The Equine Impact

What You Need:
Cutouts of leaves (or real leaves)
String/clothespin (some way to hang leaves)
Muck bucket/trashcan/toy basket

I like to give options for all my games so that you can adapt it to your own facility. As you can see by my list above, this game is very adaptable! I like to add seasonal games to my lesson plans because it keeps it interesting for me and relevant for riders.

We are in the thick of Fall here in Colorado and one of my favorite fall activities is leaf peeping – where you go look at all the pretty colors of the leaves. I grew up in the Northeast with an array of leaf colors and trees to look at, but I now appreciate the brilliant golds of the Aspen trees here. Leaves are pretty to look at, step on, and jump in but can be a real chore to rake up, so why not make it a game?

A simple way to play is to cut out leaves from construction paper and string them up on trees (if outside) or poles (if inside). Riders can collect leaves from around the arena and gather them in one place to create a leaf pile.

Make the leaves different heights to encourage riders to reach up or stretch down to pick the leaf. Use different colors to encourage riders to search for a specific color. Use different shapes to encourage riders to hunt for the correct style. With different shapes, you can ask riders to find the matching leaf (two Oak tree leaves or two Aspen tree leaves).

Maybe after “raking” up all the leaves in a lesson, riders will help rake up the real leaves at home!

Do you change up your lesson plans with the seasons? Is this a game you might try? Let me know in the comments below!