Child riding games & hands up?!?

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mytrotters

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How can i keep my child to keep her hands down while riding tried making her ride holding the saddle soon as her reins are given back lifts them up & when turning pulls rein right out

Also Anyone know any child games ie all around the world & tips for rising trot heard of hot potato anymore peple can recommend

Many thanks
 
Rather than asking her to hold the saddle, which will put her hands into the wrong position, what about tieing a string from D-ring to D-ring, that she can hook her little fingers into?

Games which get the rider concentrating on the game, rather than on riding are good, if there is no one available to compete with, try beating the clock. Try any of the games that you might get in a Handy pony Comp, such as posting a letter, hanging up washing, transferring an object from one place to another, carrying a potato on a spoon (less messy than an egg), these can all be done at a walk, if the rider isn't quite ready to trot.

Simon Says is a good game, either whilst walking over poles, or while bending round bending poles.
 
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Thank you thats very good advice :) Think ive heard on string on d ring before but not in a long time, she should pick that up really easy doing it like that :) Whats posting a letter, hanging up washing? I found this one could do it with just on her own & paper for a buck
Sit-A-Buck.... riders go bareback (beginners can go in a saddle) and you place a dollar bill under their thigh (the "buck"). Ask the group to ride at a walk and trot - do circles, changes of direction, backing, etc...). When a rider loses their "buck" they are out
Many Thanks
 
Literally, pegging washing items onto a washing line and putting an envelope into a box, if you are feeling creative, you can make a post box with a slit in it to put the letter through.

I'm not keen on games such as Sit-a Buck for beginners, as it makes them concentrate on how they are riding, rather than on doing something with an object. I would also think that it needs the element of competition to engage the rider.
How old is your daughter?
 
For her hands: give her a ball, a bit bigger than a tennis ball, to squeeze between her hands. If she raises them it's really hard work/ less steady. She'll start to rest the ball on the pommel.
However the tension starts further up, try getting her to do shoulder circles, up to her ears, down, forwards, backwards.

You can make a really cheap path to follow with two pieces of rope just about anywhere. I don't know if that's sufficiently exciting as a game! Most of the best games we made up as kids were really unsafe.
 
Ex riding school owner here!

Invest in a loose neck strap such as an old martingale neck strap. Adjust so that rider can hold along with the reins in the correct position. Then ensure that she holds the neck strap off the ponies neck. Adjust so that elbow, hand, horses mouth is a straight line.
Holding the saddle tends to encourage the rider to tip forward, push their bottom out backwards, feet forwards - to regain balance. They also tend to lean on the saddle rather than pull up on the saddle.
Not been a fan of monkey straps as again they encourage the rider to lean on the saddle.
Don't worry at this point about her using an open rein to turn, instead make sure she doesn't shoot the opposite hand up the ponies neck.

In a few years time you'll be tearing your hair out trying to get her to carry her hands.
 
Agree that at 6 you should make it mostly about having fun and feeling confident and balanced on the pony, rather than getting too obsessed about perfect position and ending up with a tense, stiff child. We used to do lots of handy pony games when my daughter was that age - as well as letter in a box, and pegging out the washing, you can pick a mug off a fence post and place it on another post, bend in and out of cones, steer the pony through a zig zag course of poles, walk over a pole on the ground etc, halt in a box of poles etc.
 
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