Trail Rides are a fantastic opportunity to bring horse lovers from around the local area to an event that supports rescued horses, and celebrates these magnificent animals. But, are your trail rides becoming routine, or possibly even boring? Gasp! Is it just the same old, same old each time? Shake things up a bit, and turn your snooze ride into an exciting Scavenger Hunt that will thrill riders of every age!

Scavenger Hunts bring out the fun, and put even novice riders on the same level as the most experienced ones. It’s not just about riding or being with your horse… this event asks you to gaze at the scenery, enjoying the ride, and turning the trip into an experience!

As with any horse event, you’ll want to make sure each participating horse has a recent Coggins test report to show at check-in. You may also need a “Certificate of Vaccination” for Equine Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis (EHV). This is standard procedure for most horse events, and will not seem odd to require for any rider to present. You want to make sure animal health is at the foreground of every event.

Digital Cameras
Polaroid cameras were the rage for many scavenger hunts where people had to take a photo of an item, of their group members at a specific location, or create a pyramid or pose a scene with the group participants. Unfortunately, Polaroid cameras are on the ‘out’ in the technology realm, with film production to cease, but digital cameras are plentiful! You can encourage your participants to photograph specific areas along the trail, capture images of an interesting cloud formation, photos of a squirrel or a bird native to the area, and any other type of special flora and fauna. You can ask participants to act out a scene based on a trivia question, or otherwise photograph the riders and their horses during the event to ensure the photos were taken the day of the ride.

Collecting Items
While most scavenger hunts ask you to bring back items, we don’t want to disturb too much of the natural environment where the rides take place. We want to preserve the natural setting for our fellow riders and for those to come in the future. And, you probably don’t want 200 random items coming back to your check-in table! If you are in an area where it does not matter if you disturb the environment, you can ask participants to collect some items along the route. Riders can also obtain pencil rubbings of various leaves (minus 20 points for bringing back poison ivy/oak!) and earn bonus points if they can identify them! I’m sure you don’t want to disturb the natural environment TOO much, but a few little trinkets might be fun to find and bring back.

You could also leave some special horseshoe items along the way hidden in different spots that require looking. Maybe have a few golden shoes that are worth an extra 10 points hidden along the ride. Or, if you have some small plastic figurines (the size of army men, there are lots of farm animals and cowboy sets at Walmart and Dollar Tree type stores), then you could spray paint them gold and nestle them in among some grasses and such for extra points.

Check out the Oriental Trading website and search for ‘horse.’ They regularly have small horse figurines, 2dz for $4, and cute plush horses that you can hide for super bonus points! If you’re worried about other people outside your scavenger hunt finding them, you can tie a printed business card to the item stating that it is part of a scavenger hunt, and if found after your date, then it can be taken home, but otherwise please leave it for the riders to find.

Here are some ideas for things you can pick up along the way, or take photos of for your hunt:

• A piece of litter (extra points if you bring back 5 or 10 pieces of litter to help keep the trail clean!)
• a Y shaped twig
• a clover
• a piece of bark
• a tiny bit of moss or lichen
• a smooth stone, like from near a pond
• a pine cone or an acorn
• some pine needles
• a rock with several colors on it (extra points for sparkles!)
• a dead bug
• a feather
• a flower
• a piece of bark
• a seed or seed pod
• 3 or 4 different types of leaves (extra points if you can identify them!)
• a naturally misshaped leaf that resembles something famous
• a berry or fruit
• bird droppings! (icky, but interesting and plentiful!)
• something thorny
• a piece of gravel

Print out nice certificates with the rider’s name and horse’s name on it. You can use Microsoft Publisher or PowerPoint to create a nice certificate with your event’s logo and info on it. Print these on some cardstock paper for durability.

Add-on Ideas:
• Host a drawing for a sack of feed at the check-in.
• Get free samples from Purina and Nutreena for their products. They produce horse items, as well as items for cats and dogs. Many horse families also have other pets at home, so it works in the company’s favor to solicit to them at a horse event. Contact your regional sales rep for these feed companies to work out a partnership.
• Hold a drawing for baskets of goodies for both horses and their owners.
• Contact consultants from Mary Kay and Avon (among others!) to put together some samples and small items. The Avon Skin So Soft sprays are great in the summertime for keeping mosquitoes at bay, and smell wonderful. These pampering items are great for anyone whose hands and feet are routinely worked hard while at the barn!