BHS Exams

[teach1]

Hi, I have recently successfully gone through my stages 1 -3 riding and care, and PTT.

Just wondered if anyone was taking theres and wanted any help? If anyone wants to ask anything about the exams, exam centres or just share experiences. just reply :o

[raingodz]

I might take you up on that offer! I am planning to start stage 1 very soon, and I have already been known to get help for my English AS level homework from someone on NR :rolleyes: :o

Just noticed your from Lincolnshire, which part are you from? I grew up (and rode quite a bit) in the Wolds.

[kirstie]

Ye i might take you up on that offer as well lol :D i won't be taking mine yet sep 06 i think so i could do with some helpful tips there hint hint :D :D

[chapsgal]

I've been told Im good forgetting stage 1 & 2 but I just need the confidence to book the exams!!!

I cant handle the unknown!!!

[eml]

Interested to know where you sat yours and what horses were like as we are always trying to find the best centres for our candidates. At the moment we are looking for a Stage 2 exam with steady hunter types for a lady who is an up to standard rider but with exam nerves. It must not be a college.

[ponylover88]

ive done my stage 1, but have applied to do my stage 2 in march. :D any advice will be greatly appreciated! ;);):D

[BeachRiding]

Don't mean to sound ignorant,but what are BHS exams? I live in the USA... obviously...

[raingodz]

Don't mean to sound ignorant,but what are BHS exams? I live in the USA... obviously...
They are professional qualifications run by the British Horse Society:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Edu-Exams.asp

In the UK they are pretty much the standard qualification for if you want to work with horses.

EDIT: BHS in the USA:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Ods-More.asp?id=2263&pg=Education&spg=Information&area=2

[teach1]

Interested to know where you sat yours and what horses were like as we are always trying to find the best centres for our candidates. At the moment we are looking for a Stage 2 exam with steady hunter types for a lady who is an up to standard rider but with exam nerves. It must not be a college.

I took my one at bishop burton college near hull. It was ok there but I didn't really want to take my two there because of the standard of the horses - a lot of heavy cobs (no offence intended to cobs, just it would be nice to have a variety of horses to ride in an exam.)

my two was taken at Brockholes farm in doncaster. now that was an interesting place, not a college but more like a centre wuth students, a lot with learning difficulties. smallish place with good variety of horses, this might be a maybe for your lady.

RAINGODZ - im living in Louth - "heart of the wolds"! love it here its beautiful. where abouts where you from?:D



my three was at brampton stables, northamptonshire. great place, in fact if you see this months copy of Your Horse you will see an article where someone goes for a lunge lesson, taught be cameron (main instructor there apart from the owner) who's lovely and the horse in the pictures is in fact one of the horses I rode in my stage three.

now a really good place to go is Yorkshire riding centre. fantastic facilities, horses seem ok, but i did my ptt there so cant really comment on the ridden exam horses.

[raingodz]

RAINGODZ - im living in Louth - "heart of the wolds"! love it here its beautiful. where abouts where you from?:D

Lived in Hagworthingham, I used to ride a horse that lived in Tetford, went to school in Horncastle and I worked as a technician at De Aston school in Market Rasen for a couple of years. I really like the Wolds round Louth and would love to move back to there but sadly there are not many jobs round there, plus I'm not sure what OH would think!

[teach1]

oh right!

what do you do?

[raingodz]

oh right!

what do you do?

I mainly work as a computer technician: fix computers, program PHP, maintain cisco firewalls etc... Also get paid for playing bass guitar sometimes...

[teach1]

oh wow. no your right, probably not much around here, louth is a little bit stuck in the past, but in a nice kinda way!

[eml]

Brampton is our preferred centre just not for this candidate.

YRS ok for basic levels but there are issues in different riding techniques at higher levels.

[teach1]

oh really? please elaborate . . .

i thought that the exam standard would be the same no matter where.

[sidesaddlelady1]

Interested to know where you sat yours and what horses were like as we are always trying to find the best centres for our candidates. At the moment we are looking for a Stage 2 exam with steady hunter types for a lady who is an up to standard rider but with exam nerves. It must not be a college.
Do you get a choice? Our candidates get told where to go in their notification from the BHS

[Jenni]

when you apply for your exam you give a choice of 3 locations and dates. Then if the one you want is fully booked they slot you into your second choice.

[teach1]

I find its easier to call the examinations department and tell what area you are in and they then tell you what is available and you can book it there and then.

thats always a scary moment ! But once its sunk in im ok!

[eml]

teach1
Since you are training for stage 4 you will learn which style of riding suits you and train in different philosophies. YRS trains very much along Swedish lines so you should have an appreciation of these if doing 4 there.

Sidesaddlelady1
When you apply for the exam you make 3 choices of centre and date. It is critical to get these right if you have any weaknesses as a candidate eg I wind Tbs up but am great with bolshy cobs...I can jump smaller horses but not big rangy ones.

Passing exams are like many other things in life it is not enough to be up to standard you have to be seen to be up to standard and the more help you can give yourself by choosing the right centre the better.

[teach1]

sorry eml, we have had a misunderstanding along the line somewhere. I am not training at the yorkshire riding centre, I juat sat my PTT there. I was just commenting on the facilties and organisation there which were brilliant.

I have put my stage four on hold for the time being while I try to get my teaching hours under my belt. I studied for my three and ptt along side each other, which was quite a lot of work, and all in the space of about ten months, so im having a bit of a break from the studying at the mo, however working on an event / training yard means im always learning as I go along.

[nicepony]

i would love to know any tips for the ptt exam as mine is coming up soon. thanks.

[teach1]

where are you taking it?

the best tip I can give you for that exam is make sure you are prepared. I taught through the exam briefs with three/four riders untill a was sure I had suitable exercises planned and that I could fit everything into the time allowed. I also prepared everyone of the lecture topics (yes I know there are millions!) onto lecture cards, so on the day, I just had to get out the appropriate card and familierise myself with the topic.

obviously they are hot on safety, so make sure you bare that in mind in all of the threory, lectures and teaching, and don't do anything if you are unsure how safe it will be - don't take any risks!

the day for me was quite enjoyable, its not as filled as a stage exam, as at times they have only got two candidates teaching at a time, so you may find yourself with an hour here or there to spare. I find this a good thing as it gives you chance to get yourself together.

for me, I always get nervous first thing, which means i usuallydo, or sya something daft! but I was lucky enough to have about an hour before I did anything so I voluntered to assist on of the other candidates with her group jump lesson, which completely put me at ease and also see what the standard was like.

Its difficult to put yourself through an exam like this, its a bit like your driving test. but if you give an air of confidence, and make the examiner think that you are in control of every thing that happens, and that you could cope with whatever comes your way, you should be fine.

if there is anything more specific you would like to ask, please go ahead.

[nicepony]

thanks that is really good advice. just thinking about it makes me nervous!
i am going to take mine at wellington.

[Wally]

Can you prepare a chosed lecture - one you choose you own strong subject from a list, or do you get given one to do by the examiner?

[eml]

No at ptt level you just get given one out of a list of about 100 but none of them are rocket science...I think wonderkid got washing rugs and examiners didn't really approve of our pressure washing methods!!

IT you imagine giving a lecture to Stage 3 students again fairly general and if are doing the job easy top of the head stuff

SM four given topics for each exam, prepare them all with slides etc and give 15 min talk. I had grassland management and talked about converting our land from farm to grazing and utilising all areas such as car park as useable grazing by under sowing parking blocks........best report of my whole exam!!!!

[sweuzo]

i hope to do my BHs stage 1 this year, and hopefully to do 2 aswell in the next couple of years, depends really on how i do with riding etc.

[Fruit Loop]

I've just sent off to do BHS stage 1 with equistudy (home study courses from moreton morrell college, Warks). Thought it would give me something to do after work.
Do you think it would be ok to do the theory and then do the riding bit at a later date or are you not allowed to do that?

[Wally]

You are joking arn't you....washing rugs????? wha??

If you were to stop and ask any kid in the street how to get a thing like a rug clean they might be able to give you a very acceptable answer!

I got the choice to do any subject on most of my non BHS exams, but it wasn't a 5 minute wonder it was a proper 30 min. question and answer session from other candidates and examiners. ...thing is I know more about leather and making bridles and saddles then they knew and it went for 45 mins!

Washing rugs???? are you joking??

[eml]

I wish! Wonderkid...who actually did 1-3 in 8 weeks with careful planning said examiners were impressed with her 'practical knowledge' Mind you have you looked at he PTT subjects?

I teach students to stage 3 (AI) level and am always horrified how basic the knowledge required is.

I would not leave my ponies, let alone riders in the hands of the average 'AI instructor'!!!

[teach1]

[/QUOTE]Do you think it would be ok to do the theory and then do the riding bit at a later date or are you not allowed to do that?[/QUOTE]

the BHS stage exams can be taken in two parts. the riding, and the knowledge and care. if you were to take the knowledge and care parts of one, two and three, you would be awarded your Grooms certificate, then if you go on to do stage four, that will give you your intermediate stable manager title. however you have to pass both parts of the stages if you want to teach.

[kirstie]

Teach1 what type of things do you do in the BHS stage 1 the riding and the knowledge part i was thinking of taking mine at YRC.

[Wally]

eml, I got a bit of a shock when I took my BDS exams, the first which is, I suppose, the equivalent of part1-3 was scary! They wanted in depth stuff, I thought it would be like a BHS exam.

I am half way through my intermediate, which you have 2 years co complete, The practical bits of driving and horsecare are very tough indeed.

[teach1]

KIRSTIE

for your stage one riding, you ride two horses on the flat, there is no jumping, but they require you to ride over poles in a forward seat. you will be commanded to ride basic school movements, and will be looking for you to have a balanced, independent seat, and to be able to apply the aids correctly and effectivly, in walk trot and canter, be able to ride the horse positivly forward, and ride on the correct diagonals / canter lead. you will also work without stirrups in walk and trot. they require you ride two different horses to get an overall view. all the riding is done as part of a group.

they will also want to see you mount from the floor and from a mounting block, and you may have to assist with someone else mounting. they willbe watch that you can adjust your stirrups (without taking your feet out) and your girth, and don't forget to check all of the tack before you mount, for safety and fit / suitability.

for the care they are looking for you to be safe, efficient, workmanlike. the care is split into practical, theory and practical oral. in the practical section you will be given a horse and assessed on basic grooming / grooming kit and use of, tacking up, removing and putting on rugs, oh and a tail bandage in the grooming section. and while you do these things the examiner will come and ask you about the things you are doing.

in the practical oral, you will be in a group and asked about bedding - different types, reasons for, mainenance, shoeing, breeds, points of the horse, types colours and marking etc, hoe to walk and trot the horse up in hand, and stand up for vet / farrier, health and safety (lifting and carrying) and how to weigh and tie up a haynet.

and the theory is also done in a group and an examiner will ask you all questions in turn about behaviour, health, grassland managment, feeding (you will pick a feed sample and have identify it) throught the seasons, stabled and grass kept horses, watering and information on the BHS.

Now, i know this sounds like a lot, but this is the first rung on the ladder, so remember its the basics, if you provide to much info for an answer, the examiner will most probably stop you, indicating that you have met the standard, and they are good at helping you out if they want you to give more. the exam lasts all day if you do both parts, and is not as daunting as you may think. there will be about 16 candidates on the exam and so about 6 in your group, every one is in the same boat.

sorry this post is so long! hope it helps.

good luck!

[Wally]

They will ask you wonderfully nebulous questions like "how much do you feed a portly riding school pony?" and you will end up asking them 10 times more questions to clarify what they want! ;)

[kirstie]

Thanks for all the information teach1

[lizness]

I know this sounds a bit odd, but will you do much sitting trot in stage one?

[kirstie]

Apart from the sitting trot you will be doing when you have no stirrups i don't think so i watched a bit of the video and there was no sitting trot in it. :) so don't worry :rolleyes:

[eml]

You may have to do sitting trot with stirrups, depends on the centre but you will have to work for about 10mins without .

You will however do this in ride order so you need to be confident at a good working trot as you must be seen to be riding froward all the time.

You no longer have to leg up another candidate (H+S issues of weight!).

[teach1]

no, you don't have to give / recieve a leg up till stage three now.

[knockaroo]

Just about to take my stage 2 any advice would be great.[19th april]

[eml]

Basically practice as much as possible, ride anything and from the slow plods to the excitable.

Work without stirrups for at least 15 mins each day.

Lunge as many different horses as possible

Be happy jumping 2'9" courses ( yes it is smaller in the exam but on the day nerves will kick in) on anything from quiet coblet to TB.

Difficult at this time of year but to do as many competitions as possible will help with nerves on the day

[teach1]

I think its a good idea to have someone watch you when you are practising as it gets you used to the feeling that you are being watched. They can also help to pick up on any bad habits you may have (we all have them!)

eml is absolutley right, just practise every thing so that you are absolutley happy with it. its no good going to the exam worrying that your not so sharp with your lunging, they are to expensive to waste! and its an ordeal to have to go through it all again.

good luck!

[Rob26]

How good a rider do you have to be before you start lessons for the BHS stage 1?

[Rob26]

Anyone? :D

[Wally]

Err, to be quite frank I really don't know, I have seen good riders failed and atrocious ones passed!

[Jenni]

you dont have to be of any level to start working towards a stage one riding exam.
If you have a good instructor, let them know you want to do your exams and it will give you something to work towards. Then they can tell you when they think you are ready for your exam.

It might take a while if you were starting from total beginner but then everyone learns at different rates, and some lucky people just have natural ability.

[teach1]

at stage one, examiners are looking for a balanced seat, and a rider who can maintain this and at the same time ride the horse forward into a good rythem and ride basic school movements.

I think its better for someone who is actually at that stage of riding (the beginning) to take the exam, as many people take it who are completely above the level, and find it difficult to come back down to the stage one level. This is because they have been taught all about asking the horse to work correctly, but really at stage one they are not looking for you to do that, just be able to do the things mentioned above. So it is sometimes difficlut for people to 'dumb down' as such. The stage one exam is fairly basic, so it should be the things you are learning already if you are being taught be a qualified instructor.

[Tuscan Dream]

hi im new to this board - i have a new horse tuscan dream, a 10 yr old ex racer!!

Question on this topic - i am studing for my a levels atm - final year (luckily - complete torture!!) i'd like to go back to college next year to improve 2 of my gcse's (science and maths) - anyhow - what i would like to know is in september i would like to do the 1 day a week bhs course (stage 1 - i havent done any b4 at myerscough) - this is in order to work towards my teaching certificate, but do i have to work on a yard full time???

I really want t only dothis a couple of days a week as i have other courses in mind as well as my bhs,

Also when can i do the teaching certificate?? do i have to do all 4 stages?

Thanks in advance

Sue (tuscan dreams mum!!)

[kirstie]

Also when can i do the teaching certificate?? do i have to do all 4 stages?

Thanks in advance

Sue (tuscan dreams mum!!)

Not sure about the other questions but this one i can answer :D

If you scroll down http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Ods-More.asp?id=1799&pg=Education&spg=Information&area=2 then you will find just what you are looking for

Forgot to add welcome to NR i'll be doing my BHS stage 1 in july/august

[Tuscan Dream]

Thanks!! How long does it take to do all the stages and the teaching part as well???

[kirstie]

It depends on the age

BHS 1 -14 years old
BHS 2 - 16 Years old
BHS 3- 17 years old
Preliminary Teaching Test - 17 1/2 years old

[wanabe]

As an American, I'm a bit bemused by all this. You all are familiar with D I C K Francis, right? He often describes scenes of trainer employees taking the horses out for their morning exercises. Do these riders have to have passed BHS exams?

Also, what about riders? Does the BHS provide any tests for someone who just wants to ride?

[Tuscan Dream]

all i really want to do is my teaching test! can i not just do that??

[kirstie]

No sorry you have to work towards it :rolleyes:

[eml]

Answer to how long is how good are you at the moment. To become an instructor you need to do stage 1-3 and PTT (teaching test). My daughter did
all of them in one summer holiday from university but she was an experienced rider, pc teams, affiliated competion etc and lived at a riding school so had good knowledge of teaching/professional yard already.

Wanabe...english is a strange language..trainer in racing ie **** francis .. is the guy in charge not a trainee ie still studying, and the racing industry have their own qualifications BHS is geared more at riding schools and racing staff would find the style of riding bizarre!!!!!

[Tuscan Dream]

ok - thanks - i'll do them a.s.a.p - !!!lol!:)

[Glider]

I wish BHS exams weren't so expensive. I just can't afford to do them at the moment. I did stage 1 when I was 16 and wish I'd been able to continue. I'm teaching on a freelance basis (on the back of my success competing) but would like the back-up of a professional qualification.

[teach1]

yes they are expensive, and even worse if you fail as you have to pay again. they are worth doing though as they are nationally recognised and they'll be with you for life.

[nicepony]

teach1- i am struggling with trying to write the lesson plans for the ptt. what did you do?

[eml]

Try not to get too definitive in your lesson plan as often the riders you are presented with will give you issues that need you to adjust your teaching as you go along. Think assessment....introduce subject ...practice...summarise.

The best way to prepare is to practice on as many different groups as possible and get used to the time constraints

[teach1]

nicepony - Always have a set format for the lesson,

introduction - introduce yourself, give them a brief outline on what you will be working on in the session
ask names / check tack - go to each rider, ask them their names, if they have ridden the horse before, if there is anything they can tell you about the horse, and what level they are working at, and while you do this just have a quick tack check and make sure you are happy with their stirrup length, equipment etc.
start warm up / assessment - its really important that you warm up the ride and assess them at the same time, and as you have only 40 mins for the whole session, this part needs to be done as efficiently as poss. I found it easier to have a set format for this part, ie - see them walk, trot and canter on both reins, and also work in an exercise to check their aids, steering, straightness. try to make it imaginative, but simple so that you can remember it.
brief - once you have assessed the riders and warmed up, ask them to check their girth's and stirrups and then introduce the brief. make any positional things to the riders that you may have noticed, so they have something to think about, and then you can look for improvment. now I would go through the lesson breifs and plan as many different exercises for each of them as poss, then on the day you can chose which ones to use. if you spend 15 mins on your warmup, then you will have around 20 mins for the brief, which means you will probably only get two or three exercises in.
summing up - the examiner will let you know when you have five mins left, so this is the piont when you need to be winding down the riders, and giving them a sum up on how the lesson has gone and what they could work on to improve in the future.

the jump briefs are easier to plan as you have to get the riders over the fences, however that is the problem if you have the brief which includes three or more fences including changes of rein, but if you get the grid one that should be easy.

on the day you will need to be good at adapting the brief to suit the riders, so i think prep is the key, teach through the different briefs, until your happy you can satisfy each one.

in my exam, i had the flat work brief teaching rythem and balance using circles, serpentines (i can;t remember it fully) and bearing in mind the riders were meant to be stage 2 -3 level, they should be able to cope fine, actually two of my riders had never sat on those particular horses before and were nervous, and the other was perfectly competent and much higher level then the other two.

i was worried afterwards that i hed tried to stick to the brief to much, and not adapted down to the riders, but the examiner must have thought I did ok as I passed.

you actually learn so much more once you officially start teaching, and if I went back and did it again i would do it so much better!

I hope this has helped a bit, if you would like any more help on specific breifs, or exercises then just let me know.

[nicepony]

thanks teach 1 that really helps seeing it broken down. as i am not getting the chance to work through the briefs i dont know how many exercises will fit in to the lesson. especially for the ones like improve their feel for rythym and balance using app. exercises including circles etc. ??? thanks for all your help.

[teach1]

it really is a case of doing them a few times, an it will depend on the level of you riders to how many exercises you can coomfortable do in the time allowed. It usually only boils down to about two / three.

good luck for when you take it, let us know how you get on.

[nicepony]

I Passed!!!!!

[teach1]

well done nicepony!

How did you find it? Which briefs did you get?

[kirstie]

I'm taking my ride and road safety test hopefully i'' pass that in a few weeks time congrats nicepony for passing your exam

[nicepony]

thanks! i am so glad that is over with. the group lesson was jumping a grid which went so well. and i had a lead rein lesson which didnt go so well as it was with an adult rider who had ridden in quite a few ptt lead reins. silly really but still i passed!!!

[teach1]

well done, I was hoping for the gridwork breif, its one you can really get your teeth into. I also had a lead rein with an adult, bit strange but hey you passed, so roll on all those hours!

Have you done your three?

[nicepony]

no i havent done my 3 yet..... i am not so bothered about the stable management i will just have to sit down and read read read and eventually it will stick in. the riding though i havent done a lot of jumping especially that height so i will have to have a lot of lessons. i will probably start asking you more Qs about the 3 exam soon!

[teach1]

ask away, I'll try my best to answer.

I thought doing my three would take forever as I was worried about the fence height on unknown horses, but the more I did the better it got. I also went to the centre for a stage three jump lesson the week before just to so I was familier with the place and the horses. I think it really helped.

[hollinequest]

Brampton is our preferred centre just not for this candidate.

YRS ok for basic levels but there are issues in different riding techniques at higher levels.
mmm yes my 20 yr old son has just completed a stage 3 following a 3 day revision course at YRC and was successfull in all care and jumping in every supporting and compulsorary element but failed all elements in 2 out of three sections of the flat
he has taken this on the chin but is quite confused about the required level
following positive feedback from the schooling sessions and being quietly confident about the exam
any constructive advice most welcome !

[hollinequest]

Hi, I have recently successfully gone through my stages 1 -3 riding and care, and PTT.

Just wondered if anyone was taking theres and wanted any help? If anyone wants to ask anything about the exams, exam centres or just share experiences. just reply :o
would love to talk about this - are you logging your hours now?
(I have posted some of this to another quote of yours)
My 20 yr old son has just completed a stage 3 following a 3 day revision course at YRC and was successfull in all care and jumping in every supporting and compulsorary element but failed all elements in 2 out of three sections of the flat so came out of it with only the groom's cert..
He has taken this on the chin but is quite confused about the required level
following positive feedback from the schooling sessions and being quietly confident about the exam
any constructive advice most welcome !
It is 32yrs since I sat my stage 3 and i have a small licenced teaching and riding holiday business in which my son works inbetween terms at Hartpury where he is in the middle of an equine dentistry degree and he has HNC Horse Studies which is meant to be stage 3 to 4
There is no real rush for him to get his AI but it will be very interesting to chat to recently qualified people and he would like to chat too if we can get him off the horses and out of the manege long enough !

[teapot]

ahh the days of riding in PTT practise groups.

I WILL book my stage 2 one day

[eml]

For Hollinequest.

Most of the HNC people I have met would just be Stage 2 riding although this varies vastly between colleges. The current stage 3 is the equivalent of stage 4 in the days you took it and an ability to work all horses in good form is critical. The approach at YRC is quite scandinavian so it may be that your son just did not read them correctly. Choosing the best centre for exams especially at higher levels is essential.

What is your sons main experience and what sort of horses does he like? This will give you a good guide to where to resit. Ideally let him do lots of lessons at different centres to get the feel of the way their horses work or ask an instructor who prepares lots of candidates for their view. Do not just think about the closest centre, we have favourites for various types of candidates and seldom use our closest!!