The rain finally subsided and we were able to have our third grade Read to Ride day at True Blue Animal Rescue. These students from Alton Elementary School in Brenham read a book and wrote a report over Christmas break in order to come out and ride a horse and enjoy a hay ride. This reading incentive is also a wonderful opportunity to educate children about animal care and to help them develop compassion and empathy for animals. The horse that had the biggest impact was our biggest horse, Roman. This beautiful senior boy teaches the students how kind and gentle such a big horse can be. As a senior horse he requires a special diet and the children learn about that too. They learn about teeth floating and hoof trimming as part of horse care and needs too. While some of the children are riding and interacting with horses the others enjoy a hay ride. This allows a great opportunity for nature watching and just silly fun and laughter. As you can see from the pictures the students and volunteers had lots of fun. Stay tuned for more read to ride camps this summer and next school year too. Our goal is to increase these educational programs each year so we can reach more students every year.