Fishing Games

Fishing Game from Blazing Prairie Stars

The Fishing Game was used at one of the barns I worked at for both Therapeutic Riding and Hippotherapy.

Supplies:

  • 3 fish of different colors with magnet noses
  • 1 lake with 3 magnets pieces of matching the fish’s colors
  • 1 fishing pole with magnet on the end
  • Note: The fish and lake were sewn out of cloth. If you have a talented sewer of a volunteer, they can easily figure out how to make them. Fold a piece of colored cloth in half, cut out the profile of a fish, sew the two pieces together leaving an opening at the tail, turn it inside out, put a magnet in the nose/mouth, sew a little line between the mouth and body so the magnet can’t wander, stuff the rest of the fish with stuffing, and sew off the tail! The lake is also cloth material (you can even find a green pattern like reeds and a blue pattern like waves), all sewn together, about the length of your arm, with the same cloth used for the fish wrapped around magnets and sewn onto the lake, like below. The most important part for the sewer to remember is to make the magnets face the right way, so that the fishing pole can pick up all the fish, and so all the fish can attach to the pond.

How to play:

  1. Spread out fish around the arena, put the pond over the horse’s withers, explain the game: you are going to go fishing! You can pick which fish to catch, ride to it, woah, fish for it using the pole, reel it in, then put it on the right spot in the pond!
  2. Student rides to fish and woahs next to it.
  3. Student uses fishing pole to catch the fish and reel it in. (I like to keep the fishing pole with me, hand it to the student when needed, and take it back when they’re done with it, or else it’s hard for them to coordinate holding the pole and doing everything else. I thought it would be neat to make a fishing pole holder attached to the saddle, as long as it’s safe.)
  4. Student takes fish off the pole and puts it on the correct place in the pond.
  5. And so on for each fish.

Things to work on using this game:

  • woahing precisely next to the fish, and how to correct it if they woah’d in a bad spot
  • steering to the fish
  • verbalizing which fish they are catching first
  • arena awareness if there are other students fishing too
  • balance and coordination in using the fishing pole on the horse
  • patience in catching the fish
  • following directions
  • for a challenge: keeping one hand on the reins at all times

“Fishing” game from Nan

Nan is a reader from Australia who has been very encouraging of this blog and sent me a Games & Activities booklet she put together and said I could share with you! So I will be including games from her off and on. (Thanks Nan!) She also has a fun fishing game she uses.

Supplies:

  • small aquarium net in a bucket at one end of the arena
  • path set up from one end of the arena to the other
  • plastic coloured balls (that can fit in the small aquarium net) in a bucket of water, set on a crate, at the other end of the arena

How to play:

  1. Rider woahs by the first bucket and takes out the aquarium net.
  2. Rider rides the path to the other end of the arena.
  3. Rider woahs by the bucket of water and plastic balls.
  4. Rider catches a ball in the net. (To make it harder, ask for a specifically colored ball).
  5. Rider rides back to the first end of the arena and delivers the ball into the first bucket.
  6. Add a trot to make it harder, or switch up the pathway!

Things to work on using this game:

  • Similar to the list above!

(Source: artist Thelwell)

Do you use a different version of a fishing game with your students? Please share in the comments section below!

P.S. Have you heard of the last horseback shrimp fishermen in Belgium? Click here!

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Note: This is not professional advice, this is a blog. I am not liable for what you do with or how you use this information. The activities explained in this blog may not be fit for every rider, riding instructor, or riding center depending on their current condition and resources. Use your best personal judgement!

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