Our main goal is to bring fun, confidence and joy back to reading. Most of us tend to shy away from doing things that we are not good at. Struggling readers often dread reading and resist doing the very thing that is most helpful – reading more. Students come to Ride to Read and face the exciting challenge of riding on a horse. Their confidence soars.  Horse riding requires coordination, balance, and timing. This means that riders have to use both their left and right brain hemispheres simultaneously. This “cross-lateral” movement helps to stimulate communication between the two hemispheres of the brain, which in turn can lead to improved cognitive function.  Literacy support strategies are incorporated in the arena while students are riding, which makes them more fun.   Students then dismount, read, and complete a writing activity connected to their new interest – horses.