Games to try in your next horse riding lesson
Horse riding games can be a great way to teach young or inexperienced riders how to get comfortable on horseback or refine the riding skills of experienced riders without anyone feeling discouraged. Help your students get the most out of your horse riding lessons with these exciting riding games to improve their skills while horsing around.
- Beanbag games
Have each rider ride with a beanbag on their hat. Then have your riders walk, trot, or if they are experienced or confident enough, canter. Lead rein riders can do this in halt and walk. Whenever a rider loses their beanbag, you’ll have a better idea of where to correct their position. Alternatively, you can also have the riders do these three paces while sitting on the beanbag, keeping the beanbag between their lower leg and the horse, or holding a beanbag between their hands, while steering when riding circles.
- Musical markers
This is a fun game to play as a group and you don’t need much equipment for it either. Similar to musical chairs, set up cones (or even chairs) and then have your group of riders ride around while the music plays. When the music stops, each rider needs to find their way to a cone or chair. Make sure there is one less cone than riders. Each time a rider reaches a cone, they get a point and of course, the person with the most points wins the game.
- Barrel race
This is a great riding game, if you have more riders than horses. Split your riders into two teams, and find a barrel and two well-behaved, understanding horses. One person from each team has to beat the other in a lap around the barrel. The catch? The horses are not allowed to break into a run; rather have the riders do different things like walk to the barrel and trot back, while balancing in a side-seat. This exercise in particular can be a terrific way to improve one’s posture and position in the saddle. Fair warning: despite the civil rules of the game, the competition can still get pretty heated.
- Blind man’s tack up
Should the rain put you and your students under stable-arrest, this game can still be effective to make them familiar with their tack. Take a horse that is patient and well-behaved, put the horse on cross ties or have someone hold them. Next, place the tack (bridle, saddle pad, saddle, girth , etc) around the horse. Then split your riders into groups of two: one to be blindfolded and the other to act as the “blind man’s” eyes. When the timer starts, the eyes will lead the blindfolded rider from where the tack is and guide him/her in putting it on the horse correctly. Stop the timer, once the horse is completely tacked up. The team with the fastest time, wins. Aside from improving teamwork among your students, this game helps them to learn the correct names for the equipment. Just make sure the horse is comfortable and relaxed throughout the game.
- Around the world
A classic exercise for teaching balance and building confidence on horseback, “Around the world” only requires a rider and their horse. On a standing horse, which the instructor can hold at first, the rider must swing their legs over to each “quadrant” of the horse. Starting in a normal position (one leg on either side of the horse, facing forward), the rider must then bring both legs to the one side. Then, the rider swings one leg over to have a leg on either side with the rider now facing backwards. After this, the rider brings both legs together on the other side, before finishing in the first position with their legs astride the horse. This is wonderful for understanding how a rider’s weight and balance affects the horse’s balance and teaches the rider better control of their own balance and flexibility in the saddle.
- Squirrel!
For a touch of chaos in your horse riding lessons, throw the “Squirrel!” game into the mix. Have your group of riders walk different paces (walk, trot, or canter) around an enclosed area. When the person, who is “on”, yells “Squirrel!”, all the riders have to bring their horses to a halt and jump off. The first person standing next to a standing horse, wins the round and is awarded the honour of being “on” in the next round. This is a hilarious game that is great for helping novice riders overcome their fear of falling off their horse. It also helps to improve reflex times and agility in the saddle.
- Pick-up races
This crowd-pleaser is good fun for any rider, whether novice or experienced. Place obstacles throughout the arena with ribbons tied to them. The aim of the game is for the rider to navigate the course and collect all the ribbons. You can vary the level difficulty for novices and experienced riders. In fact, you could probably even introduce this game to novice riders on their second lesson. This exercise is ideal for teaching your students about horse distances: how far can a rider stretch before falling out of the saddle? How close to the obstacle can they move the horse without it stepping past what you’re reaching for? It also improves flexibility and balance in the saddle and builds confidence in riders through the achievement of a pre-set goal.
- Egg and spoon relay
Stepping up an old favourite and adding an equine twist, a number of riders begin the race holding the egg and spoon and they have to hand it over to their teammate part of the way down the racetrack without dropping it. The first team that reaches the finish line with their fully intact egg, wins. If a team drops their egg in the process, they have to go back to the start to get a new egg. Change things up by throwing in some trotting, steering, half-seat – anything to make it more of a challenge.
These are just a few ideas for you to try at your next riding lesson. However, at the end of the day, you’re the one running the show, so feel free to switch it up. Keep your students (and their horses) guessing by changing elements of these games – make it your own! Then, go ahead and share how you’ve adapted these games for your students on our Facebook page.
