Use this teaching guide for beginner unmounted HorseSense lessons that teach the safety rules for barn, arena, and pasture.
These are the skills that every Red Level student must practice from the moment they first set foot in the barn — rules that you must enforce in order to make safety-consciousness the cornerstone of your program. But memorizing rules isn’t enough: students need to understand the rationale behind each barn rule, so that they start developing the critically important ability to think like a horse.
We expect our students to be able to discuss these basic rules well enough that they could safely introduce a friend or family member to the barn.
Lessons cover:
- Rules for safety practices for all three equine environments: barn, arena, and pasture.
- The importance of identifying potential hazards.
- Interactive teaching tools such as learning games, hobbyhorses, and hands-on prompts that help reinforce safety concepts.
Teaching tips include:
- creative ideas for teaching this topic with both private and group lessons
- suggested Challenge materials (games, worksheets, etc.) and other teaching tools
- strategies for adapting for your unique teaching situation
