Caitlin Cooch
For as long as she can remember, North Carolina native Caitlin Gooch has loved riding horses and reading, and in 2017 she created an organization that celebrates both. A dedicated leisure rider and rodeo relay race competitor, Caitlin learned of the startlingly low literacy rates among Black children in her home state and decided she needed to do something to help.
She approached the library in her hometown of Eagle Rock, North Carolina, about partnering on a reading incentive program. Children who checked out three or more books from the library each month could sign up to be entered into a drawing to win a free visit to the horse farm that Caitlin’s dad, Donal Gooch, had built on the family’s sprawling land in Eagle Rock.
The program took off, but when transportation challenges kept some winners from visiting the farm, Caitlin decided to take the books and horses to them. Her Saddle Up and Read program officially gained nonprofit status in April 2019.
Pre-pandemic, Caitlin—a married mother of three who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, now—hit the road a few times a month to read to and take donated books to kids at elementary schools, libraries, child care centers, church youth groups and community events across North Carolina.
She says she’s accustomed to the double takes, curious stares and questions, such as, “Whose horse is this?” that usually pop up when she shows up at events. Caitlin, who’s been riding since the age of 3, says, “I don’t know how to not be a country girl.” So she presses on because of her passion for the work. “It’s fun; I just love it.”
Her efforts have earned her numerous accolades, including shoutouts on social media from Oprah Winfrey, LeVar Burton of Reading Rainbow fame, and Kelly Clarkson and Brad Paisley.
The slower pace during the pandemic has allowed Caitlin to spend more time focused on home-schooling her children and fundraising. She hopes her ongoing GoFundMe campaign will help her buy land in her hometown to build an equestrian center and a library, which she envisions will serve as a positive space for kids in that area.
“In my hometown, there is not much of anything for kids to do,” she says. “I believe building this space for them to be exposed to horses and providing books with characters who look like them will help push Saddle Up and Read to raise literacy rates in North Carolina.”