games to play with 3 year old ( child ! ) learning to ride

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JLD

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My little girl is loving pottering about on our 13.2 LR pony, we can only ride in the field for various reasons and she the pony and I are getting a bit bored of laps ! we are really only doing balance at the moment walk and a little bit of trot ( which she loves ). I thought this bit would take ages but she is already well balanced and just has someone walking alongside or nearby not holding - cue tantrum if tried. I havent introduced stearing yet as she is so little so she doesnt really hold the reins we do alot of head shoulders knees and toes . touch toes ,turn to touch tail, touch mane etc just wodnered if anyone had any other thoughts of what we can do next to keep it fun
 
Simon Says is a good game to play, also when my daughter was small I used to set up little Handy Pony courses, simple activities such as walking over rugs or old carpet, walking over trot poles, bending between obstacles, fishing for objects etc. Obviously make sure the pony is ok with all the obstacles before trying them with tiny jockey on board. But above all - as you're doing - keep it fun!
 
I used to play all sorts of fun games with the 2 young girls and their ponies.
We used to do around the world. In case you don't know this one, she starts off sat normal then left leg over horses neck so she is sitting sideways then right leg over horses bum so she is facing backwards, then other leg over bum so facing other side, then back to normal!
Lots of gymkhana games, obstacles to ride around, pick things up from off fences and drop them into buckets etc.
If you have a bit of free time you can set up a horse back scavenger hunt which our girls used to LOVE. Just make a list of things found around the area and she has to ride round and find them all.

I'm sure there are lots more that I have forgotten about so I will have a think!
 
Improve balance by doing bending races?
This depends on the type of horse, but could you rug up and do some semi-bare back exercises- rug is great to hold onto if has neck part too! A good half-way to going bareback!
Could you take her out on the road/ load up and take on a hack in a nice place? Just for a change of scenery, but obviously you know horse and rider so make sure you suit the activities, as she might not be good with roadwork etc.
I don't know the child so these ideas might not be good, but I hope they are :)
 
IMO, if it is at all possible, going for a short hack would be far more beneficial for a 3 yr old than playing games that she would find difficult unmounted. 3 yr olds can't normally balance beanbags on their heads, never mind on top of a riding hat on a pony! Round the world has far too much potential for falling off at 3, their legs are still too chubby to bend enough and young children are not at all competitive, you don't want to put her off!
I agree that Heads and shoulders etc are good but if you can manage a short off-road hack, there will be plenty for her to look at and talk to you about whilst learning to balance over different kinds of terrain.
 
All good ideas for starting points ! She's only been riding about 4 weeks so I wanted her to find her balance before giving her the reins as don't want her to hold onto them for balance. Think she would enjoy picking up bean bags off things. And could tie buckets to fence for her to put them in. Agree balancing on head could be tricky !our field is up and down hill with uneven ground and overhanging branches she is learning to duck under so plenty of challenges. Can't box out as no transport but good neighbours who I am sure would be happy for us to potter in their fields. Thank you. Am quite excited now. .... wanders off to find colour coordinated bean bags and buckets !
 
Sing nursery rhymes and point to different things, pony's ears, tail, riders hat, toes, tummy etc, switch hands used for pointing so they can hold on with different ones. Sounds like fun!
 
JLD said:
All good ideas for starting points ! She's only been riding about 4 weeks so I wanted her to find her balance before giving her the reins as don't want her to hold onto them for balance.
Click to expand...

I think you are very wise!

I like your idea of colour co-ordinated beanbags and buckets. Enjoy!

Oh, could you adapt 'heads, shoulders, knees and toes' to incorporate the parts of the pony?
 
My 3.5yr old niece is at the same stage although she's been riding a bit longer. I get her to stand in her stirrups and count to ten, sometimes with arms out straight. Stand and lean forward to touch headpiece. Touch her tail, around the world she's even doing scissors by herself now. I do gymkhana games with her - have taught her to mount and dismount properly with a mounting block (her little feet don't reach up to pony's stirrup yet).

Gymkhana is also great for balance - we have some traffic cones I rest tennis balls on top of so she has to lean down to pick them up, then drop in a bucket. If she misses she knows how to dismount properly, retrieve ball and get back on. As she's now starting to learn to steer by neck reining, she's at the point where if the pony isn't square for her to pick up she can adjust til she's in the right place, also great for balance. We do lots of games that involve getting on and off ie bending in and out of cones on lead rein then she'll dismount properly, run with tennis ball over finish line, round a cone and back to pony/mounts again.

All the standing up in her stirrups has really helped her to learn rising trot the last few weeks - before she couldn't quite understand the rise, sit in time to the hoofbeats but I've had her trotting whilst standing up and that's made all the difference. We do things like weaving too, arm signals (left at the cone, right at the tree, let's tell everyone where we're going before we get there).

I got my dad to cut some fish shaped pieces of wood which have rings screwed into them so she plays hook a duck (with fish). We also picked up some cheap fishing nets on poles so she'll scoop rubber ducks out of buckets (just make sure the poles aren't too long for the child so the pony doesn't get a wet ear or an unplanned tap on the bum).

Um... we have some stepping stones, I rinsed out some Yazoo bottles and put a bit of sand in the bottom - we do bottle using a few upturned bins. Her favourite is when I spread the grooming kit out on an upturned bin, put empty grooming box on another bin 20 metres or so away and get her to put the mane comb back in the box, or "dandy brush", or "curry comb" etc. It makes her think/learn whilst keeping her entertained.

I don't know who has more fun, her or me!
 
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I put a line of elec fence posts and she has endless fun moving a plastic jug from one end to the other. She is doing it off the lead rein but it would be fun on too I think. Progressing to all the games in a small person adapted way.
 
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