Fun activities for small livery yard

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Crabbypink

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I run a small livery yard - 9 horses (3 are mine). I love the size of it, but it means we can't do things like small shows, or clinics very easily. Not everyone rides a lot, either. I have one retired horse, and one person who prefers lots of ground work to riding. I'd love to do something to draw everyone in - the people are really lovely, but we seem to be drifting by each other lately. I will have a yard party later this summer, but is there something someone can think of that would be fun, low cost and appropriate to a yard this small? Any and all ideas will be appreciated!
 
Like a fun in hand obstacle course? A ball pit to take the horses in, a pool noodle tunnel, clanky cans on a string that the horse needs to walk with it across its back? We've done heaps of these and they are always fun and good for desensitizing.
 
Ordinarily, I'd suggest a Sunday morning hack and bacon sandwich breakfast, but to that would exclude the non riders. So, alternatives are a mini show with in hand class and maybe a dog fun class. Keep it informal and invite other horse owners in hacking distance. You could also have table top sale to exchange/sell horsey stuff as a social event.
Alternatively, network your horsey friends who are willing, in return for expenses if necessary, to do a session on something like show preparation, plaiting, clipping hints and tips, long reining, lunging or ground work. They don't need to be experts, nearly everyone has something to offer, and keeping it fun and informal can help people to realise confidence they didn't know they had.
 
I love that you are thinking of doing something fun like this for your liveries. I myself am based on quite a large livery yard. The previous owner, who left 18 months ago was great at organising clear rounds, bbq's, group hacks, beach rides etc and it made it so fun and friendly. The new owner is lazy and we're lucky if she even smiles and speaks to us some days. Your liveries are seriously lucky to have you. I hope you find something fun to do x
 
I like the idea of workshops and sessions on different things. In-hand agility is great fun if all owners are confident handling their horses by spooky things.

Do you all have a horsey/animal charity you support? Could do a coffee morning/tack sale in aid of.
 
We used to have demos/clinics at our yard - you can get things like horse massage, farrier, feed reps, worm count people, visiting instructors to do clinics, IH for join up stuff.
 
I also find "obstacle courses" good fun, whether it's TREC style, agility style or anything else. You can usually build them to be done in-hand or ridden, so maybe you could run 2 groups ridden and non-ridden on the same setup. Other stuff I've participated in are: a pole clinics (all you need is an instructor and some poles), some of those with focus on rehab (by a physio/instructor) and done in-hand or ridden, but mostly in walk. Again, you may be able to have a "slow" group leading or riding in walk, and another group doing more trotting/cantering. You could organise a weight bridge plus info talk (maybe together with food/BBQ). Maybe set up an "easter egg hunt" by having people hack a particular route drawn on a map, and having to answer questions along the route at spots marked on the map (e.g. what type of tree grows here? What the house number on this corner?). You could have a shorter route for people who want to walk/lead, and a longer one for w/t/c hacking. Prep would involve hacking the route at some point and writing down questions, then handing out maps. Maybe with a BBQ after.
 
We have in hand “ gymkhanas “ so the retired horses can join in too.
Followed by tea and cake in the hay barn.
 
We once did a fancy dress show! Some people rode some lead but nearly everyone participated and all had a lot of fun!
 
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