Horseback soccer (needs a really big blow up horse ball that can be kicked or bounced between horses and people).

Broom Polo (the grand sport of polo! done at a walk, or trot, and of course, with a barn broom).

Either could be played solo, duo, or in company. great for desensitizing horses too.. with something flying at them and such... :shock:

 

We play 'catch up' but its not REALLY a game..... It can be played a couple of ways, and I like to use it when teaching a green rider. You both ride around the arena at a walk, one right in front of the other. The first rider speeds up (we usually start by staying at the same gait) as much as they can and go around the arena until they 'catch up' to the rider who was in the back. They holler 'CATCH UP' and the rider who used to be in the back, but now is in front speeds up and goes around to catch up. You can use it to learn speed control within a gait, to work on gait transitions (the person trying to catch up goes from walk to trot, or trot to canter), or to work on horses who won't leave the group, or who get a little speedy/antsy when horses come up behind..... Most kids really enjoy it.

We also do follow the leader, usually with obstacles set up around the arena/pasture.

Ribbon race is a fun partner event. Both riders hold one end of a 3-4 foot piece of fabric or ribbon (I like to use surveyor's tape, because it stretches a bit, but then it breaks, so no risk of pulling someone off their horse). You both start at a 'start line' and run down, turn around a barrel and run back in a straight line to cross the finish line still holding the ribbon. It can be a lot harder than it sounds.

I'm not sure these were what you were looking for....

 

They're great! I was just looking for something I could do by myself horseback or with 1 or 2 of my brothers... Everyone is doing fine! I love the ideas, perhaps it will give others ideas too.

Polo? I've never played it before...Can you list the basic rules?

Playing with a big ball sounds appealing.(Oh no there goes the kids ball)..:lol: You could almost pretend you're "jousting"! :lol:

You all have GREAT ideas! Maybe I can coax my neighbor to come and play...

About the tag game. What do you do with the horses that are not so eager to be buddies? Also it might be fun to play "freeze" tag... Test the horses standing still patience!

Great games! Hope you can come up with more!

 

We play tag around here. The bigger the group, the better. Keeps horses on their toes, teaches quick stops and rollbacks too. Super fun.

 

Way to fun.

 

Has anyone played Mother may I on their horse? I could see that as being a fun game! Red, Light Green light could be fun too...
Here the instructions I found for kids But I think one could use a horse instead...

"
One person is designated as “it” and plays the part of the stop light. The other kids line up about 20 feet away from “it.” Facing away from the other kids, “it’ calls out “Green light!” The other kids move toward “it.” “It” then calls out “Red light!” and turns around quickly. Any of the kids who are caught moving must go back to the start line. Play continues until someone reaches and tags “it.” That person then becomes “it.” The trick to winning this game is to move smoothly so that you can freeze instantly until you are within reach of “it.”
Variations
When playing with children of different ages, you may want to designate two start lines, the closer one being for the smaller kids. In one variation of this game, "it" may call out "yellow light," when means that the players can continue to move but must move slowly."




Or a person on a horse could play "what time is it MR. fox"



It might be not as fun with only 2-3 horses but if you had a "caller outer" that could keep things lively it could be interesting...


Or maybe I could set up a mini race course with small jumps that you have to race across with a bucket full of water with a hole in the bottom...Whoever has the most water in the bottom wins...


Any more Ideas?

 

ahhh, i wish you had a group just a tad bigger as I'd have lots of awesome games for you then!

But your mention of jousting made me think of an idea I once had, but was not allowed to execute (as is the case with most of my brilliant ideas)

I had this idea for jousting, where the riders would wear like white shirts (or i guess it could be and solid colored shirt) and carry a pool noodle (you know, these things), fashioned into a sword.
Each 'knight' (lol) would have a tray of different colored paint stationed and their end of the arena, they'd dip the end of their 'sword' into their paint, then line up at opposite ends of the arena, like they do in jousting. You'd then haul but towards each other, like jouster do and if you manage to get a hit, you'll know because your opponents shirt will have you paint color on it!

If you do this, I insist you have someone take pictures, so I can see my dream realized :lol:
Just be careful, hauling butt head on towards another horse that is hauling butt at you, could end pretty badly.

 

:lol: Maybe a person should use thickish Jello? At least the shirts wouldn't be ruined...If you used enough colors the shirt might take on a marble effect!

How many more riders would it take to use your games? the max total I might be able to get is 5...But for sure 1-3...Pony included...

 

We've played get the bacon before on the ground...So I know the rules, for the most part.
I can imagine that game getting pretty exciting on horseback!

 

We've played get the bacon before on the ground...So I know the rules, for the most part.
I can imagine that game getting pretty exciting on horseback!

What is "get the bacon"? It sounds amazing!

 

my sister and i play round up. we have 8 horses out in a 5 acre pasture and me and he see who can get the most horses into the other pen. or tag. but round up is defintally the most fun, it is good for u and ur horse, it teaches quickness, cutting, team work and bonding .helps with a horse that wont listen very well because they have to say attention.

 

What happens when the other horses don't "want" to be herded, and get...well sassy?

 

Sounds like you do what I was thinking I could do.

Batting a ball around with a pole on horseback sounds like a good way to start! This is going to be fun...