Gentle Carousel's Reading with Horses

Gentle Carousel's Reading with Horses summer literacy programs are back again on Thursdays at 10:00 AM starting on June 4, 2026. They will take place at Midtown Station overlooking Tuscawilla Park at 235 NE Watula Ave, Ocala, FL 34470.

Each week will feature a book by different authors and publishers and the ACTUAL equine character from that story to bring the book to life. Authors will also call in to answer questions from children.

Gentle Carousel's Reading with Horses is FREE to the public including summer schools and camps. Children will be able to select a free new book each week they attend to build their own library at home. Children without a summer reading routine can lose one to three months of the reading skills they spent the previous school year building.

The kickoff reading program will include Marion County Memorial Honor Guard, the mayor of Ocala and a ribbon cutting by the Ocala CEP. It will also include the debut of a coloring book for each child about careers in the horse industry.

The coloring book is an educational project by the CEP's Equine Initiative Ocala, presented by Pyranha to teach local elementary students. Thousands of copies were printed to be distributed to Marion County schools this coming school year. Therapy horse Moonshadow is on the coloring book cover and will be at the first reading program this summer.

Gentle Carousel's Reading with Horses also invites assisted living programs to attend because everyone loves horses! Children pick out a stuffed horse plushy to give to each senior to take home with them.