Horse riding games – 4 fantastic horse riding games!
Are you a horse riding instructor looking for fun horse riding games to play with your students after the lesson? Well, here are some great ideas to help you learn riding skills while having fun together!
1. Boot Set: With 6 riders, place 12 boots on the railing at one end of the ring. Riders can be in teams or individually: if divided into teams, the riders line up at the other end of the ring and trot or gallop (depending on their ability) to the end where the boots are placed. They collect the boot and travel to the center of the arena where a trash can is placed. They must drop the boot in the bucket and continue to the end of the ring where they started, tagging the next person who then does the same. The first team to complete the boot move is the winner. If the rider loses the bucket, he dismounts, picks up the boot, remounts, and falls again. (If they are small or too young, you can skip that part!
The rider learns not to lead the horse directly into the boot he wants. Rather, they learn to ride along the railing and pick it up. If the horse is facing the boot, the rider may not lean down to pick it up. They also learn not to rush to the bucket and drop the boot. Rather, they learn to approach the bucket on the way and carefully drop it. It really teaches a lot of patience, planning and direction!
2. Musical Horses: This is a horse riding game that works just like Musical Chairs! Place ground poles parallel to each other, about 8 feet apart, in the center of the arena creating parking lots for horses, for lack of a better description! Children ride the rail to the music and must do as they are told: walk, trot, canter, stop, half circle, reverse, circle. When the music stops, riders should continue in the same direction but quickly come to a dirt pole parking lot. Because you have created a parking lot less than passengers, one passenger is left out and must exit. Then you remove a post and play the music again, and again until there is a winner. Kids love it!
3. Red Light Green Light: Children travel in a straight line from one end of the ring to the other and listen for commands. “Red light” means to walk your horse. “Green Light” means to trot your horse. If the cyclist makes a mistake, he must go back 5 steps. The first runner to cross the finish line is the winner. This develops eye contact and body language skills while encouraging control and calm with the horse.
4. Mount and Dismount Play: I play this horse riding game with 4 older riders who can ride from the ground and 4 little riders with mounting blocks. An older rider is paired with a younger rider. The younger riders are in the center ring glued to the mounting block and keep an eye on their teammate. Orders are called to the riders at the rail. When the instructor says “stop,” the older rider stops at the rail and dismounts while the younger rider runs from the center toward his horse and his partner. The older rider has to get the little rider on safely and then race back to the mounting block. The last person on that team is out. Now the little riders start their riding commands. The halt is called and the older rider runs towards the smaller rider who is dismounting. The older rider mounts and the smaller rider runs back to the mounting block. By now it’s quite funny as the older riders are riding without stirrups or jockey style with stirrups for little kids – teams are yelling at each other and it’s pretty CRAZY! This continues until there is one team left!
For more information on horseback games, visit Horse Riding Videos.