Eventing is a horseback riding sport where riders compete in three different events: stadium jumping, dressage and cross-country courses. To be competitive in these events, riders must demonstrate great stamina, precision and coordination. Playing the following games on horseback can further these skills to make your students more competitive in the show ring.
Obstacle Course
Eventers are confronted with many different challenges throughout a cross country jumping course. A simple obstacle course can teach novice riders how to prepare for the unexpected. You can use many different objects, like poles, traffic cones, plastic barrels and jumps. Establish a starting and stopping point. Time each horse and rider combination with a stopwatch as they navigate the obstacle course. You can make a course where riders must weave in and out of a line of cones, loop around barrels, pop over jumps and perform transitions at designated areas. Obstacle courses are a great way to improve riding skills without having to subject kids to the monotony of drills.
Bending Poles
This game teaches riders how to steer their horse and maintain control at a high rate of speed. This game can be played individually or as a team. If playing as a team, riders will carry a baton. Riders must gallop out of the starting position, pass between a set of five bending poles by weaving back and forth, passing the first pole to the right and the next to the left and so on. After passing the last pole, the rider gallops in a straight line back to her teammates, passing off the baton to the next rider in line. This sequences in repeated until all the riders have performed the bending poles. The first team to have its last rider finish the course wins.
Bottle Shuffle
The mounted Pony Club game known as Bottle Shuffle teaches accuracy, control and agility. This game can be played individually or as a team. Riders begin the game at the designated starting line, holding to a soda or water bottle in one hand. At the signal to start, the first rider gallops down to a plastic barrel. The rider must place the bottle on top of the barrel, race to another barrel where the rider then picks up a new bottle. The rider runs back to the starting line where she passes off the new bottle to the next team member, who then begins the sequence over again. The bottles should be weighted with sand or water to keep them from blowing off the barrels.
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