Nonprofit I Would Rather Be Reading Continues to Partner With Churchill Downs to Bring Children to the Backside to Read to Horses

Today, July 15, is National I Love Horses Day.
It puts focus on the good that horses can bring to the community, just like the partnership between I Would Rather Be Reading and Churchill Downs.

On quiet mornings throughout the year, Churchill Downs’ backside becomes a nurturing classroom. I Would Rather Be Reading (“IWRBR”), a Louisville nonprofit, takes children to the stables — not to ride or train horses, but to read to them. This heartwarming program forms bonds between young readers and their four-legged listeners.

This program at Churchill Downs Racetrack would not be possible without Trainer Michelle Lovell. Groups of kids with IWRBR visit her horses and stable specifically. They set up a hay bale or a chair in front of the horses, then one brave kid sits down and starts reading, and soon more follow.

“It’s like the kids just come out of their shells and then they want to pet the horses and feed them peppermints,” Lovell said. “And a couple of them even say, when I grow up, I want to come and work for you. It’s such a great little thing to watch the kids just blossom in the hour that they spend in the barn. They come in shy and then leave loving the horses.” 

From elementary schoolers discovering their first stories to middle schoolers finding calm and confidence, the program nurtures literacy, compassion and lifelong bonds with both people and horses. The horses serve as attentive, judgment‑free audiences, making reading feel meaningful and fun.

If you want to be involved or support IWRBR, you can learn more at www.iwouldratherbereading.org.