by Christy Landwehr
Is your child’s imaginary friend a horse? Does she draw horses during art? Are her favorite books Black Beauty, War Horse, Horse Whisperer and the Black Stallion? If you have a child who is passionate about horses, why not utilize that passion to teach her math, science, history, literature, and much more!
According to an inscription at The Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, “History was written on the back of the horse.” No other creature has dramatically altered the course of civilization like the horse. Dogs may be man’s best friend, but horses have been man’s essential partner in shaping human history and culture.
But how do you shape your child’s lesson plans around horses to teach these fundamental subjects? Start with the International Museum of the Horse website (www.imh.org), whose education section for parents, educators and students includes horse-centered worksheets, games and resources that teach history, reading, art, and science. Here you will find puzzles with horse terms and questions that ask students to give examples of how the use of horses has changed communication, agriculture and war.
Provide your horse loving student with grade-appropriate horse books and spur them on to reading increasingly more complex books. You can pull spelling and vocabulary lists from these books and develop questions for short answer quizzes and longer essays that test for reading comprehension. The website, www.horsetalesliteracy.org, has a great starter list of horse books/films and we’ve added others. (See Great Horse Books & Movies).
To teach history, watch some of the famous films about specific historical periods that star horses, starting with Spielberg’s Warhorse, to teach about WWI, Miracle of the White Stallion (WW II), Hidalgo (the Pony Express), Seabiscuit (The Great Depression), etc. Have your child look at the role horses have played in everything from winning wars, laying down railroad tracks and revolutionizing farming and transportation to building cities and contributing to the entertainment industry.
For additional history lessons, look up famous horses by googling “Wikipedia famous horses.” Have your child scroll down to military horses, pick 5-10 relevant to American history and then write short reports on these famous pairs and their contribution to history. For older elementary and middle school students, google mysite.verizon.net/mmaidens, which presents an overview of how the horses have affected the course of history. Teach geography by looking at countries where different horse breeds originated and having your child study each area’s environment, (its climate, land features, plants, inhabitants, etc.) and how these factors may have influenced the breeds.
Math and finance may not at first seem like a natural fit with horses, but I can recall adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing to figure out a horse’s upkeep and what I had to earn from my babysitting and allowance to persuade my parents we could afford a horse. You can have your student calculate feeding requirements--how much haygrain horses require daily, weekly and yearly based on body weight, age and use. Older students can explore the mathematics of probability and odds in horse racing with various youtube videos like www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt_6QDGZRWQ or they can compute various speeds and distances for race horses. Students can also calculate how to award ribbons in point classes. Go to horse game sites, such as www.horse-games.org and check out ones that involve arithmetic.
Teaching science? Delve into the biology of the horse—what makes horses mammals and how they digest food differently than cows and why. With older students look at the genetics behind equine color coat patterns (www.animalgenetics.us/Equine.asp).For a great hands-on anatomical lesson, purchase a transparent horse model kit such as the Lindberg kit, and/or buy the DVD: The Visible Horse: Anatomy in Motion 1.
Great works of art have included horses as the artists’ subjects since the beginning of time. The horse appeared in prehistoric cave paintings around 30,000 years ago, and this tradition continues into the current age. Benozzo Gozzoli, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Raphael are just some of the famous artists that have depicted horses in their artwork. Find out more in John Baskett’s book The Horse in Art or by googling art and horses on Wikipedia. If your child is a budding artist, Susie Jessup’s website, www.elfwood.com/farp/horses/horses.html, offers great anatomical instruction or just google “drawing horses.”
Need more ideas? Dr. Charles Apter, of Truman State University in Missouri posts a semester course “The Horse in Art, Science and History” (http://www.agriculture.truman.edu/courses/343syllabus.pdf) that will help you brainstorm. For a review of various horse curricula for younger children by a home schooling parent, go to http://www.squidoo.com/bf-history-of-horse-review.
Last, but really first on the list of lessons we want our children to learn from horses, are the values of compassion, kindness, respect, loyalty and responsibility, which these highly sensitive creatures are so intuitively skilled at teaching. To find a Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) Riding Instructor or CHA accredited equine facility near you where your child can put those values into practice, visit www.CHAinstructors.com. In addition, encourage your child to volunteer at a local therapeutic horsemanship center (find out the age limit first) where they can not only enjoy horses but serve others and make friends with children and adults with special needs (see Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship International’s “Find a Center” at www.pathintl.org.)
Great Horse Books and Films
Graded
Pre-school
DK Horses
My Pony
First Grade
Little Black, a Pony
Little Black Goes to the Circus
Robert the Rose Horse
Second Grade
The Horse that Swam Away
Big Black Horse
Third Grade
Found One Orange Brown Horse
Little Black a Pony Races
Fourth Grade
Ride Like an Indian
Blaze
National Velvet *
Fifth Grade
The Black Stallion *
Black Beauty*
Sixth Grade
Misty of Chincoteague*
King of the Wind
Black Stallion Returns *
Seventh Grade
Smoky the Cowhorse
Horse Tamer
A Girl and Five Brave Horses *
(Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken)
Eight Grade
A Horse’s Tale
The Red Pony * (1949)
Ninth Grade
1001 Arabian Nights *
Pegasus*
Tenth Grade
Trojan Horse *
Bullfinches’ Mythology
Horse Whisperer *
Eleventh Grade
Sea Biscuit *
Secretariat *
Twelfth Grade
All the Pretty Horses *
Some Horses / Horses (McGuane) Phar Lap *
Lonesome Dove – Pulitzer Prize book – TV series
Into the West *
*movies
Ungraded
Seneca, Karen L. Baker
The Sleep Ponies, Gudrun Ongman
My Friend Flicka, Mary O’Hara
Gib Rides Home, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Smokey the Cowhorse, Will James
The White Pony, Sandra Byrd
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses, Jan Brett
The Island Stallion, Walter Farley
My Pony Jack, Cari Meister
Runaway Radish, Jessie Haas
Born to Dance, Katherine Reynolds
Hot on the Range, RD Jentsch
Mrs. Mack, Patricia Polacco
Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Marguerite Henry
The Wild Little Horse, Rita Gray
I Wonder Why Horses Wear Shoes: And Other Questions About Horses, Jackie Gaff
The purpose of CHA is to promote excellence in safety and education for the benefit of the horse industry. CHA certifies instructors and trail guides, accredits equestrian facilities, publishes educational manuals, produces educational horsemanship DVDs and hosts regional and international conferences. For more information, please visit www.CHA-ahse.org or call toll free 1-800-399-0138.
Is your child’s imaginary friend a horse? Does she draw horses during art? Are her favorite books Black Beauty, War Horse, Horse Whisperer and the Black Stallion? If you have a child who is passionate about horses, why not utilize that passion to teach her math, science, history, literature, and much more!
According to an inscription at The Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, “History was written on the back of the horse.” No other creature has dramatically altered the course of civilization like the horse. Dogs may be man’s best friend, but horses have been man’s essential partner in shaping human history and culture.
But how do you shape your child’s lesson plans around horses to teach these fundamental subjects? Start with the International Museum of the Horse website (www.imh.org), whose education section for parents, educators and students includes horse-centered worksheets, games and resources that teach history, reading, art, and science. Here you will find puzzles with horse terms and questions that ask students to give examples of how the use of horses has changed communication, agriculture and war.
Provide your horse loving student with grade-appropriate horse books and spur them on to reading increasingly more complex books. You can pull spelling and vocabulary lists from these books and develop questions for short answer quizzes and longer essays that test for reading comprehension. The website, www.horsetalesliteracy.org, has a great starter list of horse books/films and we’ve added others. (See Great Horse Books & Movies).
To teach history, watch some of the famous films about specific historical periods that star horses, starting with Spielberg’s Warhorse, to teach about WWI, Miracle of the White Stallion (WW II), Hidalgo (the Pony Express), Seabiscuit (The Great Depression), etc. Have your child look at the role horses have played in everything from winning wars, laying down railroad tracks and revolutionizing farming and transportation to building cities and contributing to the entertainment industry.
For additional history lessons, look up famous horses by googling “Wikipedia famous horses.” Have your child scroll down to military horses, pick 5-10 relevant to American history and then write short reports on these famous pairs and their contribution to history. For older elementary and middle school students, google mysite.verizon.net/mmaidens, which presents an overview of how the horses have affected the course of history. Teach geography by looking at countries where different horse breeds originated and having your child study each area’s environment, (its climate, land features, plants, inhabitants, etc.) and how these factors may have influenced the breeds.
Math and finance may not at first seem like a natural fit with horses, but I can recall adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing to figure out a horse’s upkeep and what I had to earn from my babysitting and allowance to persuade my parents we could afford a horse. You can have your student calculate feeding requirements--how much haygrain horses require daily, weekly and yearly based on body weight, age and use. Older students can explore the mathematics of probability and odds in horse racing with various youtube videos like www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt_6QDGZRWQ or they can compute various speeds and distances for race horses. Students can also calculate how to award ribbons in point classes. Go to horse game sites, such as www.horse-games.org and check out ones that involve arithmetic.
Teaching science? Delve into the biology of the horse—what makes horses mammals and how they digest food differently than cows and why. With older students look at the genetics behind equine color coat patterns (www.animalgenetics.us/Equine.asp).For a great hands-on anatomical lesson, purchase a transparent horse model kit such as the Lindberg kit, and/or buy the DVD: The Visible Horse: Anatomy in Motion 1.
Great works of art have included horses as the artists’ subjects since the beginning of time. The horse appeared in prehistoric cave paintings around 30,000 years ago, and this tradition continues into the current age. Benozzo Gozzoli, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer and Raphael are just some of the famous artists that have depicted horses in their artwork. Find out more in John Baskett’s book The Horse in Art or by googling art and horses on Wikipedia. If your child is a budding artist, Susie Jessup’s website, www.elfwood.com/farp/horses/horses.html, offers great anatomical instruction or just google “drawing horses.”
Need more ideas? Dr. Charles Apter, of Truman State University in Missouri posts a semester course “The Horse in Art, Science and History” (http://www.agriculture.truman.edu/courses/343syllabus.pdf) that will help you brainstorm. For a review of various horse curricula for younger children by a home schooling parent, go to http://www.squidoo.com/bf-history-of-horse-review.
Last, but really first on the list of lessons we want our children to learn from horses, are the values of compassion, kindness, respect, loyalty and responsibility, which these highly sensitive creatures are so intuitively skilled at teaching. To find a Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) Riding Instructor or CHA accredited equine facility near you where your child can put those values into practice, visit www.CHAinstructors.com. In addition, encourage your child to volunteer at a local therapeutic horsemanship center (find out the age limit first) where they can not only enjoy horses but serve others and make friends with children and adults with special needs (see Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship International’s “Find a Center” at www.pathintl.org.)
Great Horse Books and Films
Graded
Pre-school
DK Horses
My Pony
First Grade
Little Black, a Pony
Little Black Goes to the Circus
Robert the Rose Horse
Second Grade
The Horse that Swam Away
Big Black Horse
Third Grade
Found One Orange Brown Horse
Little Black a Pony Races
Fourth Grade
Ride Like an Indian
Blaze
National Velvet *
Fifth Grade
The Black Stallion *
Black Beauty*
Sixth Grade
Misty of Chincoteague*
King of the Wind
Black Stallion Returns *
Seventh Grade
Smoky the Cowhorse
Horse Tamer
A Girl and Five Brave Horses *
(Wild Hearts Can’t be Broken)
Eight Grade
A Horse’s Tale
The Red Pony * (1949)
Ninth Grade
1001 Arabian Nights *
Pegasus*
Tenth Grade
Trojan Horse *
Bullfinches’ Mythology
Horse Whisperer *
Eleventh Grade
Sea Biscuit *
Secretariat *
Twelfth Grade
All the Pretty Horses *
Some Horses / Horses (McGuane) Phar Lap *
Lonesome Dove – Pulitzer Prize book – TV series
Into the West *
*movies
Ungraded
Seneca, Karen L. Baker
The Sleep Ponies, Gudrun Ongman
My Friend Flicka, Mary O’Hara
Gib Rides Home, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Smokey the Cowhorse, Will James
The White Pony, Sandra Byrd
Fritz and the Beautiful Horses, Jan Brett
The Island Stallion, Walter Farley
My Pony Jack, Cari Meister
Runaway Radish, Jessie Haas
Born to Dance, Katherine Reynolds
Hot on the Range, RD Jentsch
Mrs. Mack, Patricia Polacco
Justin Morgan Had a Horse, Marguerite Henry
The Wild Little Horse, Rita Gray
I Wonder Why Horses Wear Shoes: And Other Questions About Horses, Jackie Gaff
The purpose of CHA is to promote excellence in safety and education for the benefit of the horse industry. CHA certifies instructors and trail guides, accredits equestrian facilities, publishes educational manuals, produces educational horsemanship DVDs and hosts regional and international conferences. For more information, please visit www.CHA-ahse.org or call toll free 1-800-399-0138.
