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 Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | What are some good games/ways to teach kids durin their lessons? I am getting more and more request for lessons/camps/clinics and I want to keep it fun and interesting! |
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 Chicken Chick
Posts: 3562
   
Location: Texas | I've never taken lessons... but when we were little my mom or my aunt would have mini competitions with us when we got bored riding in circles in the arena lol.
We would be judged on doing an obstacle course ( not really obstacles I guess, but more like a pattern to do. My sister wasn't confident enough to go over obstacles, or we would have.). We were also judged on how we rode through the pattern, like a queen contest pretty much. We would have to answer questions about parts of the horse, saddling, care etc. My mom having a halter background she would show us how to get our horses looking really nice, and how to set them up for halter... then "judge" us (This was usually when my friends had their horses over). Then we had to judge each other and see who was the closest to what she thought, and we had to explain how we came to the conclusion we did.
We did a lot of other things, but I don't see how they would help in a "lesson" situation. One thing about my mom and aunt though, they always tried to make it fun for us instead of making us do circles all day... and we were learning something whether we knew it or not lol. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1432
Location: Never in one place long | Make a course for them to go through, try and teach something new everyday, praise them for what they are doing right. Be outgoing and positive while teaching them what they need to learn. |
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 I Chore in Chucks
Posts: 2882
Location: MD | Drill teams! most fun EVER and will help other riders gain friendships with eachother!
obstacle courses and games. |
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 I keep my butt inside
Posts: 3281
Location: Weatherford, Texas | Playday events help- flag race (teaches good balance and how to have a good seat while moving up there), Flying W for moving the horse,etc.
Also- the cup of water you hold and you ride around. Don't spill it.
Sit on a balloon.
Ride bareback is a HUGE thing I advocate for in lessons- or at least no stirrups.
bareback- play tag (need some gentle horses).
All these things teach a good seat and then the rest is easy. |
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 Elite Veteran
Posts: 928
Location: Northern CA | There was a very fun game of tag that we played as adults, all advanced horsemen, at a Sandy Collier clinic! It was great. She sectioned off a small portion of the arena with cones, you could not go out of bounds. One person is it, and must tag someone else, the catch is, you couldn't just run around wildly, you could only travel in straight lines. In order to make any turns you had to stop your horse and turn on their hind quarters at least 90 degrees before you could change direction. Great way to work your horses will having fun, not as easy as it sounds for sure. |
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Extreme Veteran
Posts: 306
Location: Albany, Georgia | Great ideas! And they do sound like fun! Keep them coming. |
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Ways to Make Lessons Fun...