Horse Race

Online horse racing – racing fever for remote teams too

The horse race is also available as an online team event. In this format, all participants meet in a shared virtual room. The facilitator guides the game, the teams coordinate their strategies in breakout rooms and then watch the races together in the main meeting.

Online, the basic concept remains the same: before each round, the teams decide whether they want to train, place bets or sabotage other teams. Each race begins with a brief overview of the course, after which the teams spend around four minutes discussing and finalising their strategy. Everyone then returns to the main meeting to watch the race together.

This format is particularly well-suited to remote teams, as it quickly creates a lively atmosphere and ensures participants aren’t just sitting quietly in front of their screens. There’s discussion, advice, cheering and shared celebrations.

Classification within the BITOU 4-level system

The horse race is a Level 1 – Classic Team Event within the BITOU 4-level system.
At this level, the focus is on fun, energy, a sense of togetherness and shared experiences. Level 1 is all about experience and connection – ideal for kick-offs, celebrations or team-building days.

The horse race fits perfectly into this category: it quickly brings people together in a playful way, generates excitement and creates shared moments of celebration. It is deliberately accessible and requires no deep reflection. Nevertheless, it can highlight subtle team dynamics: Who thinks strategically? Who takes risks? Who keeps an eye on the competition? And how does the team make decisions together?

Anyone wishing to explore these topics in greater depth later on can continue with Level 2. There, the experience evolves into intelligent team-building with a stronger focus on communication and collaboration.

The added value of horse racing at a glance:

✔ Quick activation without lengthy preparation: The horse race is quick to explain and easy to play. It’s particularly suitable when you want an event to be short, simple and yet exciting.

✔ Cheering on the team together: The races are watched on the big screen, so that all teams are involved in the action at the same time. This creates a shared sense of excitement rather than separate, parallel small groups.

✔ Team decisions under time pressure: Before each race, the teams must decide together which strategy to adopt. This encourages discussion, coordination and joint action.

✔ Strategy and risk appetite: Train, bet or sabotage: every option has its opportunities and risks. This encourages a playful approach to tactics, courage and decision-making.

✔ An entertaining format suitable for many occasions: Lasting between 30 and 60 minutes, the horse race is ideal for meetings, team sessions, breaks, company parties or evening events.

✔ Low barrier to entry: No sporting ability, prior knowledge or lengthy preparation is required. Anyone can get involved – whether through ideas, gut instinct or observation.

✔ A competition with a fun factor: The competition creates a sense of excitement, whilst remaining light-hearted and humorous. This generates energy without the pressure to perform taking centre stage.

✔ Also suitable for large groups: The format is designed for groups of between 10 and 500 people and is therefore suitable for both smaller teams and larger corporate events.

Horse racing as part of the BITOU event tour

The horse race is a classic Level 1 format. It generates energy, entertainment and a shared experience. The focus is on fun, competition and connection – without any training element.
From here, the team’s journey can take various paths:

• Level 1 – Classic team event:
  Those wishing to continue focusing on entertainment, competition and engagement can follow on with formats such as the Team Quiz Show, Battle Bingo, Team Monopoly, Team Olympics or the Highland Games.
• Level 2 – Intelligent Team Building:
  If teams wish to go beyond the fun factor and work more intensively on collaboration, strategy and communication, formats such as Turn Around, Chain Reaction XXL or Race for Space are ideal.
• Level 3 – Team Development:
  If specific team issues emerge from the shared experience – such as decision-making behaviour, roles or collaboration under pressure – formats such as Adventure Everest, Before Mars or Rome can be used to address them.
• Level 4 – Team Coaching:
  When it comes to specific challenges, tensions or sustainable change within the team, bespoke team coaching provides the ideal framework.

In this way, a short, high-energy team event can serve as the starting point for a more in-depth team journey – from shared fun to targeted development.