Life Cycle-sample for REQ-Website

Dear Parents and Educators,

Thank you for sharing Merlin’s story with your young reader. This workbook was created to help children learn about the life cycle of a horse through real photos, story moments, TRUE EQ Facts, vocabulary, questions, and activities. As children follow Merlin from before birth through his first birthday, they will practice observation, reading comprehension, emotional awareness, and safe respect for horses.

Recommended for ages 8–12. Younger readers may enjoy with parent, teacher, or adult support.

This workbook does not teach riding skills or independent horse handling. Children should always learn about and work around horses with guidance from an experienced adult. For free printable activities and bonus resources connected to this workbook, visit:

RiseUpEQ.com/life-cycle-horse

Read • Explore • Aspire • Learn

You will need curiosity, patience, practice, and guidance from experienced adults. Horses are powerful animals with their own feelings, instincts, and body language. The more you learn to observe, listen, and think before acting, the safer and kinder you can become around horses. What will you need to be successful with horses? TRUE EQ means learning accurate, fact-checked information about horses. in this workbook, TRUE EQ helps you understand Merlin’s story, recognize real horse behavior, and separate horse facts from imagination. As you learn, you will also practice making safe, kind, and thoughtful choices around horses. First Things First! For Curious Horse Learners... What Is TRUE EQ? Story Note: Imagination and Real Life Some characters in this workbook are imaginary. They may act silly, talk, or think like people because that makes the story more fun. Real horses do not talk like people or understand the world exactly as people do. As you read, look for the difference between imagination, story lessons, and real horse facts.

Curious horse learners ask: What is real? What is imagined? What can this help me learn?

As you follow Merlin’s first year, you will find: TRUE EQ Facts Learn accurate horse facts and important safety information. Check Your Learning Answer questions that help you think and remember. Think It Through Use observation and reasoning to understand Merlin’s story and make thoughtful connections. Fun Activities Try puzzles, vocabulary practice, writing prompts, and learning challenges. Explore More Find extra learning ideas to explore with a parent, teacher, or another trusted adult. How to Use This Workbook

Before You Meet Merlin... As you work through the first section of activities, watch for clues about Merlin’s family, his first year, and the real horse facts that will help you understand his story. Your mission: Look carefully. Think like a horse learner. Build your horse knowledge and thoughtful learning skills one page at a time.

Merlin will arrive soon…

First, warm up your horse vocabulary. Then you’ll be ready to follow Merlin’s journey from the beginning.

Read and follow the directions carefully! On this page, circle or underline horse-related words and phrases . Look for words about horse care, safety, body language, riding, groundwork, and learning around horses. Some terms will be easy to spot. Others may appear inside longer sentences or examples. On the next page , you will use the words you found to match terms with their meanings. Learning horse vocabulary helps you understand Merlin’s story and talk more clearly about horses, safety, and care. Vocabulary Challenge #1 Before Merlin’s story begins, warm up your horse vocabulary. This challenge will help you notice important words about horse care, safety, body language, riding, groundwork, and learning around horses. Check Your EQ

Are you excited to meet Merlin? First, let’s build a little more horse knowledge!

Match the horse words you found — Merlin’s story is almost ready to begin.

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Merlin's Grandsire

Xenophon (zen-o-fawn) is Merlin’s grandsire. He is a Warlander , a breed developed from Friesian and Andalusian horses. Look closely at his appearance in the photos. What color do you think Xenophon is?

Presence, Merlin’s dam, is out of Eowyn and by Xenophon (ZEN-oh fawn).

Which parent do you think Presence resembles most?

Look closely at these photos of Xenophon. What differences do you notice?

Turn the page and see Merlin's grandparents in action!

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Get TRUE EQ Feeling Afraid vs. Fear What does Feeling afraid mean? In this workbook, feeling afraid describes an immediate response to something that seems dangerous, sudden, or unfamiliar. What does fear mean? Fear can also describe worry about something unsafe that might happen again or could happen in the future. How Would You Feel? TM

You are walking in the woods and a snake suddenly drops on your head from a tree. Is this a feeling of afraid or fear ?

One week later, you think about walking through the woods. You decide to go another route because there might be another snake in the trees. Is this a feeling of afraid or fear ?

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Check Your EQ Can you fill in the missing words in the sentences below? But first you will need to unscramble the letters and put the words in the word corral!

Word Corral

Word (Un)Scramble

sheo = osesh = hdso = voehos =

shoe

1

2

shoe

3

4

gninwea = aenwilng = ofho = noeihgs = ewna = aenewd =

5

6

7

8

9

10

Fill in the Blanks

We

our horses every seven weeks.

shoe

1

A farrier

as part of professional hoof care.

2

Some horses get trimmed and also Horses should be calm when the farrier is 3

regularly.

.

4

The horse

is very hard.

5

The horse has four . When Presence was ready to 6

Merlin, she pinned her ears

7

at him. She was saying it was time that Merlin was He was eating grass, hay, and foal grain. The Once the foal is completely off milk, he is a 9

from milk.

8

process can be stressful for foals.

.

10

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Keep Learning with Merlin! Download free Merlin Bonus Activities and find printable pages and updates connected to this workbook.

Keep reading. Keep exploring. Keep learning.

riseupeq.com/life-cycle-horse

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