Planning a fun day

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

I've decided to invite my fellow mini drivers to a fun day here in early September, a day of driving followed by a hot dog roast. I have a small grass arena and since many of my fellow club members enjoy driving but lack confidence enough to take their horses out to shows etc (or have very young green horses) I thought I'd invite them to come together for a day of mini fun and practice. Show season is over for those who get to them and I thought it would be fun to do one more event before winter (eeewwww, did I just use that nasty word?) One of our members is pretty well versed in ridden dressage and will 'officiate' for us. I would like to set up an obstacle course with a bridge (sheet of plywood) flagging, maybe a giant stuffed bear I have and perhaps a hoola hoop too if I can think of a safe use for it. I'd like to challenge the drivers without overwhelming them or the horses and I have invited horses who are still in the ground driven stage. Also of course we will do a basic dressage class. Can any of you make any suggestions about different classes/games we could try. I have loads of traffic cones so can set up a simple cones course. Unless the weather improves I doubt the guy who takes our hay off (its cow hay anyway so not a problem for us) will have my fields cleared so cross country will not be part of the day

. I'm hoping all of you can help my old/slow brain and have some ideas. Even obstacles that you've done/seen. Thanks

 

[susanne]

I wish we were a bit closer! It sounds like a fun day, and I love BC and road trips in general, but I've pretty much used up our travel budget. Have fun!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Well you'd sure be welcome susanne.

Do you come into BC often? If you are ever inclined to travel this way I have a spare room that is usually empty, you'd be welcome. We aren't too fancy and its not a 5 star place but its quiet and I'd love the chance to get to know you.

 

[RhineStone]

We had a play day last week since we still have one more show in Sept. coming up. It helps greener horses learn to deal with traffic in a less-stressful environment. It was great for our Welsh mare, as she had never dealt with traffic ever. She had to learn that other people clucking at their horses didn't necessarily mean that SHE should move.

We use 1-2" PVC pipes to make different obstacles, i.e. narrow poles, wider ones that the whole cart can go through, Ls, Ts, Us, etc. We also have what is commonly called a "strip tease" for anyone who has been to the Villa Louis Carriage Classic.

It is strips of fabric hung in the aisle doorway of our barn, much like the obstacle of the same name at the show. I used an old bedsheet, cut it into 12" strips or so, and zig-zagged the edges so that they didn't unravel. In the sheet's casing at the top I threaded a rope and then tied the rope on some nails in the doorway header. We leave that up year round and our horses don't think anything of fabric fluttering in the breeze, either at Villa Louis or flags et al. (Ironically, many people have asked if it is for keeping the birds out of the barn!)

We need to come up with a water hazard for home, too.

Myrna

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thank you Myrna. I had not thought of Ls and Ts etc. Those are almost a given at any show I've been too (mostly Ls) so will definitely have to include something of that type. Also alley ways(wide and narrow) for precision practice would be perfect.I have plenty of lengths of white PVC in a small diameter that should work. I'm not sure how I could hang the 'strip tease' but if I can come up with a way I think that would be a good test for courage and control too.

I wonder if there would be a way to keep a tarp or plastic pinned to the ground safely to mimic a water hazard? In my round pen I could dig a hollow in the sand and line that with plastic and use real water but not in my arena. hmmmm... I'm thinking hazards should be things that at least represent real driving and the things that may be encountered there.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Part of the TREC at Happ's each spring is a skills test, meant to mimic things you might find in the real world and set up to be challenging for beginners or advanced drivers alike. This year you put your right wheel on the outside of a single pole as you trotted off then faced such challenges as stopping and standing for 30-60 seconds, knocking tennis balls off the top of a triangle of cones with your whip (that one was hard!), stopping and backing straight through a square of cones over rough ground, trotting or cantering a serpentine of cones in both directions, taking a flag from a bucket on top of one barrel to a bucket on top of another one on the move, doing a four-leaf cloverleaf pattern around a tight square of barrels, and driving around a circle painted in the grass. Advanced drivers had to do it with their outside wheel on the line (making for a smaller circle) and beginning drivers got to do it with their inside wheel on the line. It's also fun to try and do "basketball" with nerf balls and a muck bucket from the cart.

Hope that helps! I'm closer to BC than Susanne is but don't think I'd ever realized that's where you were.

Leia

P.S.- Hula hoops make great things to put your wheel in for pivoting.

 

[RhineStone]

knocking tennis balls off the top of a triangle of cones with your whip (that one was hard!), taking a flag from a bucket on top of one barrel to a bucket on top of another one on the move,

These are great exercises to get drivers to practice driving with both reins in one hand (usually the left). Villa Louis has also had one where you knock beer bottles off fence posts with your whip. They are partly filled with sand, so they don't fall over easily. This also teaches your horse to not jump when something goes "crash" behind him. You can use those plastic bottles so as to not worry about glass around the horses.

Also, have a tipped over road cone (not an "official" competition cone) and practice tipping it up with your wheel. You have to drive up on the edge of the cone. We got a couple at Home Depot for about $10 each.

Myrna

 

[Melinda Dean]

Sounds like so much fun! Wish I lived closer too.

A fun thing I did at an event... a small course set up for a mini cart, pulled by one human, driven by a human... A timed course, of course. Teams compete, driver takes a turn as the blind folded horse, then the "horse" drives the blind folded driver. Lots of laughs,

and great way to experience what our equines feel when our directions do not make sense.

I had a great time recording my friends and then showing them their videos. It also gave grooms and bystanders something to participate in too.

PS: no whips allowed!!!

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Thanks guys!

I knew I could count on everyone here for some excellent ideas. Now to decide how to lay out the obstacles.

I'll have to try to get some pictures to share. Hopefully we don't get rained out, there's a real chance of it this year.

 

[RhineStone]

Now to decide how to lay out the obstacles.

Make sure that you plan an "escape route" when you lay out the obstacles. IOW, don't make them so tight or close together that the horse doesn't have an easy way to get out of them. i.e. place cones far enough away from each other that if you run over one, you don't hit 3 more, especially with greener horses. Once the horses are more used to obstacles, you can "tighten" them up a bit (put two gates next to each other).

We tend to leave a "track" on the rail and set up our obstacles in the middle of the ring.

Some obstacles can do "double-duty", such as a pass-through can also be an L or a T, same thing with narrow poles, which saves space and pieces.

Myrna

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Great advice Myrna. I was already thinking that some of the horses would not be ready to deal with some obstacles, I may set up a simple course first and then a more challenging one in the afternoon for the more advanced horses/drivers. That way no ones bows out because they feel overwhelmed, but giving them a way to skip a particular obstacle could allow people to challenge themselves and their horse and still have options if the horse isn't quite ready to handle that particular obstacle.

It just occurred to me that with all this advice my fellow club members might get the (mistaken) impression I actually know what I'm doing

 

[susanne]

Thanks for the invite, Reignmaker! We'll definitely keep that in mind. We haven't been up that way recently, but we spent our honeymoon in Vancouver and have camped on the island. I've always been fascinated by the Kwakiutl Indians and their culture, so the BC coastline (both island and mainland) is the land of my soul. If I had a different body, I'd love to hike the wilderness trail that shipwreck victims used to make their way back to civilization.

Another thing to consider for your fun day: At our beach drives and one local driving day, Leia (hobbyhorse) has generously volunteered her time and knowledge to give harnessing and driving critiques for anyone who asked. It's great to get an extra set of eyebalss and an objective point of view.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

. It's great to get an extra set of eyebalss and an objective point of view.

I absolutely agree. We do have a member who will give pointers to the newbies (or reminders to those of us who should already know )In truth our club members are very quick to help each other out and sometimes its the younger members who catch us failing to do our preflight safety check. Still, its good to have someone every body respects ready to actually watch for things and help members to tweak their turnout or there reinsmanship skills.

Thanks for the invite, Reignmaker! We'll definitely keep that in mind. We haven't been up that way recently, but we spent our honeymoon in Vancouver and have camped on the island. I've always been fascinated by the Kwakiutl Indians and their culture, so the BC coastline (both island and mainland) is the land of my soul. If I had a different body, I'd love to hike the wilderness trail that shipwreck victims used to make their way back to civilization.

We are a days drive from the beauty of the coastal areas here, in the central interior, We have a whole different climate and a different aboriginal culture.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

As far as not wanting to overwhelm the greener turnouts, you have three options: you can make it a Gambler's Choice sort of thing with points for each obstacle, separate it by level, or have two ways to do each one as in that painted circle I described. I'm sure you'll think of something!

Leia

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

OH yes! Perfect, I like the gamblers choice idea (and never thought of it ...duh, blonde moment) that way if they choose to try it and fail they just don't get points for it. I think I'll set it up with 3 point options, like 3 for a clear, 2 for a completed but not smoothly and 1 for a tried but incomplete or poorly executed and of course no points for skipping. See now thats why I posted this thread, I knew people here would have brilliant ideas.

Thanks for this latest one Leia.

 

[RhineStone]

That is a good idea for your situation, but just so the masses understand that is not how a Gambler's Choice course is scored. Each obstacle has a point value - more points for more difficult obstacles, less for easier ones. If the obstacle is completed, the points are given. If it is not or something is dislodged that shouldn't be, no points are awarded. The driver with the most points after 2 min. wins. (Individual goes.)

Myrna

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

hehehe, thanks Myrna. I knew it wasn't the actual scoring method usually used but I'd like to encourage people to try new things even if they may not do it well. After all we are doing this to help people get their feet wet and maybe be willing to try a real show. Altho now that you have made me think about it i wonder if that will confuse newbies when they go to a show that follows the proper rules. hmmmm, I'll have to think about that some.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

It won't confuse them as long as you don't call it Gambler's Choice! LOL

Leia

 

[RhineStone]

Altho now that you have made me think about it i wonder if that will confuse newbies when they go to a show that follows the proper rules.

It won't confuse them as long as you don't call it Gambler's Choice! LOL

That was my concern. There are so many "rules" (mostly because there are many different "games" to play in obstacles) that I didn't want someone to think that is how that one is played.

Myrna

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

Well, I wouldn't have called it that anyway but still, I know how hard it is to be starting out in something and be confused about the rules. I'd hate to be responsible for making being a beginner harder. I think I may just explain that these are NOT the rules or games for that matter that they will encounter elsewhere. The whole purpose of our day is to have some fun while the weather is still pretty decent (hoping it is) and to offer a chance to expose horses and drivers to other cart traffic etc.