Horse Games That Teenagers Can Play

If the teenagers in your life love to ride horses, you can help them and their mounts fight the boredom that comes with doing the same old thing every day. Encouraging those teenage riders to create and play their own games is a great way to give their horses fun things to do.

  1. Barrel Racing

    • Barrel racing is a popular event at rodeos and horse shows, and it is a game teenage horse people can enjoy at home as well. The only equipment required is a set of three 55-gallon barrels, a few cones to mark the start and finish lines and a suitable area in which to run. If barrels are not available, horse owners can substitute cones or other available markers. The distance between the barrels can be adjusted to fit any available area, making it a perfect choice for horse owners with a small area to work with.

    Pole Bending

    • Pole bending is another game that teenage horsemen and women can enjoy at home, and this one is even easier to set up than barrel racing. To make a simple set of poles for pole bending, all you need are six large coffee cans, a bag of cement and six pieces of PVC tubing from the local hardware store. To construct these low-cost poles, simply cut the PVC piping to lengths of between five and six feet, mix up the concrete and place it in the cans.

      Once the poles are constructed, they should be placed 21 feet apart in a straight line. Horses and riders can run a competition pattern, in which they run alongside the poles, weave up, weave back and run back, or they can run an alternate pattern in which they simply weave through the poles.

    Extreme Trail

    • An obstacle horse can be a real challenge for horse and rider alike, and setting up extreme trail obstacles is an excellent training exercise as well. Teens can use items around the barn to create increasingly challenging obstacles for their horses. For instance, laying a simple plastic tarp on the ground and securing the corners with hay bales creates a challenging yet safe trail obstacle to cross. This type of obstacle provides an excellent challenge for the horse and rider, as well as excellent training that can be applied to trail riding. Teens can add other obstacles to create interesting extreme trail courses, including small jumps constructed of logs or landscape timbers and bridges made of sturdy wooden platforms.