I'm looking for games on horseback that I can use for young beginnng riders. I know sruff like simon says and red light green light. I've also played a game where the riders have to drop items into buckets at the other end of the arena.
The kids can be only walking or trotting and not too complicated because someone usually has to run nest to them incase the horse gets out of control or they need help.
Please share ideas! thanx|||barrels
flags
bending
obstacle courses (gates, carry things, kids dunk for apples whilst someone holds horse)
sack race
mug race
mail box race (letter with a mail box a end)
egg and spoon
hold a cup of water and tag riders
musical ride
key hole (witches hats in the shape of a key horse - horse goes in and turns around and comes out)
clover bounce pony (four poles in shape of x - you have cones or poles in between each pole but a few paces out. the riders go in over a pole aroung the pole and over the pole and so on... thats a hard one to explain. kinda like below
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. x .
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or
poles in a line with alternate poles to go around eg:
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musical horses (horses are on a circle being lead with music have cones or something in the middle and have one less in middle combared to rider and when the music stops they jump off and run in, this helps there mounting and dismounting)
round the world %26amp; thread the needle on horse
vaulting (never to young i say)- can slide of bum?
poles on ground
relays
fancy dress
simon says
quiz -horse related
stepping stones, tires (teaches leading)
hide and seek
treasure hunt
gait knockout - stay on that gate or your out
weave horses (moving or standing- horses are in a line one behing the other and the person at the back walking from the back weaves to the front, harder when increase pace teaches riders to leave space between horses and to slow down and speed up)
try follow the leader with riders - they can help you invent things to do
get the kids to walk over a tarp or rug
tips
ball games kids throw balls to each other can do it standing still and recommend holding horses - teaches horse polo skills and rider coordination
mmmm thats all i can think of atm hope that helps
ask the kids for ideas there are also books you can get for games|||I was a camp counselor for a horseback riding camp and here are some of the games:
1) follow the leader ( doing figure 8's, walking, trotting, turning, etc..)
2) Relay race where riders pass a baton from one rider to the next (can be done at the trot only)
3) Getting from one end of the ring and drinking a cup of water quickly and getting back before the opponent.
3) Red light Green Light
4) Keyhole
5)Obstacle course
6) setting up a barrels course
7) setting up something that looks like a soccer banner and giving them kool-aid to put in their mouth and run by and spit it out trying to get it in the center.
8) Setting up barrels and putting buckets with sand and giving them flags to stick in the buckets as they did the barrels courses.
9) Who can hold two-point the longest at a walk and then at a trot
10) Egg race
11) Egg toss on horse back while at a walk with a partner (so long as the horses don't spook)
12) Trotting past a bucket in the middle of the ring and trying to flick a penny into it. (do it as an elimination type of thing if they miss)
Hope this helps!|||I would say egg and spoon race. (You have to hold the egg in your spoon and listen to the instructor (walk/trot/stop/etc.) whoever has the egg in the spoon last wins) or Australian Persuit (You trot and if you pass another rider they're out. If your horse goes out of a trot you're out)
Dollar race (Can be done bareback or in a saddle) You but a dollar between your thigh and the horse or saddle. You try to keep it in.
Flag race- taking a flag from one side of the arena to the other and putting it in a barrel
Pole bending- weaving in and out of poles.|||the dollar bill game...
who ever can hold a dollar bill between there thy and the horse (without it falling) the longest wins.
xD it is upposed to be done bareback but I am sure using a saddle works the same. I ahve a book full of games I forgot what it is called but they are mostly for people who can w/t/c and go on there own.
tortis and the hare is a good one to :)
Tortis: see who can get from one end to the other the SLOWEST without STOPPING!! lol pretty fun as boring as it sounds cause you have to walk REALLY slow :)
Hare: Wo can get to the end the fastest, but only let them stay at one gait so they can't go from a fast walk to a trot to a walk or whatever if they change gaits they lose xD
Good Luck and HAVE FUN!!|||PIckup Race. A very fun game.
One rider gallops (or lopes, or trots, or walks ; ) to the very end of the arena where their friend waits standing on a tire.
The friend needs to mount the rider's horse, then the two people on the horse gallop back to the other end of the arena.
Fastest time wins! yeehaw!|||last summer we did the dollar game, you put a dollar between the saddle and you leg and walk around, whoever drops it is out, after a while start trotting and cantering if they can last one with the dollar wins all the dollars. Some of the beginners may need help on where exactly they should put the dollar.|||These are kind of specific to solve certain problems but maybe they will help you. I got them from watching my trainer teach younger kids.
1. this ones to help get the kids to using more leg then relying on their reins. At a walk or trot you have the kids drop their reins and give them certain things to do with their free arms (ex. rub your belly and pat your head, flap your arms like a bird) the object is to keep the horse on the rail. (Note: you may want to tie the reins in a knot so they aren't bouncing around every where)
2. this one kind of helps with balance but is more of a fun game. give them a spoon and an object ( we always used eggs) Make them go a certain distance at a certain gait. The first one to finish with out dropping the object wins.
Hope they help =]|||Well I know this may sound weird and funky but when I was in lessons, if the horse was really gentle, they would make us do the chicken dance on the horse! They also put these things in a mail box and you had to ride your horse to get the mail and then whatever the mail said, you had to do that on your horse! It was fun!|||How about ground poles? Kids love the idea that they can jump too!
Cup of water races are always fun in the hot weather. Just make sure none of the horses flip from the water!
Obsticle courses! One of the hardest parts of an obsticle course I had to do is on a raised platform, put a big feed dish. Put a few tennis balls in it with a few big cooking spoons (or ladles since they're beginners!). Then, you play just like a water race. So you could do, start walkign over a groundpole. Count out five strides. Halt. Trot to a bucket of tennis balls. Get one and trot back over the pole and finish with a quick dismount!
Hope I helped!|||We use ground poles and cones and barrels to make obstacles courses. One of their favorites is the Catalog Race:
Each child gets a page number, they go to the opposite side (long way) and get a catalog. They must find the page number and pull the WHOLE page out and race back.
I hoped this helped, have fun!|||At my old barn we did little things like egg and spoon races on horse back, cup of water races (see who has the most water left in their cup after trotting from one end to the other), Mini obstacle courses... just a couple of ideas :)
