What can I do with my horse without tacking up?

I have been trying to ride 3 days a week, but now that school and work are back in full swing I only have time to tack up and ride twice a week. I do have a third time to ride but it is only about 30 minuets, not really enough time to tack up and ride. I tried riding bareback but he is not a comfortable horse ride without a saddle. What can I do with my horse in that time besides just lunging him?

Do ground work. Lead your horse everywhere. Lead him into his stall, back him into his stall, 'lunge' him into his stall. Try to ground drive, groom him, hang out with him, ask him to do forehand turns, haunch turns. Set out some cones and try to lead him through them, back him through them, lunge him through them on a lead line so you have more control.

The possibilites are endless on the ground .

I used to just go into my horse's stall and hang out with her. She knew how to lay down on command, so I would make her lay down and I'd put her head in my lap and we'd just chill. :P

Work with parelli games. Even if you don't use natural horsemanship, they're still fun to do if all you can do is stay on the ground. I also agree with RedRoan, lead him everywhere.

My friend had an abused pony that was too old to ride and too scared of people to come up to anyone. I would go out in the field and read shakespear to him every day. He eventually came up to me and can be handled. Wich is funny, cause that's not a conventional way of training AT ALL.

Any sort of 'hanging out' is cool.

Teach him to ground tie.


Play with a ball and desentize him:





Ground drive:



Tarp work:


Jumping barrels:



Want more ideas? I've got lots.......

Great suggestions!
There is many many things that one can do with their horse when work and school take up time.

I wondered what I would do when I started up with college and also had to study for the entrace exam into nursing school.

What I found is there was just enough time for me to drive to the ranch and take Tiny out and let him graze, put him in the round pen let him roll or give him 15 minutes of excercise. Sometimes I just take him for a walk or tie him up and brush him.

A while back there was a post someplace about "spending time" with your horse.
There was all kinds of great posts and some good things to do.

Is there anyway that you can have someone else take your hosre out for you? Or maybe that is a day when the horse can be turned out for a few hours.

Good luck and hope the responses help you out!
HP

What CAN'T you do without tack is a better question. The answer is very little. I actually prefer to start horses loose in the paddock. I don't begin to tack them up until they're comfortable & happy doing what I ask when loose. First & foremost, I'd say learn to have fun with, & BE fun for your horse.

He is outside all the time so out of stall time is not the problem. I just need a little horse time to keep me sane and him smart.

Thanks for all the ideas guys:)

You can always work on tacking up really fast. I can do it in about ten minutes when I want to.

Ground work (of ANY type) can be totally rewarding...I almost like it better than riding.

We've done oodles of things along the lines of desensitizing. Balls, hoola-hoops, tarps, water hoses, sprayers, coats, rugs, obnoxious kid's toys of all sorts. This list is endless.

I enjoy going for a walk, just like you would walk your dog.

Watermelon & a good brushing is/was always interesting.

Obstacle courses are fun, we've used everything from landscaping timbers to folding chairs, cones, bicycles, lawn mowers, lawn chairs...weaving in and out or over. I like these in particular because it reinforced the horses' attention on you and helped to desensitize at the same time.

The options are really limited by your imagination.

Don't forget simple tricks like bowing and kisses or even shaking his head yes and no!!!

Have fun!!!