Reading With Horses kicks off
The Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses program is taking place at the Marion Theatre.
The tiny ambassadors of the Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses nonprofit are a big hit wherever they go.
That includes schools, libraries, hospitals, assisted living facilities and other venues. And now, into the historic Marion Theatre in downtown Ocala.
On June 5, the annual Reading With Horses summer program got off to a rousing start with equine Magic as the star of the show.
Gentle Carousel’s Reading With Horses provides grade-appropriate books and activities for students from Pre-K to 5th grade. The program was developed by a school principal and other professional educators.
“This is our 26th year of doing reading programs. We just finished another year of reading programs in Marion County Public Schools,” said Debbie Garcia-Bengochea, education director for Gentle Carousel.
“Individual Gentle Carousel therapy horses are featured in books by many different authors and publishers. After children read a book, the actual character from the story will visit the theatre to bring the book to life. This summer’s theme is ‘Jobs With Horses’ and each week will include special guest speakers as well as a book and an equine friend. We are also doing local library programs throughout the summer,” she added.
“We are trying to match books with the guest speakers. For example, the first week featured the Ocala Police Department and the book was ‘Officer Magic Is My Friend.’ Little hero horse Officer Magic was in attendance attend that week. On Week 4, June 26, we will have a speaker from Horse Farms Forever. The book that week is titled ‘Second Chance Horses’ by Baker Publishing. The chapter we will read is called ‘Freedom for Sundance,’ about a therapy horse that was rescued from a tiny chicken coop and now runs free over many acres. Therapy horse Sundance from the book will attend that week. Sundance is a character in three books by different authors that we use with our reading programs,” she further explained.
The other programs are:
• Week 2 (June 12) Therapy horse Sweetheart will be with her book “Little Horses.”
• Week 3 (June 18) Therapy horse Moonshadow with her book “High Paw, Super Sebastian.”
• Week 5 (July 3) Therapy horse Mercury with “Mercury and Sirius.”
• Week 6 (July 10) Therapy horse Circus with the book “Spots.”
The events are free for adults and children, including summer camps and daycare programs. Every child can select a free new book to take home each week.
“There is no age limit. In fact, each week we invite an assisted living program to attend. The residents love horses and being involved. We have children volunteer to select stuffed horses to give to the seniors to take home. Last year our age range was 2 weeks old to 102 years old. This year it will be even easier. The Marion Theatre is air-conditioned with comfortable seats,” Garcia-Bengochea noted.
“We partner with Congresswoman Kat Cammack’s office to get many of the children’s books from the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and the pages of the book will be on the theater screen as well as using the actual books,” she shared.
To learn more, go to gentlecarouseltherapyhorses.com/reading-with-horses
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