Equine Assisted Learning program for early literacy to support school-aged children.

Horse Powered Reading®

How do Horses teach reading?

Horse Powered Reading® integrates social-emotional learning with academics, thus allowing students to see and experience reading with their entire mind, body, and emotions by creating metaphors for the skills involved in reading.

Students interact with horses from the ground, while using toys and props to identify obstacles and learn five critical reading skills - phonemic awareness, decoding, vocabulary, fluency, and comprehension. Horse Powered Reading® focuses on the learning process for the individual and builds upon children’s natural curiosity and determination. During sessions, students are allowed to make discoveries and experiment with knowledge firsthand. The interaction between the student and the horse gives the facilitator insight into what he/she is experiencing inside and what patterns are working or not working for them. That interplay allows for profound learning to take place

Program Goals

• Learn valuable reading skills

• Increase confidence

• Promote self-efficacy

• Foster connections

• Carry new skills into the regular classroom

Yes! Our research has discovered it only takes a few key reading skills combined with motivation, self-efficacy/confidence, and persistence, all of which are thought by the horses to create an exponential growth in learning.

• Horses are natural teachers

• Horses are sentient beings and are a lot like us

• Horses have distinct personalities and defined social roles within the herd, allowing students to identify and form connections with them.

• Horses help us to reflect on how we approach relationships, learning, and challenges.

• Because they are prey animals, horses are extremely sensitive to their environment. They react to our body language and cues. They can give very good insights into what the student is experiencing emotionally during a session.

• Horses allow for movement in learning