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"I have a notebook of the tips from your site and I love them... Bonnie Anderson has been wonderful. All the tips I tried of hers worked the first time. I am now in the riding stage and my horse is awesome. Thank you all very much and keep the training tips coming!!!!!!"
Karen Gossard
Fayetteville, NC

Bored with your riding routine? Just like horses, riders can get frustrated and in need of a change now and then. To keep things interesting while still improving your riding skills, try these sport related games on horseback.

Broom Polo. Using a bristle broom and a soccer ball, swat the ball with the broom into a designated goal area, like between two buckets.

You can practice this game on your own, and then try to play it with friends. A walk or trot it best for beginner players. Wrapping your horses legs for protection and accustoming your horse to the swing of the broom and roll of the ball before playing are good precautions.

When broom polo is played with teams of four riders each, the first players on opposing teams strike the ball first. The second riders then move up to strike or block the ball, and the third players defends the goal. The fourth riders can rotate with the other riders after seven minutes of play, to keep the horses fresh. The first team to make ten goals or the team with the most points after six play periods win. This game promotes rider balance and team work.

Tennis Tournament. Using a tennis ball and racquet, this game is played by trying to balance the ball on the racquet as you race at a walk, or possibly a trot if your really good at it, to the other end of the arena without dropping the ball. To make it more difficult, the rider has to drop the ball into a bucket at the end of the arena. Riders that loose the ball or fail to drop it into the bucket are
eliminated.

Playing tennis tournament promotes good upper body posture and steady hands. It can be played alone, or with friends. Be sure to get the horse used to the racket before climbing on. If the horse should spook, drop the racquet and try again. To make it even more difficult, place the racquet in your non-dominant hand.

Horse Archery. Using an inexpensive fiberglass bow and set of arrows, this game is played by galloping your horse past a target and shooting three or more arrows into it. The target is centered about twenty-five feet from the 100 foot long track at the height of a mounted rider. The first arrow is shot during the first third of the run, the second is shot as the rider passes the target, the third shot is fired during the last third of the run.

In horse archery, its important to accustom your horse to the bow and the sound of the arrows firing before you climb aboard. Practice shooting outside the horses pen a few days, then move to shoot right next to the horse, before climbing on. Its also best to learn archery basics ahead of time for saftey purposes. Horse archery skills are good for rider balance, flexibility, and focus.

Other games to play that improve riding skills are Egg and Spoon, Ribbon Race, and Catalog Race. In Egg and Spoon, the riders hold a spoon with an egg balanced on it and then goes through the various gaits without dropping the egg. In the Ribbon Race, two riders each hold the end of a long ribbon and race down and around a barrel then back to the finish line without dropping or breaking the ribbon. In the Catalog Race, a rider is given a page number of a catalog placed on a barrel at the end of the arena and must bring the designated page back to the finish line the fastest.

No matter what game you choose to play, its a sure cure for rider burnout, and your horse will have fun, too.