Help!! Ideas for leading rein lessons please kind people

Rowreach

Rowreach

Adjusting my sails
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13 May 2007
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Oh no, the bubbly, fun, enthusiastic, smiley, cheerful person who normally takes the little ones (including my son) for pony club rallies is ill
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and the DC has just asked me to teach them tomorrow
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Now this is not something I normally do - the people I teach normally don't have their mums and dads with them - I don't want to just do a replay of their normal lesson, so has anyone got any bright ideas please?

Their normal repertoire would include a bit of walking and trotting (dependent on the fitness of the parent who is leading), a few simple races (bending, sock in bucket), Simple Simon (riding with reins in one hand), round the world, scissors, a bit of tack recognition/stable management sneaked in somewhere - and I understand there will be an Easter Egg hunt at the end, but without the ponies
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Many thanks in advance - don't make your ideas too good, I don't want a permanent job doing this!
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You could do a little Course such as, going round cones, and over poles on the floor.
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You could do some small gymkana i.e musical statues, monty carlo, and musical sacks.
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You could do a little walk and trot dressage test, just a short one so the parents wouldnt get too puffed out
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!
 
Exersises such as touching toes. between ears etc, stretching toes down, drawing knees up and so on simple pole work, aimed at steering and keeping straight.
 
It's a gymkana game where bassically all you need is a pack of simple playing cards.

On each corner of the arena you put a picture/drawing of a Heart, Spade, Club, and Dimond (the symbols from the pack of cards).
You ask all the kids to go to any corner they want to go to (they dont have to go to the same corner, would be better if they didnt go to the same corner) and then out of the pack of cards you pick a card at random, and which ever symbol is on the card, is the corner thats out of the game (the corner which the symbol is on). You carry on playing untill all the player/kids are out.

Hope i explained that ok, hope you didnt get too confused.
 
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Best way of making sure they don't ask you again, is too make sure all the kids fall off
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Lol!

You could teach the kids the best way to fall off their ponies
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Insist they all come off their lead rein..........It will either be a blinding success (unlikely) or utter chaos (thus ensuring you are never asked again)!!!!!
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[ QUOTE ]
Best way of making sure they don't ask you again, is too make sure all the kids fall off
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Oh don't, one of them is quite likely to, and another one is in the habit of leaping off his pony and running out of the arena - his adoring parents haven't got the message yet!

I've enjoyed being a PC Mum and not being the instructor up till now! I have one revolting little madam that I teach privately - her dad pays over the odds, otherwise I wouldn't do it - give me grown-ups every time
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The traffic light game - when you call 'red' they have to halt, 'amber' is walk, 'green' is trot. You can even add in some roundabouts (circles) if you think they are up to it!
 
gettting the kids to ride between 2 poles bringing the poles closer together each time is a gd one to help teach them to ride straight!! and u have little bets with them that they cant make it through the smaller gap! they seem to enjoy it and are always up to proving you wrong!
 
cowboys/cowgirls is a game my kids love.

Set up the arena with a row of cones, 3 trotting poles in a row and two poles side by side forming a channel all placed at random in the arena. If you have fillers set them up as well so that the ponies can walk between them. If you are feeling brave set up a tiny tiny jump (about 6'' max)

The idea is that the cows have gone missing and you have to find them. So everyone has to stand up in their stirrups to look. Then they shade their eyes from the sun (reins in one hand). Then stand up and shade eyes... They can practice lasooing by waving their arms round and round and leaning forward and back on the ponies as well. All good balancing exercises but turned into a game.

Then you spot the cows and have to chase them (find a designated 'parent' to play the cows). The cows run through the forest (in and out the cones) and the kids have to follow. Then the cows run up the mountain (over the poles), then the cows run through the river (inbetween the poles and get the kids following to stand up and make splish splash noises "so they don't get wet bottoms"). The cows can leap down a ravine (over the fence) and eventually you capture them in the 'corral' (the fillers).

Can be done in walk and trot or a bit of both and kids love it. Get them in the spirit by encouraging 'yeahaa' cowboy noises, if anyone sits down in the river say things like "Uh oh...xxxx has got a wet bottom now". They love stuff like this. OBviously this only works if you don't mind making a bit of a fool of yourself though
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I have no shame myself
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Depending on the age and abilities of the children, using a "Simon Says" format to do different exercises can keep them interested and having fun, especially if they're too young for complicated games... Simon says stop/walk/trot, wave to mummy, hug the pony, touch pony's ears/tail/your toes.... endless possibilities...

Love the cowboy one - shall steal that if you don't mind, Southwestwhippet!
 
Some great ideas here, thanks everyone who replied, I'm going to print this off and take it with me tomorrow, and then add it to my "library" for future reference (in the hope that I won't actually have to do this again!).
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