Horse Riding Games
“Horse Riding Games – 2 Great Games On Horseback!”
If you are you a riding instructor looking for fun games on horseback, read about these two games. Your students will learn good horsemanship and have fun at the same time!
1. The first horse game is called Musical Horses. It is played much like Musical Chairs, that most of us have played at some point or another.
You will need some ground poles or landscaping timbers. If you have 5 riders, you will need 6 poles. Place the poles about 8 feet apart and parallel to each other, in the center of the arena. You are basically creating horse parking lots, for lack of a better description!
Turn on the music and instruct the riders to ride on the rail. You can ask them to do whatever you like (depending on their ability) – walk – trot – canter – halt – half circle – reverse – circle.
When the music stops the riders must continue in the same direction (for safety purposes) but get to a ground pole parking lot as soon as they can. Because you have created one less parking lot than riders, one rider is left out and must leave the arena.
Then, take away one pole and start the music again, instructing the riders to perform at your will. This continues until there is one winner. The kids love it!
2. The second horse game is called The Boot Game. Start with 6 riders and place 12 boots on the rail at one end of the ring. Riders can team up or do this individually.
The riders line up at the opposite end of the arena from where the boots are located. Depending on their riding ability, you can have them walk, trot or canter from their line up down to the boots.
They must pick up the boot and travel to the center of the arena where you have placed a muck bucket. Their task is to drop the boot in the bucket and then continue to the end of the ring where they started.
When they get back to their starting place, they must tag their teammate (if they are playing on teams) who then does the same thing. The first team (or individual) to complete moving the boots into the bucket is the winner.
The riders get in such a hurry that they often miss the bucket with the boot. If that happens, they must dismount, pick up the boot, remount, and drop it in again. Of course, use your best judgment. If the riders are small or too young, you can skip that part.
The riders learn not to steer their horse directly to the boots. Rather they learn to ride up along the rail and scoop it up because if the horse’s head is facing the boot, the rider cannot reach the boot to grab it! They also learn to take their time trying to throw the boot in the bucket because it is easy to miss! The kids learn patience, planning and steering!
Besides the fun horseback riding games, try some of the games on the internet as well. There are some terrific riding games that teach kids all about horses. Some are virtual world horse games where you take part in the daily chores, others are more playful. If you have a daughter, try online horse games for girls which target their specific interests…you know, makeup and stuff!
Well… I hope this helps!
Lisa Blackstone
American Horse Association
www.AmericanHorseAssociation.com
www.AHAHelpDesk.com/support
To learn more about horse riding games go to www.Barbie-HorseGames.com and www.HorseJumpingGamesGuide.com and finally try out my site at www.HorseandRiderClub.com for some geat games and horse videos!
