Nadine Tull was a wonderful teacher. She loved her students and she loved horses.

Ms. Tull first met a team of Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses at a program in Ocala, Florida seven years ago and dreamed of someday bringing the tiny horses to her school. Two years ago Ms. Tull started writing and calling Gentle Carousel. She also attended Gentle Carousel’s Reading Is Magic library programs and talked to the volunteers about her dream.

As a teacher she was very touched that her favorite therapy horse Magic had comforted school children after the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and after the tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma.

This year her school, Dunnellon Elementary School, had a goal of earning 6,000 Accelerated Reader points by the middle of the year. The students were told that if they met their goal, Ms. Tull would ask the horses from Gentle Carousel to join them in a celebration. Ms. Tull gave each teacher in her school a fictional book about horses to read to their students. She put up posters of Gentle Carousel horses on the school cafeteria walls and in her classroom. A fellow teacher even wrote a song called “Welcome to the Magical Land of Reading” and it was made into a DVD to send to Gentle Carousel with the invitation.

The school’s media specialist decorated the library in an equine theme, including a display with saddle, bridle, toy horses and posters of Gentle Carousel horses. Each week, the school principal announced how many AR points the school had earned. By January 15, 2014, the students had earned 10,000 points – far surpassing their goal.

Because of the students’ hard work and Ms. Tull’s persistence, Gentle Carousel agreed to bring their reading program and horses to the school. The students continued reading and earned 17,000 AR points, more than they ever had ever earned before. They even set a goal to reach an amazing 20,000 points by the end of the school year.

The week finally came that the horses were going to visit Ms. Tull’s school. Ms. Tull called Gentle Carousel to say how excited she was that the plans had all worked out and the students would finally meet the horses she had loved for so long. She was especially happy that her favorite horse Magic was going to visit her classroom after the reading program to work on a project with her students. Ms. Tull had spent time with Magic just the week before at a library program.

But to the surprise of the school staff, Ms. Tull, who lived alone, did not come to school or call the Monday before the horses were to arrive. It was something she would never do. Her principal and two teachers went to her home to check on her. They found that Ms. Tull had passed away while she was sleeping.

Gentle Carousel’s Reading Is Magic program came to the school yesterday to honor Ms. Tull. Therapy horse Magic’s job changed and she was now there to comfort the students after the loss of a much loved teacher. She met each student in the school and then visited Ms. Tull’s classroom to spend more time with her students.

Ms. Tull did not see her dream take place but her final act as a teacher was to arrange the love of a therapy horse to be with her students when they needed it the most. The students lost their teacher but the great lessons she taught them will always be part of their lives.

“The children have fallen in love with reading this year and I know it is because they want to see the beautiful miniature horses of Gentle Carousel. Thank you for making our dream come true.” – Ms. Tull (from a note she wrote two days before she passed away)

Gentle Carousel Miniature Therapy Horses
www.Horse-Therapy.org
www.facebook.com/TherapyHorses