BHS Exams / Examiners: Your feelings good or bad?

I loved studying and taking my exams - they were generally a pleasant experience, except the time I took a fellow candidate to the exam - I passed and she failed - not a good journey home - I was so elated but had to contain my exuberence for this girl.

I'm now a Pony Club 'B' examiner and love examining. I try to make exams as relaxing and fun as I can. Have two riders about to sit their 'B' HM, we've had some great revision times and they are now far more relaxed about their impending exam. We are looking forward to working for 'H' certificate.

Most importantly is that the candidate is well prepared for the exam - if they know more than what is expected of them then the exam is easy. It is very frustraing when you have a candidate that is out of their depth - it is de-moralising for them when they are failed and examiners really feel bad about failing people. It spoils our day too.

When I'm teaching I try to make sure HM especially is as practical as possible so that students can interact - sitting in a class room is boring and not the best way to learn. Practise makes so much easier to understand.
 
Posting again as I have read all the responses.

As an examiner - a candidate NEVER fails on just one thing - the system of marking is such that if the rider has passed the majority of sections reasonably well they are usually given the benefit of the doubt and passed. The criteria is - 'think overal rather than in petty detail' 1 - Where the candidates methods safe? 2. Where the techniques shown acceptable? 3. If the candidate continues along the same lines, will they improve? There is always more than one examiner so the result is agreed between them all.

Most people who grizzle after failing have either failed in more than one section or have too many border line passes that means that the failed section drops them down.

They also are often the ones that think they are gods gift to the horse world and have not studied well enough. The ones that remark that they 'probebly didn't do it the BHS way' have only themselves to blame if they fail. I'm constantly telling my Pony Club kids that if they do things the required way they will also do it that way in the exam. When you are nervous you often revert to what you do at home.

When you feel things have gone wrong - it is worth writing to the exam body with your concerns. At one exam I was given a horse to jump - a confirmed stopper. My stirrups wouldn't go long enough for my long legs and I had to jump this stroppy horses with stirrups so short I couldn't use my legs properly. The comment that came back was that 'A rider of the required would be able to cope' I replied - 'A rider of the required standerd would not be dumb enough to ride such a stroppy type of horse unless they were able to ride the horse in a strong manner with full use of their legs!' Result when I resat the exam we were asked if our stirrups were OK - if they were too long/short then they would be replaced. Passed well that time.

When I've failed any exam - equine or academic it's because I've not prepared well enough for it. I'm at fault - not the examiner.

I've recently been looking at the Syllabii for the Stage exams and wow they have seriously increased in standard required from the rider. When I took mine they were the Adult version of the Pony Club exams.
 
Last edited:
I failed my Stage 3 riding the 1st time. I took it at the centre I had trained at, so my trainers saw me ride as did the people I trained with. When I failed they were surprised, didn't agree and told me I should have passed and rebook myself on an exam quickly.

But I refused to accept an examiner would just fail me, so I booked myself for an assessment lesson somewhere else. They totally agreed I wasn't up to standard. I could jump the height, was totally safe to do so etc etc, but my position just was not 100% up to scratch (I rode a bit defensively) and that is why I failed. I trained there a few months, retook and passed.

I could have easily blamed my examiner as my friends and trainers said the examiner was wrong, but no, it was them.
 
I have mixed views when it comes to the exams. I am currently trying to work through the exam structure having sat my Stage 1 last year. I am doing them for fun, I might add, not for professional purposes and therefore, am funding them myself.

I was disappointed to find that I had failed the Stage 1 riding exam and even more so to find that after paying x amount I was given no feedback at all! I understand that there are lots of exams being conducted but feel that an organisation the size of the BHS should be able to give constructive feedback as do all major teaching and examination organisations. I don't understand either what I get for my money as was disappointed in the structure and lack of supervision in the care section. I now have to fork out another x amount to resit the riding section - after 16 years of ownership and riding, competent competition record, the fact I was lead file in the exam and that I was given two difficult horses made me feel deflated and like I should never have been taken off the lead rein in the first place!

Oh well!
 
I think what a lot of people don't realise / forget / overlook is that they are professional industry qualifications. As someone who has worked up over the years from helping on the riding school floor, to running my own 40+ horse yard, and taken BHS Exams up to and including stage 4, I thoroughly enjoyed them to be honest!

Now when clients come to me and want BHS exam training I do have to ask first "WHY" - a lot of perfectly competant one horse owners want to do them to prove something, or for a bit of a challenge on the side, and really they are not relevant to that and you WILL struggle to do the mythical "BHS way" - which is mostly just commercial practice with speed and safety emphasised.

The other HUGE fault is that people go into them totally under prepared. You - and your trainers - need to feel confident that you are at a passable standard for the level ABOVE the one you are examined for, you wouldn't enter a 1m showjumping competition if you had only popped a few jumps of that height at home, you would want to be doing much bigger tracks consistently at home before performing at a lowel level in competition. Same applies to pretty much any assessment or competition really.

Do also get an external person in to assess you before parting with money and confidence in entering - not just your instructor, not just your mate on the yard, but someone who examines themselves or is very adept in preparing people for them (such as a WTT centre).
 
Shilasdair said:
It is because the English education system encourages mediocrity, and sets students up to believe that they have a right to enjoy themselves at all times.
They come to believe that they deserve qualifications without any work, effort or skill, with everything made easy for them. The implicit 'message' we send them is that the individual student is not responsible for their own success or failure; it is society that 'failed' them.


Whatever happened to working for what you want in life - for qualifications (educational and vocational) being the product of dedication, and skill, rather than society patronising you by giving you worthless, unfailable qualifications like the current 'continuous assessment' ridden A levels, and unfailable FE qualifications?

S :D
Click to expand...

I think Shils, with the greatest of respect, that you made plenty of reference to A levels here and that I did read your post correctly.

If you were as patronising to your candidates as you have been to me no wonder they had a grudge to bear.
 
fleabittengrey said:
I think what a lot of people don't realise / forget / overlook is that they are professional industry qualifications. As someone who has worked up over the years from helping on the riding school floor, to running my own 40+ horse yard, and taken BHS Exams up to and including stage 4, I thoroughly enjoyed them to be honest!

Now when clients come to me and want BHS exam training I do have to ask first "WHY" - a lot of perfectly competant one horse owners want to do them to prove something, or for a bit of a challenge on the side, and really they are not relevant to that and you WILL struggle to do the mythical "BHS way" - which is mostly just commercial practice with speed and safety emphasised.

The other HUGE fault is that people go into them totally under prepared. You - and your trainers - need to feel confident that you are at a passable standard for the level ABOVE the one you are examined for, you wouldn't enter a 1m showjumping competition if you had only popped a few jumps of that height at home, you would want to be doing much bigger tracks consistently at home before performing at a lowel level in competition. Same applies to pretty much any assessment or competition really.

Do also get an external person in to assess you before parting with money and confidence in entering - not just your instructor, not just your mate on the yard, but someone who examines themselves or is very adept in preparing people for them (such as a WTT centre).
Click to expand...

excellent post.



KZ84, you should have had a syllabus sheet back which will have X's next to the sections you have failed. If you didn't receive this contact the BHS. If you need interpretation of it give it to an instructor with experience of examinations or have a 2nd opinion on your riding as I did. Also, it does not matter how badly behaved your horse was in the exam (if it was terrible it would have been taken out), it is how you dealt with it that matters. In my Stage 1 I had a horse that refused to halt but I obviously dealt with it correctly as I passed and in my stage 3 (2nd time round) my horse ploughed straight through 1 of the SJ. Didn't matter as it was not my fault. I presented the horse to the fence correctly and it just didn't take off. Good luck in you resit!
 
jesstickle said:
I think Shils, with the greatest of respect, that you made plenty of reference to education here and that I did read your post correctly.

If you were as patronising to your candidates as you have been to me no wonder they had a grudge to bear.
Click to expand...


For some reason I can't edit my original post? Clearly I didn't pay enough attention in IT key skills as a rotten youngster as my computer skills are naff :D :D
 
jesstickle said:
I think Shils, with the greatest of respect, that you made plenty of reference to A levels here and that I did read your post correctly.

If you were as patronising to your candidates as you have been to me no wonder they had a grudge to bear.
Click to expand...

My candidates?
Now where did I say I was an examiner? I rest my case regarding your reading comprehension skills. :p
With the greatest respect, of course. :p :D
S :D
 
Having achieved my B.H,S grooms diploma, i found the standards at some exam centres poor.Most of the examiners were fine, a few were most definitely not.
My stage 1 we had equipment that was in poor condition, unsuitable horses and we were told to improvise.
My stage 2 one of my horses did handstands around the arena, and was known by the centre to do this, not surprisingly it was removed from the next session, but i could hardly show off my riding on it.
Again had to improvise things at the hkc session.
When asked if an area was suitable to trot up in stage 3 i said no as it was on a slight hill and also sloped to the side, the path was also stony, the examiner then went on to ignore my comment and used it anyway.
Again in hkc, didnt have enough of the correct equipment to allow all candidates to choose correctly, i feel its pointless of the B.H.S to set these standards if theyre not prepared to keep them .
I chose to take the ukcc route for my teaching as i got so fed up with the double standards set by the B.H.S.
No this isnt sour grapes from someone who failed, as i did pass, but i could appreciate how peed of some of the other candidates were that did fail.
 
I took my BHS stage 2 stable management 22 years ago and will be taking the Stage 2 riding in 9 days so I'll see how they've changed!
I have worked incredibly hard to try and improve my riding so I can pass this exam. I hope I do well and I respect the BHS. The only gripe I have is that I will be taking my exam with professionals and I'm just a happy hacker BUT life isn't fair and you have to accept this. The fact that I'm mature and have higher degrees may advantage me in some way too? As far as the strange way the BHS do things? Mostly it's for a safety reasons. By the way, here is a wordle of the stage 2 exam!

picture.php
 
Shilasdair said:
I am prepared to be shot for this opinion but here goes :D :p
It is because the English education system encourages mediocrity, and sets students up to believe that they have a right to enjoy themselves at all times.
They come to believe that they deserve qualifications without any work, effort or skill, with everything made easy for them. The implicit 'message' we send them is that the individual student is not responsible for their own success or failure; it is society that 'failed' them.

In the case of BHS exams, this results in them bleating that the examiners 'failed' them (always unjustly because they are superbly talented according to their own opinions :p), or the horses didn't do what they were meant to, or the tack wasn't right, or the centre wasn't perfect.

I am so sick of it.

Whatever happened to working for what you want in life - for qualifications (educational and vocational) being the product of dedication, and skill, rather than society patronising you by giving you worthless, unfailable qualifications like the current 'continuous assessment' ridden A levels, and unfailable FE qualifications?

No, students aren't working harder, teachers aren't improving; grades are improving because standards are being dragged down because modern young people are assumed to be too stupid/lazy to work.

Rant over.
Phew, I feel better for saying that! :D
S :D
Click to expand...
Ermm I actually agree with this. :o
 
I had my Stage 3 exam yesterday and was told I could not carry on to the jumping phase due to riding the second horse with a longer contact. I gave them my reason (horse had a sensitive mouth and was more supple with a longer contact) the man who teaches at Brampton said the horse needs to be ridden on a longer contact and was surprised at them failing me. At the end of the day only 5 made it to the jumping phase and only 2 into the cross country. They failed one girl for jumping due to "looking nervous". I am disgusted with the examiners and I strongly believe they failed candidates so they will get more money as retakes will be needed.
 
Fern1995 said:
I had my Stage 3 exam yesterday and was told I could not carry on to the jumping phase due to riding the second horse with a longer contact. I gave them my reason (horse had a sensitive mouth and was more supple with a longer contact) the man who teaches at Brampton said the horse needs to be ridden on a longer contact and was surprised at them failing me. At the end of the day only 5 made it to the jumping phase and only 2 into the cross country. They failed one girl for jumping due to "looking nervous". I am disgusted with the examiners and I strongly believe they failed candidates so they will get more money as retakes will be needed.
Click to expand...

I have not been involved with the BHS system for some years but do know people who are as well as keeping in touch generally and suspect that the examiners are still much the same, they expect a certain standard and will fail anyone who is not at that standard, as they should.
The girl that "looked nervous" was probably more than just showing this in her expression, she was likely to be tense through her body and that was having a negative effect on her riding generally, they have the experience to see these things which you probably do not yet.
I am not sure what you mean by a longer contact, you are either on a long rein with a contact or riding up to the bridle with a proper contact/ connection and a soft hand, if you used the term longer contact then they were correct to fail you as you were probably riding on a loose rein or with a contact that was coming and going, if you said the horse needed a very light contact or a soft hand they may have taken a different view, you need to be very careful when using different terms that they are understood or correct, keep at it next time should be easier if you prepare well.

As for the BHS making money out of retakes I suspect that most exams only break even by the time everything is paid for, hiring the venue for the day will be expensive and examiners do need to be paid.
 
Agree with be positive, I can guarantee a candidate will not have been failed for looking nervous and nothing else. Many people who aren't successful look for someone or something to blame and it's often the assessors (examiners) or the horses - it's part of the modern day blame culture. Exams aren't making huge amounts of money by the time the centre is paid, the examiners are paid, the isnurance is paid and the staff and admin costs at headquarters are paid. When I was examining I could have made more money staying at home and teaching for the day rather than travelling to an exam centre and spending the day examining so I certainly wasn't doing it for the money but because I believed in the exam system. Failing a candidate involves much more paperwork for the assessors and so they aren't going to fail people just for their expression, they are trained and there are criteria laid down to decide whether a candidate is up to standard or not.
 
Shilasdair said:
I am prepared to be shot for this opinion but here goes :D :p
It is because the English education system encourages mediocrity, and sets students up to believe that they have a right to enjoy themselves at all times.
They come to believe that they deserve qualifications without any work, effort or skill, with everything made easy for them. The implicit 'message' we send them is that the individual student is not responsible for their own success or failure; it is society that 'failed' them.

In the case of BHS exams, this results in them bleating that the examiners 'failed' them (always unjustly because they are superbly talented according to their own opinions :p), or the horses didn't do what they were meant to, or the tack wasn't right, or the centre wasn't perfect.

I am so sick of it.

Whatever happened to working for what you want in life - for qualifications (educational and vocational) being the product of dedication, and skill, rather than society patronising you by giving you worthless, unfailable qualifications like the current 'continuous assessment' ridden A levels, and unfailable FE qualifications?

No, students aren't working harder, teachers aren't improving; grades are improving because standards are being dragged down because modern young people are assumed to be too stupid/lazy to work.

Rant over.
Phew, I feel better for saying that! :D
S :D
Click to expand...


Where's the 'like' button when you need one!!
 
Shilasdair said:
My candidates?
Now where did I say I was an examiner? I rest my case regarding your reading comprehension skills. :p
With the greatest respect, of course. :p :D
S :D
Click to expand...

You said:

Examiners get a lot of abuse from know-it-all candidates. I know that you wouldn't be rude enough to do that, but perhaps the examiner was trying to calm you down.
I mean, sometimes my students gave me truly, astoundingly, amazingly stupid answers to questions, but I didn't say 'what are you havering about, you halfwit?' I say 'well, there's some interesting points there' or something equally gentle before I try to correct the fools.
Click to expand...

It is not unreasonable for someone to assume from this that you are an examiner of some kind. (Perhaps not BHS - but then Jesstickle didn't say "BHS" anyway. As you'd know since you read so carefully.)

I'm sorry but I felt a lot of respect for you when you posted that first "rant" because it takes guts to say something like that on a forum like this and I largely agree with you. But the patronising tone you've taken since is not making you look as persuasive. This silly point-scoring on the basis of "careful reading" or whatever is just childish.



Anyway, back to the OP, I haven't taken any BHS exams and have no reason to do so at the moment. However, I am not short of academic qualifications and would currently be considered an 'expert' in my own field. I do not think I am infallible - no human is infallible - and we all make mistakes. I have written and marked exams for undergraduate vet students (biology modules - I'm not a vet!) and I know that in general I know more than they do, but if they came to me with a concern, I'd hear them out with an open mind. The same should be true of BHS examiners and if it's not, as some have implied, then that's not good. If they are misleading or outright do not know their 'stuff', they need to be better trained. As long as they ultimately score people correctly though, I'm not sure their poor social skills and the need to double-check the answers is much condemnation.

I have read through the requirements for passing various BHS exams out of curiosity and I must say that to me some of the things they ask are a bit ridiculous. I think taking the exams certainly demonstrates commitment to learning and being part of the industry but the "BHS way" is not necessarily the "best way". It may be long-established, safe and fast. That doesn't mean it's the only or best. However, when you sit an exam with the BHS, you are accepting that the examiner is looking for the "BHS way". If you want to do it a different way, you can - but not in the exam.

Whether the industry should place so much value on having passed BHS stages is therefore a completely separate issue to whether the examiners are good/bad. I'm not sure the BHS ought to be the 'gold standard' honestly but they have monopolised that role because of how long they've been doing this. This is perhaps a legitimate concern but as for the examiners, from what people have said here, they are generally ok but are only human and occasionally make a little error. Not worth crying over or getting hung up on.
 
That's ok. I think some things need to be said. The majority of my post was regarding the original topic anyway - and several people seem to be interested in that today. (There are a few posts above mine from earlier today or I would not have seen this thread!)
 
Last edited:
I think examiners have become more user friendly over the last few years. However, it's an exam with a pass or fail like the driving test and it's one of the few things in life where there is a definite answer. So many exams and tests now are done on continuous assessment and with a modular element to them.
As someone who has been involved with PC tests in the past, I know that most examiners start with a position of passing the candidate, and the candidate usually has to try quite hard to fail!
Looking at the list of examiners in our region for BHS and PC, as there is a big cross over, many have huge experience in a lot of different areas, some are trained to deal with candidates with learning difficulties, some come with competitive backgrounds and some from riding school or college environments, it seems a little immature to think they are all out to get you and fail you.
If you were training to become an accountant, a lawyer, a nurse and so on, it would not be considered correct for a candidate to harangue the examiner - but it does happen with riding exams.
If you fail take a long look at your riding and horsecare and see if you can see the examiner's point of view.
When someone says to me that they've spoken to X who says they shouldn't have failed - I ask if X was present on the day and watching the exam. Of course not. But somehow X feels entitled to give an opinion!There are so many factors - nerves, strange environment, large horses and short legs - but it's about learning to cope with all this.
I didn't pass my driving test first time, no good moaning, I just went away and practiced more.
 
There is no such thing as the "BHS way", you are examined on being effective, efficient, safe and not detrimental to the horse - there are reasons most things are generally done a certain way but as long as candidates have a method that meets the above criteria there shouldn't be a problem. The riding sections has a degree of subjectivity in them and this will always be the case - look at how dressage judges marks can vary. The usual reasons for not progressing to the jumping element tend to be safety concerns, you will ride more than one horse on the flat so if you rode the othe horse with a correct contact and everything else was to standard I would highly doubt you would fail. Candidates nerves often mean they perform below their usual standard and sadly a proportion also have an inflated opinion of their ability. No one but the examiners, commander and other candidates will have seen what happened so it's impossible to verify a candidate's take on how they performed.

Being rather old back in my day if a person didn't meet the required standard in any exam they just had to go away and work harder for the next time. I have witnessed and experienced the abuse dished out by some candidates and their entourages and this led to results not being given out on the day which sadly meant the chance of a conversation with candidates was lost.
 
As one of the prerequisites of working with horses is an ability to take knocks, both physical and emotional, a proverbial roller coaster of ups and downs with successes, failures and upsets - I would suggest that learning to cope with the exams is just part of what the future with horses will throw at you.
I've failed/passed exams, had triumphs and tragedies, had to learn to deal with awkward owners, disappointed children, lame horses the day of the championships - you have to develop a really strong pragmatic streak to cope, or you would give up very early on.
I would also add that with social media I would think very carefully before giving strong opinions on examiners, employers, exam centres and so on. If you have a complaint or query, follow the correct channels because what you may say in a hot moment may follow you through your career.
 
My daughter took - and passed - both parts of her stage 2 this summer. She is 16. She took her RRS at 12 and her stage 1 at 14 - both as soon as she could. An earlier poster said she would be taking her stage 2 alongside professionals - that is certainly not the case. Although I grant you my daughter was one of only 2 under 18's - both passed.

You do have to work for these exams. It isn't enough to say or to believe you are a competent horse-person. These are professional qualifications for a professional career. (Daughter is taking them by her own choice as she wants her BHSAI by the time she goes to uni. Teaching riding is a better way to earn as you study that stacking shelves or waiting tables!) I am saddened - although not surprised - by some of the comments. And very much heartened by others.

If you work hard for something you will achieve it. If you don't you won't. Criticizing the system won't change that and won't give you something you haven't worked for. Shils had a great point a couple of pages earlier. As did Be Positive. And indeed many others. The BHS route isn't the only way to teach riding - there is the UKCC system and the Pony Club progressive tests (which are harder than BHS IMO!) And you certainly don't need the qualifications to ride or even to compete if you don't want them. But if you want a professional qualification which has kept its integrity (largely by consistently failing those who do not meet the standard) then BHS is the way to go.
 
Its a long time since I took mine (BHSAI and Stage 4). I am always amused that the people who generally slate them are the ones that haven't done them or didn't pass them. I trained for mine in a very good, very big Stage 4 examination/livery/RS/competition centre in the late 80s early 90s as a live in working pupil and looked after 3 RS horses and up to 4 full livery horses daily. Noone ever claimed it was the be all and end all back then, a BHSAI was a starting point.

I failed the ridden part of my stage 3 first time round due to nerves-as a 17yo I was devastated that day, there's no way I should have failed but being a bit nervous during the jumping I kicked on a bit and went way too fast. I got over it, passed it a couple of months later and the same examiner complimented me on my riding.


I didn't want to teach and worked in various yards and settings up until I was thirty or so. When I was made redundant at 37 I went freelance grooming.

The BHS training/exams taught me how to fit tack, how to be safe around unknown horses, to be disciplined in treating them all consistently, taught me to observe how a horse is within a couple of seconds of seeing it and manage my time apart from all the obvious stuff. When I went freelancing, it was those qualifications and experience that got me work and that training that enabled to handle unknown horses safely-and thank christ too, seeing how badly mannered 70% of leisure horses have been trained to be.

Are they still relevant? Dunno, I wish more had access to the sort of training I had (my parents paid room and board for the first year though, I guess most wouldn't be up for that) and then maybe we'd have better livery yards around.
 
How right you are, Shay. Both my offspring did their bhs exams, fast tracking to stage 3 from PC b test, and one paid her way through university that way. Even though she's now in another form of work, she has maintained her BHS qualifications and has worked in different parts of the world with them. They are universally recognised. Having your AI may not mean you are a wonderful rider or competitor, but it does mean you have taken the trouble, time, effort and expense to make sure you have reached a certain standard.

Also, to teach at PC level in some countries you now require a BHS qualification.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top