Here is something neat one of our instructors made – colored arena letters. She printed them on colored paper then laminated them. This way we can tell riders to “Go toward K” if they know their letters, or “Go toward the blue K” if they are better with colors than letters, or “Go toward the blue square” if they don’t know their letters, or anything else we can come up with that helps them! I’ve really enjoyed this helpful prop.
Enjoy!
P.S. Call out for pictures of fake horses! I would like to do a post about fake horses you put riders on before riding or to help learn new skills. If you have a picture of one and could send it to me, that would be great – leave a comment below or use the contact form and I’ll email you back so you can send it to me! I will give credit where due, so include a name and link to your center!
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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!
I’m just wondering if you use the whole alphabet or just the dressage letters? At a center I used to volunteer with, we also had pictures on the rectangles that went with the sound the letters make. So it might be a kangaroo for the “K” that you had in your post. It offered yet another visual for the rider to look for. We also played some games with the letters, “stop at the letter M and tell me the name of an animal/food that starts with that letter”, go in alphabetical order (we had A-Z letters, but usually used A-J or so) to start, steer and stop.
Hi April, We do not use the whole alphabet but I think that’s a great idea, especially adding pictures with the letters! We have played an activity where we halt at each letter and name a horse part or item that starts with that letter. Thanks for the ideas!!!