between the types of instruction.
Customers who only received the classic standard instruction (SI) completed significantly fewer overall horseback riding skills independently (m = 77.10, sd = 4.95) than customers who received standard instruction paired with the first iteration of the instructional video (V) prototype (m = 84.72, sd = 10.55) or the revised video (Vr) prototype (m = 88.96, sd = 7.18). However, there were no significant differences found in the riding skills of customers who watched either version of the instructional video. Statistical analyses found similar findings across the mounting and dismounting categories.
Horseback riding skills were evaluated with the HORSE task analysis at both the beginning and end of the trail ride. Similar to the other findings, significantly fewer riding skills were completed correctly by customers leaving on the trail ride who only received the standard verbal instruction (m = 83.76, sd = 12.01) than customers who also watched the revised instructional video (m = 97.22, sd = 5.14). The overall horseback riding skills of customers who watched the first version of the training video (V) in addition to the standard instruction was not significantly different from either of the other two instructional conditions. Similar findings were also found in the customer's steering skills. No significant differences were found in customer riding skills as they returned from their 40-minute trail ride or in the frequency of prompts given to customers by wranglers.
Conclusion
The results suggest that, at least for this horseback riding stable, a custom-designed instructional video can serve as a quick, effective, and scalable tool to teach essential riding behaviors to beginners, especially when paired with standard instruction.
The stable manager reported observing noticeable improvements among riders who had watched the supplemental video, particularly during dismounting and at the barnyard upon return. Despite her initial reluctance about adding the video, she now requires all customers to watch the video (Vr) before their trail rides. She views it as a necessary step for improving rider confidence and safety.
This outcome reflects a broader behavioral insight: structured, observational learning, delivered through video modeling, can build rider self-efficacy, reduce safety risks, and improve skill acquisition in recreational settings.
Limitations
There were several methodological limitations to note:
- No pre-test was administered due to safety concerns, so we cannot fully rule out potential differences in baseline riding skills.
- Observers were not permitted to assess riders throughout the full 40-minute trail ride. The data collected was a sample of the rider’s skill set at the beginning and end of the trail ride.
- The video was always shown before verbal instructions, so there could be potential order effects.
- Additional qualitative feedback from riders could have enriched the findings.
Next Steps
This study did not evaluate the effects of video instruction alone because of potential safety concerns about removing in-person instruction. A future follow-up study could explore whether the video (on its own) can effectively teach the full set of safety skills outlined in the Horse Operation and Rider Safety Expectations (HORSE) Task Analysis.
This project not only addressed a pressing safety need but also represents a unique application of behavior modeling within the recreational horse industry. It suggests that similar approaches could be extended to other equestrian activities to promote safer, more confident riding behaviors.