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HOW TO ORGANIZE A GAMES DAY FOR HORSEBACK RIDERS
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| Games Day is about learning and having fun with horses. |
Occasionally we organize a Games Day for our boarders. Some people would call it a trail class, but most of our riders ride
English, not Western, and although we also want to acclimate and desensitize horses to things they'll encounter on the trail
-- like a trail class -- our purpose is primarily to build confidence in horses and riders and to simply have fun with our
horses.
The week before our most recent Games Day, we put objects out in the ring so participants could practice for each challenge
before the actual event. These objects included a milk jug filled with sand to drag, a wooden "bridge" and see-saw
to walk over, a shirt to move from one fence post to another and a small tarp to walk over.
The day of the event, 20 challenges were neatly set up around the ring and each was more challenging than what was out
during practice week. Photos of most of our challenges appear further down this page.
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| Participants walked the course before the competition started. |
Each challenge was numbered; we printed out giant numbers on 5" x 8" index cards, laminated them, then stapled
them to stakes from Home Depot that we hammered into the ground.
We encouraged the 16 boarders participating to walk the course before the competition started. If you want to make your
Games Day more challenging, don't allow participants to walk the course beforehand.
All participants were given a name tag to ensure judges knew who they were.
Judges
We had five boarders who weren't participating in the competition serve as judges. Each judged 4 of 20 challenges.
We also had a starter who made sure each participant was on deck at the proper time and that riders were spaced out well enough.
Rules and Scoring
We made up our own set of rules and scoring criteria. Since our Games Day is all about learning and having fun, participants
could hand-walk their horses through the course if they weren't ready to ride through. They just didn't get as many points
and couldn't win.
We provided each judge with a 5" x 8" score card we designed on the computer then printed out, and a clip board
and pen; each judging card had the rules for scoring on the back. See the sample scoring card and judging rules at the bottom
of this page.
Prizes
In the past, we awarded top-scoring riders with horse-themed gifts, such as a wine glass with a horse motif. This year,
we awarded traditional, rosette horse show ribbons. Be sure to order ribbons in time; I assumed I could get them at a local
store, but as it turned out, the store didn't have rosette ribbons. I telephoned Hodges Badge Company, which was able to
rush ribbons to me in 2 days, though a rush order ups the shipping fee. Here's a link to Hodges:
Click here to get to Hodges Badge Company's website.
Besides first through sixth place ribbons, we had a blue ribbon for the rider whom judges thought was the most determined.
This rider wasn't the one who scored the highest, but tried the hardest to get her horse through the challenges.
Also consider how you'll break a tie. If two riders get the same score for the same placement, you can either award two ribbons
(be sure to order enough) or have the judges decide which of the two riders negotiated the obstacles the most gracefully.
Following are photos of challenges and obstacles you might want to consider using.
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| Walk thru swimming pool noodles stuck in jumping standards. |
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| Walk through straw bales and by a scarecrow. |
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| Move a piece of candy from the bucket to the pumpkin bowl. |
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| Walk into "L" poles, then back out, then walk over a log with branches placed at each end. |
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