The document provides descriptions of 4 games that can be played with friends to help teach skills related to horse training: 1) The YES-NO Game teaches the importance of positive reinforcement by having one player guess an action while others say only "no" until they get it right. 2) The Pulling Game simulates leading a horse while practicing using different amounts of tension on the lead line. 3) Longlining involves practicing horse training techniques like stopping and turning by having one player act as the "horse" on a long line. 4) The Timing Game improves the skill of giving cues at the precise moment an action occurs through exercises like clicking when a ball bounces or is thrown

1. The Guide to
Games to Play with your Friends
These are games you can play with your friends away from the yard.
They're great for time when the weather is bad or maybe during
school lunch breaks.
As well as being fun to play, each game helps teach you skills that will
help you get better at working with your pony.

2. Game 1 - The YES-NO game
How do our ponies know what they want us to do? Well, they usually do
what they think is right, then we say 'yes' or 'no' using things like our
body language, or pressure and release. The pony can then remember
next time what he did in that situation.
Lots of people are very good at saying 'no' but sometimes we need
reminding that hearing 'yes' is important too. Here's a game to help
you see how important it is.
You'll need:
- a group of friends - any number will do. That's it!
One of you goes out of the room if you're inside, or goes far enough
away they can't hear you. The rest of you then decide an action that
other person has to do. Keep it simple, something like 'sit on that
chair', or 'touch the tap'.
The other person then comes back and has to work out what to do. You
don't tell her anything other than 'no' when she gets it wrong. So she
could get a 'no' for walking in the wrong direction, for looking at the
wrong thing, or even for just standing doing nothing!
See how long it takes for them to work out what to do - it could be
ages! Think how much quicker it would have been if you'd shown her at
least some of what she had to do, and said 'yes' when she was doing
something right.
You can change this game to say just 'yes' when they're getting it
right. It's not as hard, but still not easy.
The learning point of this game is that we need to show our ponies
what we want them to do, correct when the get it wrong but make sure
we say 'YES' when they get it right!

3. Game 2 - The Pulling Game
You will need
- a lead line or rope
- a friend
You can also practice leading your 'pony', and see how it feels when you
walk in front, behind or next to each other; see how it feels if you
have a tight line or a slack one; and see how it feels if the leader is
confident or worried.
When playing with this game, be careful not to pull too hard or too
quickly and pull your friend over. Even when playing games like this,
always keep safe!

4. Game 3 - Longlining
The IH Kids Guide to Longlining tells you about how to get started
with your pony, but the best place of all to start with longlining is
practicing on another person.
You can practice stopping, starting and turning, as shown in our
longlining guide. You can even practice doing things like circles or
changing rein, even obstacles!

5. Game 4 - The Timing Game
Good timing means giving your pony his 'yes' or 'no' as close as
possible to his action. For example, if you ask him to take a step back,
you need to say 'yes' as he's doing it and not wait until he's stopped,
otherwise you'll end up saying 'yes' to the stopping. If we get our
timing wrong, our pony can get very confused or learn the wrong thing.
Timing sounds easy but it takes a lot of practice to get it right. Here's
a game that can help you towards perfect timing.
You'll need:
- a small ball, such as a tennis ball;
- a friend;
- a training clicker if you have one.
Don't worry if you haven't got a clicker, you can make a click noise
with your tongue.
You ask your friend to bounce the ball on the ground. You have to click
the very second the ball touches the ground. Sounds easy? Try it and
see! You can also ask your friend to throw the ball into the air - this
time you click as it gets as high as it goes before falling down again.
When you're good at that, you can practice clicking things you can't
predict so well, such as when someone blinks, when your pony swishes
its tail, or when the car in front of yours brakes as you're driving
home from school. You might need to click in your mind rather than out
loud sometimes, otherwise you'll end up driving your friends and family
mad!