BHS Stage 1 Care Exam in a month...advice please!

[holly011]

Hiya!

I'm doing my BHS stage 1 care exam in early Jan and am very nervous. Has anyone got any general advice, how the exam works, what sort of questions you were asked etc.

I have been studying but worried my brain will go blank!

 

[Sanversera]

I found them very exacting. Practice practice practice look proficient and confident and professional and that goes a long way to give the right impression . I found they didn't like uncertainty or waffle.

 

[View]

The assessors are more human nowadays. Yes, practise. Be repaired to explain why you do X using Y method, why you prefer that to Z method. But you can have a reasonable discussion during your assessment - my assessor watched me put the bridle on, and was completely unfussed that I don’t use the normal method of holding the cheek pieces with a hand round and in front of the horses’s face; I always hold the headpiece with my hand above and through the ears. I find that I can put the bridle on more smoothly this way, and with a bigger horse that understands pressure and release, if they put their head up and meet my arm which won’t move up, their head promptly comes back down. I’d had so many people telling me that I would fail for using this method, but once I explained my reasoning, as she said, if it works, it works.

Safety is still the most important thing. One of the candidates when I did my stage one forgot to put a girth on the saddle when tacking up. That led to a resit of that unit.

Don’t worry if you realise you have said something daft - I completely misnamed one of the points of the horse, stopped and said I had no idea what I had said, when I actually meant this.

They expect you to be nervous, and will try to get you to talk and relax.

 

[teapot]

Stage 1 is literally about being safe - are you capable of untacking a horse unsupervised? Are you capable of mucking out safely, leading a horse in hand etc etc

Format wise, unless it's changed - you'll be assigned a box/horse, with everything you need will be outside the box. Assessor will come along and ask you do x,y,z, and may even leave you alone. At some point they'll come along and start asking questions. Be confident, don't be afraid to ask if you don't understand and they will help you if your brain goes blank etc. Stuff like trotting horse up in hand will be done as a group.