Rebecca Fisher
Horse and Pony Breeds of the USA
2,766 words
International Academy West
2012
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Table of Contents
The Goal: page 3
The Selection of Sources: page 4
Application of Information: page 6
Achieving the Goal: page 9
Reflect on Learning: page 10
Bibliography: page 12
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The Goal
When this project was first assigned to me and I was told I could do whatever I wanted,
many ideas came to mind, most revolving around animals. I like animals but my favorite of all is
the horse. After a lot of thinking I decided to combine two things I love and wanted to learn
more about which is America and horses. Before starting this project I already had some
knowledge of both, since I have lived in America all my life and I have been around horses for 9
years. However, I could not tell you what colors different horse breeds could be or if they were
American breeds or not. Therefore, I made the decision to research this topic and present it in
a scrapbook format to make it a fun learning experience for others. I have always taken every
opportunity I can find to share my knowledge of horses with others so this project seemed like
the perfect way to go.
My inquiry question was easy for me to define. How can I teach others and myself
about American horse breeds and keep it entertaining? This requires more than a simple
answer, because I knew I’d have to find a balance between teaching the information and trying
to keep the attention of others who may not be interested in the topic. My goal was to make a
scrapbook that gives information on America as it relates to horse and pony breeds, while
making it look very pretty and appealing. It needed to help teach visual learners as well as
hands on learners about these breeds in an interesting way. For this reason I knew I could not
overload the pages with information, so I included multiple pictures, stickers, words, and other
scrapbooking techniques.
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In my personal project I put a lot of thought into what area of interaction it would fall
under. After considering all the areas I realized it fit best in Approaches to Learning. It is
categorized into this because I taught myself about the horses and ponies of America as well as
shared my final product with others so that they can learn from it too. I focused specifically on
the part of self teaching during this project because of my love of horses, and a desire to learn
in creative ways. Though my end product can easily teach other people about the breeds,
through this project I had to learn more about scrapbooking as well as learn the specifics of the
horse and pony breeds I was going to include.
Selection of Sources
Due to the fact that my project required a substantial amount of research on a large
topic I found myself using many different sources. I sought information from dictionaries,
encyclopedias, movies, websites, humans, and books. I found two of my sources to be quite
helpful in gathering research because between the two they covered all the breed information I
needed. Coming up with the titles of the books I would need was relatively easy since I could
quickly do a search on my Kindle related to my subject. Instead of getting them as E-books
though I tried to retrieve them all from the local library. This proved to be a bit of a challenge
because my town’s library only had a select few of the books I needed. I wound up having to
wait while the books came in from other libraries all across the state. The most valuable source
I used for the breeds was by far The Official Horse Breeds Standards Book: The Complete Guide
to the Standards of All North American Equine Breed Associations1. This book gave me an
extensively detailed run down of every horse breed in the world and it also had a section that
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separated the American breeds from the rest of the breeds. This was extremely valuable when
it came to the breed information. It also provided me with official websites for every breed,
their main office address, and a phone number. Although I did not wind up using all of these
resources, I would have had I needed to.
Another source that was notably helpful when it came to breed information was the
website horsebreedslist.com2. This website included a section also dedicated strictly to the
American horses. I assessed by matching my prior knowledge up to it as well as cross
referencing with the other sources I had and making sure it could be properly MLA cited. These
books and website provided a tremendous amount of information on the breeds, but not so
much on the history of the horse in America, the uses of them, or the information I needed of
those topics, so I had to go find other sources. I did not only use second hand sources though.
This lead me to conduct a survey3, that got distributed around to numerous people I
know who are horse owners, trainers or riders. I chose to hand the survey out to these people
because they have all been around horses at a friendship level and understand the benefits of
horses. By doing the survey I was able to not only include my beliefs, opinions, and experiences
with horses in peoples’ lives, but I was also able to learn from their experiences too, which are
different than my own sometimes. I incorporated these survey results as well in my final
product. I think by doing the survey it made my book a little more dimensional and easier to
enjoy. I was comfortable doing the survey because I knew everyone who took it on a personal
level. Conducting the survey was convenient, and I feel it was very helpful to include in my
project and added another perspective and dimension, improving the overall quality of my
book.
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I also used the most formal sources I know which were a dictionary4 and encyclopedias5.
These sources aided in my research of the formal definition of a horse and pony and also Paul
Revere and his ride of fame. My family owns a full set of these books and I’ve used them on
many occasions to gain knowledge of subjects.
1 Lynghaug,
F. The Official Horse Breeds Standards Book: The Complete Guide to the Standards
of All North American Equine Breed Associations. Minneapolis: Voyageur, 2009. Print.
2 PuzzleDesigns.
3 Milford
"American Horse Breeds." Horse Breeds List. PuzzleDesigns, 2009. Web.
High School Equestrian Team. "What Are Horses." Interview by Rebecca G. Fisher. n.d.:
n. pag. Print.
4 Morris,
William. "Horse." Def. 1 A. The American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition
ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. 623. Print. & Morris, William. "Pony." Def. 1. The
American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin,
1982. 964. Print.
5 Encyclopedia
Britannica. "Revere, Paul." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th Edition ed. Vol. 10.
Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica,, William Benton, 1974. 8. Print.
Application of Information
The very first decision I had to make was what Area of Interaction I wanted to work
with. After investigating all the different areas and seeing an example of each one, I decided to
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select Approaches to Learning for the context of my Personal Project. I have chosen this area of
interaction because I desired to explore how to learn about different horses through a
scrapbook. I chose this topic for my project because after filling out many charts and answering
multiple questions, I realized horses appeared time and time again which would make sense
because of my love for horses. The final decision before I had all things thought through with
my topic and area of interaction was my inquiry question. For this I brainstormed four different
questions that could apply, and selected the one that seemed to work the best. My final
product spoke to me from the very start so it only made sense to go with the scrapbook.
I found myself faced with the choices of what scrapbook to use. I went to the store and
looked at the large selection of scrapbooks they had but I wanted one that fit with the theme of
my book and my own personality. For my book I knew I wanted to include basic knowledge so I
wrote a list of possible things to put in it. Things like colors, hands, genders, and horses and
ponies. I also wanted to give people a brief description about history, uses, styles of riding,
markings, my personal experience, and horses in many people’s lives.
Selecting the format for the scrapbook was easy for me since I already knew what I
wanted to include, however it took quite some time to gather all the information from the
variety of sources I was using. Sometimes, I found myself getting confused on breeds and
photos I had selected. I laid out pages for the scrapbook alphabetically thinking it would be
helpful for the reader. Deciding color schemes for each page was sometimes challenging and I
solicited ideas from magazines and family members. I had a lot of ideas of my own and I liked
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the natural, neutral colors found in nature since horses are commonly associated with nature,
plus it shows a big part of my personality.
As the investigation took place I mastered the technique of putting useful information
on note cards and having them grouped. I made sure that the only information that was
written on these note cards was relevant to my project. I also learned the technique of
consciously limiting the information I used for each breed so I did not exceed the space set
aside for that specific breed. I also mastered the settings of Microsoft Word and my printer as
well as the scrapbooking tools. I found it helpful to lay out the pages before gluing anything
down, after accidently gluing down a page and realizing it was sideways in accordance to the
front side.
I solved my problems through thinking and planning ahead. If I was really stuck though
I would usually ask for a family member’s opinion. I cross referenced between my resources
before anything was written down because I wanted to make sure all my information was
accurate so that I would not run into the problem of having false information in my book.
Initially, I wanted every breed to be on its own separate page, but after realizing how much
information would be on each page, I figured it could overwhelm the reader and defeat my
purpose. I didn’t want too much information on each breed confusing the reader or possibly
invoking boredom and loss of interest. That would be the opposite of what I wanted the reader
to take away from this product.
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Achieving the Goal
I had envisioned my project to encompass all breeds of the world when this project was
first introduced the first day of class but after some consideration I decided to focus solely on
the American horse breeds that originated in America or arrived here a long time ago and are
integrated throughout America’s history and people. Doing every horse breed in the world
would not have been possible since I wanted to give a bit of information with each breed and I
only had one semester to do over five hundred breeds.
The thrill of seeing each page come together and my creation become a reality was a
very rewarding experience. As more and more pages became completed I felt more successful.
I feel like I have met and exceeded all of my own expectations for this project, as well as the
requirements from this class.
My specifications overall were the guidelines for this product. They were to integrate
information without it being overwhelming while making sure the scrapbook still had a light,
creative, pleasant, and professional look to it. I feel like I completely achieved this goal and
should receive very high marks for my product. Each page has a well planned out design for it
to ensure it fulfills my specifications. They are all colorful with pictures, stickers, and have an
easy flow that is pleasing to the eyes and mind. The organization was also a huge specification I
had for my final product so by having my information in the same order for each breed it was
simple to follow. I believe my final product is appealing to any reader regardless of age or
horse interest level. I believe this because I have received praising remarks by all the different
people I have shared it with.
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Reflection on Learning
Did I learn multiple things through the process of this assignment? Had I accomplished
my goals? I started with a list of ideas and questions, read several books and articles,
narrowed down information, purchased the supplies needed, researched scrapbooking
techniques, learned how to coordinate colors, resize images on my printer, switch things to
landscape format, page content and layout, how to conduct surveys, as well as the obvious and
biggest thing I learned which was horses in America and American horses and ponies.
I came to the conclusion that I could teach others and myself about American horse and
pony breeds if I was able to keep it interesting and present it in a way that was fun and
interactive, rather than the traditional report or essay style learning. Making a scrapbook it was
the perfect answer. The aspect of my investigation that really helped me reach a better
understanding of my topic was defining all the information and specifics I would be including in
my scrapbook, so I could make sure to keep a good balance between information and creative
appeal. This was much more helpful when it came time to gather information so I actually
knew what I was searching for.
From doing this project I have a much better understanding when it comes to my area
of interaction. At first I was very confused and did not really understand what my area of
interaction was. I realized that Approaches to Learning is not just about teaching others but
also can include teaching myself. I was able to fit my project into both of these categories in
the area of interaction.
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According to my self-assessment, my project exceeded my plan. I did many things well
but there is one thing that I did exceptionally well. That would be the creativity component.
Every page is different in design, format, and color, while still coordinating and working with
each other following the same theme. If I had the chance to do a similar project again I would
improve upon time management and not procrastinate or take too many days off of my
project. I kept the books borrowed from the libraries a bit too long and wound up paying fines
upon returning them.
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Bibliography
Burns, Deborah. Storey's Horse-lover's Encyclopedia: An English & Western A-to-Z Guide.
Pownal, VT: Storey, 2001. Print.
Caldwell, Betsy. "Horse Quotes, Sayings, Poems, Thoughts on Horses." Horse Quotes, Sayings,
Poems, Thoughts on Horses. The Quote Garden, 04 July 2012. Web.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, Marty Becker, Gary Seidler, Peter Vegso, and Theresa
Peluso. Chicken Soup for the Horse Lover's Soul: Inspirational Stories about Horses and
the People Who Love Them. Deerfield Beach, FL: Health Communications, 2003. Print.
Encyclopedia Britannica. "Revere, Paul." Encyclopedia Britannica. 15th Edition ed. Vol. 10.
Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica,, William Benton, 1974. 8. Print.
Hartley, Edwards Elwyn. The New Encyclopedia of the Horse. Ed. John Katriona. London: DK,
2000. Print.
Lynghaug, F. The Official Horse Breeds Standards Book: The Complete Guide to the Standards
of All North American Equine Breed Associations. Minneapolis: Voyageur, 2009. Print.
Many Horses, Emil Her, and George P. Capture Horse. A Song for the Horse Nation: Horses in
Native American Cultures. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Pub., 2006. Print.
Milford High School Equestrian Team. "What Are Horses." Interview by Rebecca G. Fisher.
n.d.: n. pag. Print.
Morris, William. "Horse." Def. 1 A. The American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition
ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. 623. Print.
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Morris, William. "Pony." Def. 1. The American Heritage Dictionary. Second College Edition ed.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. 964. Print.
Paust, Gil. The Complete Beginner's Guide to Horseback Riding. Garden City, NJ: Doubleday,
1977. Print.
PuzzleDesigns. "American Horse Breeds." Horse Breeds List. PuzzleDesigns, 2009. Web.
Rosenthal, Mark, and Lawrence Konner. "Flcika." Flcika. Dir. Michael Mayer. Prod. Gil Netter.
Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Beverly Hills, California, n.d. Television.
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