Making hacking fun for kids

[giggles mum]

At the RS I work at I'm taking more and more kids out hacking on the lead rein (with me on a horse as well). THis is marketed as being a "step up" from the kind of lesson/pony ride for kids up to about 7, where the leader walks on foot. When I took that kind of ride, I could do them quite well and often the same kids' parents booked me week after week.... on ride and leads I find it pretty hard to ride, lead and teach all at the same time, and to make it fun on top of that is really demanding!

Does anyone have any bright ideas for how to make walk/trot hacks on the lead rein really exciting and fun?
Thanks

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

a gallop !!!! LOL

 

[archoak]

You could do a mini scavenger hunt at the same time, find a certain colour of leaf, spot a robin, butterfly, rabbit hole that kind of thing

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

I know just thought of something - eye spy !!

 

[emma69]

You need to make sure you are on something you can steer from the legs and nice and quiet so you can spend all the time telling them how to do things. Varying the route is perhaps the only idea to really change it up - we had some 'set' routes for this sort of thing, but I often used to take them somewhere different, across fields etc provided the horses are ok with it (our beginner horses were on the whole a pretty well behaved but intrinsicly lazy bunch, who never bothered what was beneath their feet!) Then just the usual, getting them to post to the trot, spotting the shoulder movement (prep for being on the correct diagonal), learning to squeeze not kick for transitions etc.

 

[giggles mum]

Thanks for all the ideas guys...Emma it's unfortunately not up to me what horses I use - most are fine...

 

[carthorse]

I used to sing 'there was an old man called Michael Finnigan'[I don't know if you know the song] and in each verse they had to think of a thing to do with a horse to grow on his chin

 

[Paint it Lucky]

Find some little logs to 'jump'. Get them to watch how you ride, so they know what they should look like, and get them to copy things you do.

 

[teapot]

I used to do stuff like:

colours of ponies
parts of saddle
parts of bridle
basic basic highway code stuff (never too young to learn!)
markings

All basic SM stuff - why not have a look at the PC tests for some ideas? It always keeps them guessing

Oooooooo and probably the best one - name a pony on the yard with each letter of the alphabet!! Always entertaining when you have 3 Toms on the yard

 

[Breezesbenefactor]

Throw in a few deer & squirrels with the odd fly by of pheasants and then for the big top why not let loose a stallion that'll be a hack to remember

 

[JadeWisc]

[ QUOTE ]
Throw in a few deer & squirrels with the odd fly by of pheasants and then for the big top why not let loose a stallion that'll be a hack to remember

[/ QUOTE ]

 

[teapot]

[ QUOTE ]
Throw in a few deer & squirrels with the odd fly by of pheasants and then for the big top why not let loose a stallion that'll be a hack to remember

[/ QUOTE ]

have you ridden at my RS?

Instructor lost a ride around the field once - after ponies spooked at some pheasants. Think instructor was riding the stallion at the time LOL