Program Idea Exchange I’ll give you my ideas if you send me yours!!!     Therapeutic Riding Games and Activities   These games are divided by categories: riding skills, team building, outdoor games, just for fun, low functioning. They are written with little description on purpose.  Every center has a different situation that makes it hard to prepackage a lesson.  It is my intention to create a framework or give a place to start that you can mold to fit your needs and the needs of your rider.  Be creative!!!!  Creating your own version will not only make a better experience for your riders but will give you and your instructors a greater sense of ownership and a deeper connection to the work.    If you have any specific questions about how to adapt a lesson I will be happy to help you or if you are a visual person and want some ideas on how to set up the arena, I can send drawings.  If you are having trouble coming up with an activity or game for a particular rider, I will be more than happy to help inspire some ideas.  As usual I don’t charge for help or ideas but I ask in return that you send us any creative game or lessons that have worked for you to add to the list.  Imagine what kind of database we could create if we shared!!!!!!  Contact Blair for help.   *****These activities have come from over 10 years of planning children’s programs.  I do my best to give credit if I an idea came from a book or another programmer.  Please forgive me if I have missed one and let me know so I can correct it.   Riding Skills   Red Light Green Light Hold a green ball riders walk on, hold the red ball all riders whoa.  Instead of a player being out they have to draw from the consequence bag, act out what it says on the card and then they are still in the game.  Always challenge by choice.   Saddle up Have a paper shape of the saddle on the wall and each child gets a sheet of colored stickers.  Instructor gives a part of the riders body and child has to place sticker where the body part is on the saddle.  Ie: where do your feet go?  Sticker is on the stirrups.  Variation:  use the stickers to identify parts of the saddle or horse anatomy.   Groom Box Relay Have an empty groom box on a barrel one for each rider on another barrel at other end have a pile of grooming supplies mixed with unrelated objects.  Riders have to take their groom box down to the barrel and fill it with only the supplies that belong then bring it back and use each tool in the correct way on their horse.  Variation: mix the grooming supplies with people grooming supplies have two buckets one for horsey things and one for human things.  Have children race down and pick up the object that fits what the instructor has asked for and they have to bring it back and place it in the correct bucket.   Anatomy Relay Can be done with horse parts, human parts, or tack parts.  Have paper cut outs of the different parts spread around the arena on the wall.  ie:  have a leg on one side and a head down on the other end and a body on a barrel in the middle.  Child has to pick up a body part and decide where it goes.  Goal is to build a complete horse or saddle or person.   But Board Place a bean bag lap top on horses back side and have child ride backwards.  Use felt cut out of a horse, bridle and saddle.  Child had to put all of the parts together to form a completed tacked up horse.   Square Dancin Play music and call out different actions based on the skills or the riders.  This is more fun if you get into it.  Call circle to right or left, call for spiral or for horses to do si do (or circle each other in the middle of arena), call for whoa or walk on, reverse or freeze when music stops.  If child is still moving when music stops they can do a challenge to stay in.   Streets and Alleys Easy,  caller yells streets and riders have to weave up and down cones, caller yells alleys and they have to switch to serpentine between poles across the arena .  Don’t bump into other drivers.   City and Country Driving Clear out the arena.  Each rider has a small hoop which is their steering wheel the way they turn their wheel is the direction the leader will lead the horse.  The caller yells country driving and the riders steer quietly and calmly making nice quiet and controlled turns at a slow walk.  Caller yells city driving and you speed up to a faster walk and take sharper turns honk a lot, reverse a lot and do circles to right and left making sure there is a ton of room between riders.  Variation: with higher skills caller yells drag race and horses have to line up at one end of a straight away on opposite long sides of arena and trot to the other end. (no playing chicken!)   Compass The points of a compass are labeled on the four sides of the arena.  The riders face the caller in the center of the arena.  The caller will yell out North south east or west and the riders have to run in that direction.  To make it more challenging the caller can also call two point and have them turn their horse directions while in two point. Variation would be to give each rider a map and they have to follow a treasure map by following the directions to get to the treasure.   Broom Relay Off the horse done in the barn as a way to clean up.  All volunteers and riders get into two teams one team at one end of the isle and the other team at the other end.  There is a broom with a pile of trash or road apples with one team.  The first member of that team sweeps it to the other end and passes off  the broom to the other side and that person sweeps it back down and passes it off to the next person in line.  This goes until all members have swept the isle.   Danger Danger Use large red and green circles that have tape on the back of them.  Have the students place the green circles on areas that are safe to stand by on the horse (ie. front shoulder) and place the red circles on areas that are a danger to stand by (ie. back side).  Great for visual learners.  Use the red and green circles to demonstrate safe and danger areas all over the barn.   Board Game This takes a bit of set up but is fun for the riders.  Draw a grid of squares in the sand of the arena sand.  Squares the size of a stall work well.  4 rows of 5 depending on the size of your arena.  It is also good to use landscaper paint for a visual line.  Play your favorite board game such as chutes and ladders or sorry or get really complicated and play a watered down version of monopoly.  Each student rolls the dice and moves their horse from one square to the next until the game is over.  Knights Challenge This is one of my favorite lessons.  You can create so many variations to fit all skill levels.  Set up a three stage obstacle course.  Begine by telling the studetns that today they will become knights of they can pass 3 tests.  The first challeneg would be a test of riding skill.  This could be weaving cones or following a pattern depending on skill level.  The next challenge would be a test of arms or jousting.  We use short would dowel rods painted colors that the student will try and put through a ring hanging off of an upright pole.  This can be done at a walk or stop. The third challeneg is a test of bravery.  The student would have to find our resident dragon (stuffed animal or puppet) and bring it back to the King (instructor). The dragon would be hidden in the arena and the rider would go over poles and around cones to get there and bring it back. After they completed the challenges we dressed the riders in a tunic and put something to match on their horse.  Our horses were fine with a matching fabric that draped over their hindquarters.  We would knight them and present them with a shield.  If you have a classroom portion like for a school group, having them design their own shield and crest is a cool adjunct to the lesson.  I have had students make a shield in the next lesson going from barrle to barrel picking up cut out shape to paste on it.  We would take a poloroid at the end of the lesson to take home.  It would be easy to turn this into an entire series of lessons.      Lion Hunt This lesson is fun for kids of all functioning levels.  Set up an elaborate onstacle course with cones set in a circle to be a mountain, ground poles outlining a river, up right poles to represent a forest, and a stuffed animal or volunteer hiding behind  barrels like a cave.  Sing the song "Goin on a lion hunt, gonna catch a big one.  I'm not afraid, but what's that up ahead?"  We would sing the repeat after me song while walking to the next obstacle then stop and shout out whatever we were calling it.  "It's a big ragin river of marshmellow fluff!  Can't go over it, can't go under it, gotta go through it"  The students guide their horses through the ground poles while volunteers and instructors make the noises of what it sounds like to swim through a river of marshmellow fluff.  they would go around the giant purple mountain, through the deep dark forest, etc.  Repeating the song before each obstacle.  In a small arean you do lots of circles!  Then they reach the group of barrel where most of our horses were fine with a person or animal standing behind them.  Make sure they see it first.  They pretent to walk in the "Deep, dark scary cave" , see the monster then walk back through the obstacle course in the spirit of the song.     Team Building   Water Relay Child has an empty bucket in front of their horse and it needs to be filled.  They are given a cup.  At the other end of the arena is a water trough that is full.  They have to fill up their horses bucket to the line by dipping their cup in the bucket and running it back to the empty bucket and the running back to get more water.  They can’t spill any water or they have to go back.   Shipwreck The riders horse is at one end of the arena and the rider is at the other.  In between them is a mine field.  With a partner they have to navigate the mine field with out touching a mine to get to their horse.  Partners can be hooked together or one can be blindfolded and the other lead.  What ever is comfortable and appropriate.  The mine field can be an obstacle course with poles and/or noodles.   Balloon Bop Horses are in a circle facing each other with side walkers and leaders facing the center.  A balloon is thrown into the circle and the riders with help of leaders and side walkers have to keep the balloon off the ground.  (This game is not recommended for horses who are ball shy) Variations are to do this on the ground or have the riders face backward or pass the ball down the line of riders lined up side by side or to use a feather which is less threatening to the horse.   Shock Wave Have all riders and volunteers split into two teams.  Each team holds hands in a line facing the other team.  There is a basketball goal with two balls sitting next to it raise up so a rider can reach them.  The caller tosses a coin if it is heads nothing happens, if it is tails the first person in line passes a squeeze down the line the last person inline to get the squeeze races to get a ball and shoot it.  The first group to make a basket wins.   Sound Guide Have on rider at the end of the arena blindfolded and another rider at the other end.  The blindfolded rider has to use only verbal cues from  the other rider to navigate a mine field of obstacle course.  Once the rider successfully navigates and reaches their partner they can switch blindfolds.   Alphabet add on Riders face a basketball hoop with 5 balls each next to them.  The first rider takes a shot and shouts the letter A the next rider takes a shot and call the letter B and so on.  If the rider misses you can pass that rider and the next one takes a shot and yells out the same letter that the one who missed had it.  Ie:  The first rider yells out A and misses the shot the next rider has to say A when they shoot and you can’t move to the next letter until some one makes the basket.  The goal is to get through the whole alphabet with out missing.   Tee Hee Track Meet Set up a number of silly games around the arena and each player participates in each and will get point for each event.  Ie:  the length of horses tail, straw throwing (javelin), paper plate toss (discus), 50 yard dash- player have to push fifty cents across a barrel with a yard stick, Velcro fishing, balloon throw (shot putt), 20 yard dash-player holds a spoon in his mouth with a ping-pong ball on it and has to walk three steps with out losing it.   Tin Can pass Using the sticks that you drop into cones, hold a coffee can on one end and try to pass it to another rider using only the sticks.  If your horses need to be further apart use the volunteers to pass it in between the horses. Try to get it all the way around a circle or to one end of a line and back in a certain length of time.   Life Line Join two riders side by side (safe distance a part) with tape or crepe paper.  They have to walk on to the other end of the arena with out breaking the life line. Human Lunge Line This is a ground activity and was created after an EAGALA training.  Start with a group (minimum 5) of participants and talk about how tangled lung lines can get when you don't put them back correctly.  (Potential metaphor? Hint hint)  Then have the group stand in a circle should to shoulder.  Have each person put out their right arm and grab a hand of someone  across from them in the circle.  then have them hold up their left hand and grab the hand of someone else in the circle.  Make sure they aren't holding 2 hands from the same person or it won't work.  Explain that ehy are now in a knot like the lunge line and they have to untie the knot without breaking hands.  When they have untied thier group and are in a circle again, have the group designate the 2 ends of the lung line and stretch out into one long line.  Their next task is to attach one end to a loose horse in the arena and make the other end the traniner.  They have to lunge the horse using the human lunge line around the traniner.  You can choose to give them as much or as little instruction on what that means.   Just for Fun   Shark attack Label each side of the arena as front of the boat, back of the boat, Side of the boat.  Caller yells out the position and riders have to quickly get there before the caller calls another position.  Depending on skill and level of the class, you can add other commands like hurricane (means circle your horse) or about face (reverse), captain coming (everyone whoa and salute), iceberg (freeze), mad captain (whoa and make ugly face).  The last person who does the action is out or just keep calling until everyone is tired.   Hide and go seek This activity calls for a lot of stuff in the arena.  The group chooses who is it and that person hides somewhere in the arena while the riders count to 100 with their eyes closed  and then try to find it.   Tee Pee statue This is just for fun.  Each group gets a roll of toilet paper.  Each group will decide to dress either the rider and horse, just the horse, the leader or a volunteer up in toilet paper.  It is more fun to do the horse and rider then have a show!   Mad Relay Just like a relay except the person who is the first in line runs down to the barrel and picks a piece of paper out of a bag and performs what it says then runs back down and tags the next rider and so on.   People to people This is fun for riders and volunteers.  Every rider needs at least one volunteer to partner with.  More advanced riders can partner together but with horses who can stand next to each other. Caller will call out head to head or foot to foot or hand to foot and the partners have to touch body parts that the caller asks for. When the caller yells people to people the volunteers all have to switch riders.  Remembering to support riders before leaving them.  Variation: Have the riders pair up with their horse and ask to touch body parts with the horse ie: hand to head, tail to foot or nose to ear or foot to hoof (use your common sense about safety)  They could also touch parts of the tack for another variation.   Tic-Tac-Toe Have a tic-tac-toe board up on the wall and have riders line up on the opposite end of the arena  facing the board.  Give the riders a statement if they believe it to be true they say I agree if they believe it to be false they say "I disagree".  If they give the correct response they get to take two steps forward and get to place an x or o in a spot of their choice.  They don’t move if the answer is incorrect.  Have fun and make it like a game show.   Red Light Green Light Just like the old favorite.  Riders are at one end of the arena and caller is at the other end with their back to the riders. They can use colored balls or voice commands and say or show green light and riders walk on.  When caller says or shows red light the riders have to whoa.  If they are still moving after caller turns around, they have to take two steps back..   What time is it Mr. Cat Counting game.  Requires a longer attention span. Riders at one end of arena and caller at other end. The riders all yell what time is it Mr. Cat?  The caller responds with a time between one O’clock or 11 O’clock and the riders have to take that many steps forward.  If the caller yells midnight,  the riders have to perform a designated task before the caller gets done counting to 12.  The first one to get done will get to be the new caller.   Gold in them there hills Stash a few gold items in the arena and have riders search for them. The first rider to find the most gets to shoot a basket.   Silly Veggies This is a great game for those who just want to laugh.  Have the group gather in a circle getting comfy on the ground.  Each participant must choose the name of a veggie.  Trying not to move their top lip, each participant will call out the name of the veggie they chose and then call out the name of another veggie in the circle. Ie: tomato----squash.  That veggie will answer with their veggie name and in turn calling out another veggie in the circle.  If you laugh you’re out.     Outdoor Activities   Earth Air Fire or Water Instructor stands in the middle of a circle of riders and throws a ball to a rider.  Then the instructor says either earth fire water or air.  The rider who caught the ball has to name an animal that lives in the area that the instructor named.   How far can you see? One rider picks something big that they see.  "I see a tree"  The next rider will say something about what they see on the tree. "I see a tree trunk".  The next person will say "I see bark on the tree trunk"  The next will say "I see bugs on the bark"  and so on.   Nature Memory Tell riders to look around for a few minutes and try to remember everything they see.  Have them close their eyes and tell you everything they saw.   Pictograph. Riding backwards and using water based paints.  Tell your riders about pictographs and how they tell stories, have the riders draw a story /picture on the back of the horse with the paint.  Or draw what they see.   Camouflage If you have enough volunteers have them run and blend in the immediate area while the rider hides there eyes.  When they open their eyes they have to see how many volunteers they can spot with out moving by calling out their name when they see them.  If the rider can see them then they didn’t blend well enough.  If not enough volunteers have the group try to blend an object in with the surroundings and try to have the rider find it.   M&M Hike Give each student one of each color of m&m.  On the hike they must find something in nature the same color as each m&m.  After they find the corresponding item, they can enjoy the m&m!!!   Found Sound With everyone’s eyes closed for a minute listen to as many sounds as you can, when you open your eyes try to imitate the sound you heard and have others guess what sound it might be.   Living levels Think of an animal that lives the deepest under ground and then think of ones that live one level above that and so one.  Variation:  Think about where animals live and try to identify as many homes as you can.   Rainbow Try to think of all of the colors of the rainbow and name as many things as you can think of that are each color.  This can also be done with a bag of M&M’s try to find things in nature that match the color of the candies.   The shape your in Try to match as many things in nature to as many different shapes as you can.  Circle: sun, rock, tree stump, eye ball, etc.   The food chain Think of the smallest animal that you can and find out what eats it and what east that animal and so on until you get to the biggest animal you can think of.   Bark Rubbing Walk your horse over to a tree and make a rubbing of its bark then on the same sheet of paper make another rubbing of a different tree.  Examine the different textures you came up with.   Soft to hard Think about the different texture of the things around you. get a collection of objects and while blind folded or not group them by whether they are soft or hard and try to identify which each object is.  Try things that are warm to cold, rough to smooth, soft to loud, etc. Variation: Think about how things smell, and taste.  Using all of the senses.   Low Functioning Students   My 2 scents Have a pile of faces sitting on a barrel.  Each face represents one of the senses.  Read a book about senses and ask the riders to pick up the face that fits what sense you are reading about. **Variation: Have a pile of objects that you can use to further demonstrate each sense. A lemon to taste, perfume to smell, etc.  Ask each rider to describe what they taste.   All about you Everyone who is wearing green clap your hands.  Everyone who is happy, wave your hands in the air.  Everyone who loves animals shout yahoo!  Get it?   Sounds Abound Easy but effective.  Using basic sensory integration create an obstacle course of sounds where the students ride to different areas of the arena where they can play with a different sound.  Use rain sticks, maracas, xylophones, electronic toys, see and say, etc.  Then add some action to it for higher functioning students by having them create the sound.  Throw rocks into buckets of different sizes and shapes, throw them into a horse water bucket.  Talk about how the sound is different?  Hit brushes together, make musical instruments out of grooming tools.  What can you think of?