Who needs a snowmobile when you
have a pony? I sure don’t. Hi. Guess what we will be talking about today? Snow
activities to do with your horse. We will talk about safety, equipment, and how
to have a blast!!! Let’s get snowy!
The first thing is safety because
safety comes first. To be safe, find an open area where there are minimal trees
and other objects. Then put your helmet on. Make sure your horse isn’t going to
high tail it away from the sled that he/she is pulling. HINT: Choose a curious
and calm horse that is ok with moving objects. The person in the sled should
sit on their butt with their feet on the sled edges ready to stop the sled when
the horse stops or slows down. Otherwise, the sled might come up and hit the
horse, causing it to kick out at the sled. Finally, make sure your equipment is
good and not broke or frayed, which leads us to the next topic: equipment.
For horse sledding, you will need a
sled that can be hooked up with a long rope or lariat, a horse or pony with riding
tack, AND at least two crazy people with a sense of adventure. The horse rider dallies
(wrapped around the saddle horn) a long rope back to the sled.
When sledders and rider are ready, sledding
begins! The sledders sit on their butts with their feet in front of them, so if
needed, they can stop the sled with their feet. The sledder has to keep the
sled balanced around corners and up and down hills. The rider needs to control
the horse while keeping an eye and ear on the sledders to make sure they are
still on the sled. When the rider is going to slow down, he needs to tell the
sledder, so the sledder can slow the sled down, too. This could be a yell like
“stopping” and then the sledder will yell back “ok”. Then the sledder will slow
down the sled by putting his feet out into the snow while the rider stops the horse.
Another way to play in the snow is
to train your horse or pony to pull a cart. Hook them up to a sleigh and pull
it around. But that is a whole different ball game, which is coming to you NEXT
WEEK!
In my opinion this is one of the most
entertaining winter activities to do with your horse. Have fun and be safe!
If you have any ideas on what I
should write about, please feel free to comment below.
