Giddy up: USU Extension brings ‘Horse Powered Reading’ to Davis County kids
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- Students create words with plastic balls during a “Horse Powered Reading” retreat organized by USU Extension.
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- Words identifying parts of a horse are attached to an animal during a “Horse Powered Reading” retreat organized by USU Extension.
KAYSVILLE — This summer, Utah State University Extension-Davis County and the university’s Equine-Assisted Service and Equine Experience programs will offer multiple clinics designed to help children become more confident in their ability to read and write through learning activities and hands-on experiences with horses.
Beginning June 11 and throughout July, several “Horse Powered Reading” retreats will be held at the Davis Agricultural Heritage Center, located at 788 S. 50 West in Kaysville. Sessions for children ages 5-7 and 8-10 will be held mornings and afternoons at the price of $25 per child. For a full schedule and to register, go to https://extension.usu.edu/davis/equine-experiences/.
“The whole goal of our Horse Powered Reading retreat is really to help bring confidence, awareness and improve reading skills,” Equine Assisted Services Extension Assistant Professor Allie Garlick told the Standard-Examiner. “And we do that by really focusing on the relationship that the kids have with their reading.”
Garlick said teaching with horses can help students open up in ways that improve their ability to learn and understand literacy, including those who might be struggling in the traditional classroom setting.
“There is this level of not being judged when an individual is working with a horse, is engaging with that therapy animal,” Garlick said. “There’s a level of, they’re not judging that individual on who they are or what level they’re at. … We get a range of kids who come in and a range of people who have different life experiences. Some kids are reading really, really well and some kids might be struggling, but the horse doesn’t know that. So, there’s a level of nonjudgment. They’re taking that person for who they are in that moment.
“They don’t know of anything about the person’s past. They don’t know of anything about what’s going to happen in the future. They’re just concerned about the present. And that leaves an individual to be a little bit more trusting and more open.”
Garlick noted that horses are especially perceptive to body language and emotional cues.
Participants go through a number of exercises with the horses, according to Garlick. Activities include, but aren’t limited to, a technical reading exercise where kids read a recipe to make a horse treat, a vocabulary activity where they attempt to identify different parts of the horse and a “Pony Express” game during which students and their horses act as letter carriers, delivering envelopes containing individual letters to designated locations.
“They’re working on leading their horses around, they’re focusing on figuring out the different syllables for different words, we’re reintroducing them to new words,” Garlick said. “And, hopefully, at the same time, having a lot of fun.”
Horse Powered Reading was developed by Michele Pickel in 2012. Since then, the curriculum has been utilized in 24 countries worldwide. USU Extension held its pilot retreat for the program last fall, and has held multiple additional clinics over the ensuing months.
As Horse Powered Reading grows at USU Extension, organizers hope to offer more sessions for older age groups in the future. Garlick added that additional volunteers are also being sought. In the meantime, she has relished seeing the impact the program is having on younger children firsthand.
“To see, at the end, them talking a little bit more with the rest of the kids and interacting with the horses and the volunteers a little bit more, and seeing a few more smiles or giving their parents a big hug at the end of the retreat has been just a wonderful surprise and a wonderful treat (for me),” Garlick said.
