Pony & Horse Games

Playing games on horseback is not only fun but it also improves riding skills and offers good opportunities for training horses and ponies. Games on horseback allow riders to develop balance and timing. Team games encourage sportsmanship, cooperation and team spirit. Horses and ponies improve their gymnastic ability, and learn to obey their rider's commands.

  1. Gymkhana Games

    • Gymkhanas are competitive events for horses and riders. One popular gymkhana game is the sack race, in which riders gallop their animals from one point to another, then dismount and climb into a sack. While in the sack, they have to lead the horse back to the original point. The first one back wins. In Ride a Buck, a group of bareback riders put a dollar bill or paper-size equivalent under their thigh. Then they walk, trot and canter around the ring. The last one to keep the bill in place wins. In the baton race, two people make up a team. The various teams stand opposite each other across the arena. Team members on one side carry a baton as they gallop down the arena and pass the baton to their teammate. That person then gallops back across the arena, and whoever arrives first wins.

    United States Pony Club Games

    • The United States Pony Club offers dozens of competitive team games for its members. One favorite is the tool box race. The first team member rides to the midpoint of the arena carrying a plastic tool box, which is placed on a 55-gallon drum. The rider continues to the end of the arena and picks up a plastic hammer, races back to the midpoint, drops it in the tool box, and continues back to the starting line. The second and third riders gallop to the end of the arena, pick up plastic hammers, drop them in the tool box and return to start. The fourth and final rider must stop and bring the entire tool box back to the starting line. The team with the fastest time wins.

    Western Games

    • Western riders compete with their horses and ponies in a variety of games. These include barrel racing, pole bending, and keyhole racing. All are timed events. Barrel racers perform a cloverleaf pattern around a set of three barrels. In pole bending, riders weave around six poles placed 21 feet apart in a straight line. They start by galloping parallel to the poles, then weave around the last pole, and do the cloverleaf pattern back to the starting position and around again. They arrive at the last pole and gallop back in a parallel fashion to the starting position. In the keyhole race, riders race their mounts across the arena to an area that has been delineated as the "keyhole," either with poles or lines on the the ground. Riders must maneuver their horse into the keyhole area without stepping over the lines, do a complete turnaround and dash back to the starting line.