Horses are giving young readers a hand up during the pandemic

Equines partake in outdoor library events, and kids read to them.

Students across the county are floundering academically in the coronavirus pandemic. Young, low-income students are especially vulnerable, and in some places, entire classes of children are struggling to read.

A woman in North Carolina has stepped up with a way to help: horses.

Caitlin Gooch, whose family runs a horse farm near Raleigh, gathers a few of her horses and ponies about once a month and brings them to outdoor library events and book fairs in parks where she knows children will be. The children select a free book to take home, but before they leave, they can read the book to a horse.

Gooch’s Saddle Up and Read program aims to help children improve literacy levels and develop a love for books. Before the pandemic, hundreds of students came to Gooch’s farm in Wendell, North Carolina, to read everything from Dr. Seuss and Harry Potter to classics such as “Black Beauty.”

Once children started learning at home, Gooch decided to take her horses to students in her area who were struggling with reading skills or needing a break from tedious online learning.

Gooch learned to ride at age 3 on an 87-acre horse farm run by her father, Donal Gooch. The horses have made such a difference in her life, that she wanted to bring that experience to other children, especially those who might not otherwise have it.

“I have eight horses, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could share them with kids, since not every child gets a chance to interact with a horse?’” said Gooch.

She contacted the Wendell Community Library and offered to start a raffle for children who checked out three or more books to win a chance to come to her dad’s farm and visit the horses.

Connie Harr, a manager for Wake County Libraries, decided to call the program Saddle Up and Read, and the name stuck. As the program grew, Gooch developed other incentives such as free pony rides and free books to keep children motivated.

She felt it was especially important to reach out to children of color and encourage them to read books about Black equestrians so they could picture themselves in the stories, she said.

“If kids don’t develop good reading skills, they’re going to be limited in life,” she said. “If I can be a role model for even a few kids, it’s worth it.”

Since she started the program, about 500 children have come to her dad’s barn and selected a reading companion from a herd of 40 horses, said Gooch.

“I have eight horses, and I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool if I could share them with kids, since not every child gets a chance to interact with a horse?’”

Caitlin Gooch Saddle Up and Read

CAITLIN GOOCH Caitlin Gooch’s ponies visit students at community events in the Raleigh, North Carolina, area. The children pick a book to read to the ponies and can then take the book home.