As the cold weather drags on, it tends to feel like the end of winter is nowhere in sight. Luckily, we’ve come up with some fun activities for you to help beat the winter riding (or non-riding) blues.
Host a Barn Movie Night
Bring together students, boarders, trainers, and everyone else in your barn for a barn movie night. Choose a horse-themed video to watch – clinic DVDs work great, but so do favorite horse movies like Secretariat and Seabiscuit – and make the night into a mini-party. Have attendees bring cozy blankets and pillows, as well as snacks, and settle into the heated lounge for a fun night of movie watching.
Bring in a Clinician
To change up the pace a little, have a clinician come to your barn for a day or for a weekend. Riders can participate in the clinic with their horses, and you can also open the clinic up to auditing by the public to bring in some income from the event. For an extra-fun challenge, bring in a clinician to work on a discipline or activity that your horses traditionally don’t participate in, like equine agility or Western dressage.
Audit a Clinic
If hosting a clinic at your own farm isn’t practical, you can always travel elsewhere to audit a clinic. Get your friends involved and make a day of it. Auditing a clinic is a great way to determine whether you would like to ride in a clinic with the clinician in the future, and you can learn a lot without having to pay the full clinic price.
Plan a Tack Sale
Spring really will be here before you know it, and what better way is there to kick the season off than with a tack sale? Start planning a barn tack sale, and invite riders from other barns to bring their own tack and participate in the fun. Holding a tack sale gives you the perfect opportunity to clean out and organize your tack room, as well as to find the riding supplies you really need at a good price.
Volunteer at a Horse Rescue
Horse rescues are often in need of volunteers, so if you have some free time during the winter because you’re not riding as often, look into volunteering at a local horse rescue. Volunteers can often help rescues in a number of ways, from caring for and grooming horses to performing more office-related tasks.
Take a Course in a New Horse-Related Skill
The winter is the perfect time to learn a new horse-related skill, such as massage or liberty training. Look for horse-related courses available and get some friends to enroll with you.
These activities should help you get through the rest of winter, and don’t fear – spring will be here soon!
