HORSE RIDING GAMES ” Building Up Motivation
Horse riding games are now incorporated in horse riding lessons to keep students enthusiastic and motivated. Games foster play and play increases motivation. Horse riders become more motivated to engage in the act of gaining knowledge when there is incentive. In horse riding games, winning alone is already an incentive.
When the students are having fun with their lessons, they become more eager to learn. Therefore, incorporating horse riding games is vital to horse riding lessons. With motivation, they gain knowledge easier and faster.
Here are examples of horse riding games.
Musical Horses
Musical horses was derived from the game musical chairs. But in this game, ground poles are used instead of chairs. The ground poles will be placed parallel to each other with about 8 feet of space between them. This space will serve as the chair so there must be one less space than the number of riders who will be playing the game.
Step 1. Music will be played and the riders with their horses will do a discipline. They will be asked to walk, trot, canter, halt, half circle, reverse or circle.
Step 2. When the music stops, the riders must immediately occupy one of the spaces between the poles. However, they cannot just command their horses to run to it, they will have to continue to do the discipline while heading towards the poles.
There will be one rider who will not find a space, therefore, he or she will be eliminated from the game. Before the game starts again, one pole will be removed, making one less space than the number of riders playing again. Therefore, the winner in this game will be the last person to occupy the last space, which is the space between the last two poles on the ground.
Mounting and Dismounting Game
There will be two riders in this game, who will work as a team. For each team there will be an older rider who can mount from the ground and a little rider with mounting blocks. The younger riders with their mounting blocks will go to the center of the arena. They will keep an eye on their older team mate, who will do the commands.
The older riders will do what they are asked to do until the instructor says halt. This will be the time when they will stop and dismount while their younger partners run towards them. They will safely mount the younger riders, who will race back to the mounting block. The last team will be eliminated.
The younger riders will then start their riding commands. When the instructor says “halt”, the older riders will run to the younger riders who will be dismounting. The older riders will mount, while the younger riders will run back to the mounting block. The older riders will now be riding with no stirrups or in jockey style in little kids stirrups.
The winner will be the last team left.
Horse riding games help riders develop their strategic ability as these games create artificial conflicts designed by rules. They also foster interaction between riders.