BHs please can somebody explain to me what happens etc...

[sweuzo]

i'm interested in expanding my knowledge and gaining qualifications with regards to horses and horse care, but how do you go about training for these? and what exatcly do you have to do... can people share their experiences with me please?

edit: also can you do the training through BHS approved riding schools? i was hoping i could do this without having to go to college again...

[lynz+ollie]

u can either train at a college, full time or part time, or train as you work, usually at a bhs approved center where you would be a working pupil. im doing a national diploma at college full time at the moment and am doing my stages at the same time. Most places have like regular lessons toward it then u take your test at that place on a certain date. to take bhs stages you must be a gold memeber of the bhs. i think it goes
- stage 1 (v easy)
- stage 2
- ptt
- stage 3 +500 hours of teaching (BHSAI)
- stage 4
- internation instructor 1 (BHSII)
- stable managers
- intermediate teaching 2 (BHSI)

or something like that anyway

also if you get your pony club B test or NVQ 2 you can go straight onto stage 3 (buit still need PTT) and if you get your A test you can miss out 3 and 4

[sweuzo]

i really want to do my stage one at some point although perhaps i'm not ready yet, i don't think i can get to work with horses and i really can't afford to go back to college at the moment or for the forseeable future, (i can't afford not to work full time). so what would you do? do you think its worth asking at my riding school or not? i know they have some people employed and doing qualifications too but i very much doubt if they'd employ me as i'm not very experienced.

[Colorado Sunset]

I am at school and work once a week at a BHS approved yard. I did my stage 1 this year and am hopefully doing my stage 2 next year at some point. I had no lectures and 1 official "are you ready for stage 1" lesson, in which an AI told me i was fine for stage 1 & 2. Riding was no problem, stable management i learnt all from the book, and i ended up knowing more than the girls who were at the college where i took the exam!

Id say, print off the stage 1 syllabus off the BHS site. Go through it step by step highlighting anything you feel you couldnt do up to BHS standards. If the page ends up like a rainbow id say you need some official lectures/ riding lessons to get you up to that standard. If its just a few points buy the book (or get me to send it to you for 1/2 the price!! :p) and have say one or two private lectures at a BHS yard to go through a couple of pointers and things your unsure of.

I have no clue what standard your riding is at, sorry :o but you need to be able to walk, trot, canter, light seat, trotting poles, thats it. If you feel you can do this comfortably, get a private 1/2 hr assesment lesson on an unknown horse and see what the instructor says, they will give you the best idea of what you need to work on.

Feel free to PM if you want any specific info :D

Jo

[sweuzo]

i'd say i could do those things, i mean i can walk trot and canter pretty well although i haven't done anything over poles since before i had my 8 year break from riding, but not very confident, i mean i'm not hoping to do it right now, just in the fairly near future, or at least start training for it. i'm going to at least ask about it at my riding school, see what they say.

[Colorado Sunset]

the trotting poles, well there were i think two in mine, all you have to do is ride a straight line over them, forward seat just before them and over them, let your hands a little forward and thats it! :D

[bexj]

Some BHS schools offer stage training courses, so you can attend for say 2 hours per week, do 1 hour riding and 1 hour stable management for say 20 weeks to train you for your exam. It would be worth calling some of the riding schools in your area to se eif they do this. You don't have to either work with horses or study at college to do this - although I would imagine as you go up the stages it would become increasingly difficult without some kind of heavy commitment to working with horses.

[Jenni]

You can do distance learning!! i am doing it . But obviuolsy for the practical aspect you need to have somewhere were you can be around horses.

If you do all the theory work with the study material provided and then maybe offer to help out at a riding school mucking out/tacking up/helping with feeds etc this will help you with the handling/practical aspects.
here is the link to Warwickshire college equi-study.

http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/equistudy/equistudy/home.asp

All the material is posted to you and you have a tutor to call/e-mail of you come across anything you cant get your head around.

I am doing the Assistant Instructor course but you dont buy it all in one go(you can if you want to mind). You pay for each section as you want.

I would maybe buy the BHS or Hazel Reed course companion books for the Stage 1 so you know what sort of information you should know. You can also download the syllabus from the BHS website..
To be honest i think the HAzel Reed books are written in a nicer format and are much easier to understand but the BHS is good as well.

[sweuzo]

thanks for the replies, i will looking into maybe distance learning and ask around riding schools, i would have thought my riding school would do it though.

i would love to work with horses but me being pretty unexperieced compared to many others around here who want to do the same, how am i supposed to get jobs which everybody else is after?? seems impossible for me, then theres the transport issue, i live in the city centre and all the riding schools are in surrounding villages, i mean there are buses and taxis but that too costs money.

[sweuzo]

well i've just been told by my riding instructor that i shouldn't try and do this since i already have a job and i couldn't be living on a trainee wage at 25 which is when she thinks i might be doing stage 3, and that its the only one thats worth it if you want to get a job with horses. she basically advised me to keep it as a hobby. Which is probably the most realistic thing. ah well, i just feel quite empty inside.

[Jenni]

There is no stopping you doing your stages and teaching part time or at weekends. You could have a part time job somewhere else and at least you are still getting to do something you love.
Dont be disheartened.
I left shcool and went to work at a yard then i got a bit fed up of being treated like rubbish so i got an office job, hate the office job but its paying for my riding, exams and eventually my horse so i will put up with it and i want to go part time and freelance teach.

[laurenluvsmonty]

how old do you have to be for your stage 1? :p

[eml]

That seems a bit harsh to put you down like this.

Yes money is probably an issue to work with horses but lots of people get Stage 1 based on riding school courses or if your school does BHS Progressive Tests these exempt you from Stage 1. Lots of my customers have done Stage 1 based on a weekly riding lesson, home reading (one text book not an expensive course) and three or four practical lessons.

Stage 2 is much more demanding but if you have the basic experience of competing at local shows in novice jumping or similar it won't be beyond you with some training.

We have staff who are unlikely to get to Stage 3 but still are valuable yard workers. They do NVQ's which are yard assessment based. You should be able to do these at quite a lot of yards if you can put in a minimum of 12 hours a week ( say a day at the weekend and a couple of evenings a week) We often do deals on work for training on this basis for those who have other jobs but want to go further than their weekly ride.

A pity you don't have transport as we are not miles away from you but too far by taxi and no buses

[devon lass]

how old do you have to be for your stage 1? :p
i think you have to be 14 to do your bhs stage 1 and then it goes up either a year / a year and a half for each stage

"Candidates taking the BHS Stage 1 Examination are required to be Gold or Junior Gold members of the society. The minimum age for the Stage 1 Exam is 14 years. It is envisaged that candidates under the age of 15 years may not have accrued the required skills/knowledge for this professional qualification." bhs website

hope this helps

[laurenluvsmonty]

Thanks for that devon lass :D

[Volvic]

Originally posted by lynz & ollie
also if you get your pony club B test or NVQ 2 you can go straight onto stage 3 (buit still need PTT) You are not allowed to take your PTT (preliminary teaching test) until you have done a BHS stage as the BHS people need to assess your riding ability. Therefore if you do your pony club B test or NVQ 2 you need to do either BHS stage 2 or 3 before you can take your PTT.

The PTT is not a requirement for your stage 3. Stage 3 + PTT + 500 hours teaching = BHSAI. Also, between stages 1 & 2, you need to do your riding & road safety test.

Good luck :)

[ponylover88]

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[ponylover88]

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[Smartie's mum]

sweuzo, brackenhurst do saturday morning courses. they start in october. ive just been accepted onto the stage 2 course after they put me thru the stage 1 course and i passed. the horses are great! the instructors amazingly funny and seemed to make it all sink in to my stupidly tiny brain!! :D


Hi,

Are Ann and Alwyn Varley still teaching there? I did a National Diploma there about 10 year's ago.