BHS stage 1

[Michelle1109]

So I did the stage one and I was so nervous i forgot everything
I had the worst horse in the first ride to the point I was told To take my whip and smack it on the bum a good 3/4 times to get it to move in to trot and this continued through my whole ride now I’m not against whips but having to continually smack the horse to get it to keep moving or to translation was a bit much for me- and the school we were at said it’s perfectly fine to do so!!!!! To me that would be classed as over Use of the stick and it’s also napped very badly Along with chucking me it the fences and scratching my boots beyond repair

Secondly there were a lot of things on the day that were not in the “new” book for revision (seems it was in the old book) as the syllabus has changed but the examiners seems to follow the old one
I was for sure caught out on a few things I was not expecting as it wasn’t in the revision booklets

Now some things I should of known I’ll admit that but it caught me unaware and I babbled my answer ( I was so mad as I know the answers)

Pass or fail it’s fine but my question is how do I get the point across to the BHS team without sounding wingey about the new Vs old book revisions stuff? Also being asked stage 2 questions (that used to be stage one so had not been in the revision we got told to do)
As with any exam you need to be prepared and if I was to take any other exam I would expect the revision to Match the exams so find it a little confusing (as did many others on the day)

We sat our exams in dubai with a uk BHS team

Thoughts any one ?
I don’t want to come across and the one who moans but I think they should get feed back as the UAE is new territory for the BHS and I think they should know

 

[Farma]

What sort of things do you mean? When I did the stage 1 exam it was fairly straight forward, basic horse knowledge and of course you have to do certain things the 'bhs' way with regard to rugging / tacking up routine etc but as long as you showed safe practices and a good knowledge you were ok, as u go up the ladder I think you will find they want answers from practical experience not just textbook replies.
I think its shame if you felt your horse wasn't suitable and it would be worth giving them that feedback. One of the horses I had to jump on my stage 2 exam was very difficult but they want to see you in real life situations I guess? if you are going to qualify to work on a yard / school whatever you will have to deal with so many different and unpredictable horses.
Even now when I go to different riding schools I despair at some of the horses / ponies used in some of them, but as a freelance you cant walk in and dictate to yard managers, you have to work with what you have and its not always easy or ideal!

 

[Michelle1109]

What sort of things do you mean? When I did the stage 1 exam it was fairly straight forward, basic horse knowledge and of course you have to do certain things the 'bhs' way with regard to rugging / tacking up routine etc but as long as you showed safe practices and a good knowledge you were ok, as u go up the ladder I think you will find they want answers from practical experience not just textbook replies.
I think its shame if you felt your horse wasn't suitable and it would be worth giving them that feedback. One of the horses I had to jump on my stage 2 exam was very difficult but they want to see you in real life situations I guess? if you are going to qualify to work on a yard / school whatever you will have to deal with so many different and unpredictable horses.
Even now when I go to different riding schools I despair at some of the horses / ponies used in some of them, but as a freelance you cant walk in and dictate to yard managers, you have to work with what you have and its not always easy or ideal!

No I totally agree we have to deal with what’s in front of us I never expect to have a floaty pony handed to me
I’m more concerned about how much I used my whip - I’m scared it could be classed as over use (every 10 steps it need a crack and every upwards transision it need 3/4 big cracks on the bum to get it moving)

I had the new book which is more “easy” yet the exam seemed to based on the older version of the BHS books slightly harder so a few of us where a bit under prepared on such things as feed (name ALL the grains ingredients of the feed you have in your hand)
Explain the leg sequence of a canter right rein .... when striking off on the WRONG leg ...... it was a tricky question .... after I stuffed it up I realised answer was give sequence of a left rein canter!!! “Roll eyes”

Strip and Wipe down bridle (but don’t worry if it’s not correct as we don’t have much time just give it a quick wipe with water) after checking I was asked “ooooh you didn’t use soap or oils?)
We all looked at each other not knowing whether to remind her that she said “strip & wipe down with water
as we don’t have time”

We had to muck out tack up untack rug up etc but the other thing was that none of the rugs fitted so it was hard to demonstrate and I felt we didn’t get a good shot to show off our skills on many occasions

Like I say pass or fail I’ll respect it but feel that we had very conflicting info on what the syllabus was as many of had the “new way” shown to us when the examiners were still looking for the “old” way

I emailed the BHS ref the horse explaining my fear of over use of the whip and explained the commander had advised me to do it as the horse won’t move (it took me a while to come to terms and actually do it as I was so unsure about it)

I asked the BHS to take it as positive feedback and pass or fail it would ok provided I wasn’t failed on that point alone

Confused.com

 

[TheMule]

If you feel you were examined on incorrect content then I would email thr specific details to BHS asap and ask them to dis-regard your answers for those specific areas.
The horse not going forwards will be up to the examiner on the day to make a judgement.

 

[Farma]

I think the issue with your horse not going forward is a tricky one and does need to be discussed, nobody would want to ride a horse in an exam that was so reluctant to go forward, as from memory you only ride one horse on stage 1? I may be wrong but as you go up the levels you ride quite a few on the same day so if one is difficult you have your chance on others.
With regard to the other bits I really think you may be hanging onto the 'book' with too much thought, they will of course ask you a lot more than is in there because they want to see your actual knowledge, not that you've read a book well, this isn't to say they will fail you if you don't know more than the required standard. I remember in my teaching exam being thrown so many curve balls to test my knowledge of jumping distances etc, if you genuinely have the required knowledge you will be fine!
Please remember that most of the examiners are old school, and although they are testing on a syllabus they will have masses of experience and will be able to weed out those that are genuinely up to the standard to pass!
I remember doing the tail bandage so tightly I couldn't get it off - I was mortified and sure I would fail that section but nothing was even mentioned!

 

[Otherwise]

Which book were you using? It sort of sounds like it's a supplement to a more thorough textbook but nothing can beat real world experience. The incorrectly fitting equipment you'll find at every stage. In my stage 1 we picked a rug from a pile to put on, it didn't fit so I told the examiner I wasn't happy with it. Stage 2 I had brushing boots that were too long, stage 3 an overgirth that was hilariously big. If there's an alternative available that does fit you should use it but otherwise as long as you can identify when something doesn't fit and describe how it should fit you'll pass. Knowing when something is wrong can be just as good as knowing when it's right. Did you fill out a feedback form before you left on the day?

 

[mairiwick]

I wonder regarding the stripping of the bridle if she wanted you to verbalise that you would normally use soap/give a quick oil etc... but on this occasion as she has stated water that's what you are doing - was she possible trying to prompt the information out of you?
I was trained for my stage 1 to go into plenty of detail and the examiners will tell you to (politely) shut up and move on to someone else. The grain identification was part of my sage 1 but that was over 10 years ago now.
Be over prepared - the best comment of the day I got was when a fellow student was asked to demonstrate picking out hooves, they started to go to look for a hoof pick and I produced mine from my pocket. Got a big grin from the examiner and he said was nice to see someone so prepared

 

[Michelle1109]

@mairiwick
I did tell the lady after she commented that normally I would soap and potentially oil, I was very nervous to mention it as I was thinking oh gosh this is not good! I just felt that as I hadn’t done it it was frowned upon

The books as I have found out are now combined, 1,2&3. And not broken down like before in the stages so I can now see where some of the confusion has come from. And my advise for any one taking the BHS exams would be ASK THEM, and ask an AI or an I for some guidance on what would be classed as the basic knowledge upwards as I had lots of stage 2 but got some of the more simpler things wrong.... or had to really think about it.
Put it this way I got In such a tizz grooming (it was 38’ hot) I had a dandy brush in one hand and a body in the other
And guess what I told her them the wrong way round!!!’ I corrected myself pretty fast though!!!! I was kicking myself for ages afterwards

I am hoping the my explaination of practical experience showed through.

My main point was of the ride sections and so on taking advise from you all I emailed a senior at the BHS confidentially and raised the point. This person was brilliant, gave me great advise. I’m glad I raised it.
I am going to wait for my marks to come through as I want the grades to be based on fairness. Should I fail on that particular point I can raise it officially and can use the concern email to explain I had already raised the point and I was aware it was wrong, but wanted to be marked fairly.
The more I think about it the more I believe they noticed it them selfs as they made us swap horses half way through The ride section

Thanks for all the advice so far. And keep it all crossed I passed

 

[Shay]

I wonder if part of the confusion here is that the old style BHS stage 1, 2,3 etc no longer exist? The stage 1 exam for the different pathways will focus on different skills? I presume you were doing the coaching pathway stage 1 rather than groom or rider - but might either you / your trainer / the examiner got hung up with the old style stage 1? Do take care with old style text books - the syllabi have changed and some things which use to fall into stage 2 now appear at stage 1 etc. You might be better buying the current books direct from the BHS if that is an option for you?

 

[Michelle1109]

I wonder if part of the confusion here is that the old style BHS stage 1, 2,3 etc no longer exist? The stage 1 exam for the different pathways will focus on different skills? I presume you were doing the coaching pathway stage 1 rather than groom or rider - but might either you / your trainer / the examiner got hung up with the old style stage 1? Do take care with old style text books - the syllabi have changed and some things which use to fall into stage 2 now appear at stage 1 etc. You might be better buying the current books direct from the BHS if that is an option for you?

Agreed - after the exam I found out that yes the books are no longer 1,2,3 but a combined and the exam
I took the groom pathway
Which covers all general stable management / general basic ride etc
I think through no fault of any one the communication between the syllabus Study / revision And actual exam was
Some what lacking.

All in all it was good fun I just wish there was a little more clarity

 

[Otherwise]

What I found most helpful was to go over the syllabus with my instructor, going through and checking off what I knew and what I needed to brush up on. From that I then had a plan on what to study and had a couple of practical stable management lessons for stuff I hadn't done before and then a couple where we simulated an exam situation. I can remember one session on feeding with samples of feed to identify, another on lunging to the time limits of the exam. They really helped reassure me that I was ready for the exam and had some idea of what it would be like. I'm lucky in that my normal instructor also assesses nvqs and does pony club stable management sessions but it really made a difference. For the theory stuff I used one book that covered 1,2 and 3, I read more than I needed to in some areas but I made sure I knew everything on the syllabus in depth. They might ask a question that goes beyond it but they won't hold it against you if you don't know, in my stage 1 they asked a question in the feeding section that they then said was a stage 4 level question and we weren't expected to know.

 

[Shay]

If you took the Groom pathway then your stable management knowledge would have been tested to a much higher level. The changes in the BHS route have been well advertised in the UK - and have still caused confusion. I have a young rider on the rider pathway who was about to take her stage 3 when the center cancelled on the basis of the changes (in that case the sequencing of what was then the PTT) and it took ages to get BHS and the center sorted out. There was no need to cancel - but by the time they acknowledged that it was too late but at least we got the fees back. If it caused that much hassle in the UK I ha to imagine what it caused / causes overseas.

Riding isn't part of the groom pathway at all so if that is what you thought you were taking then any ridden assessment is moot. Perhaps supporting the concern that the new equine excellence route wasn't fully understood?

 

[Otherwise]

If you took the Groom pathway then your stable management knowledge would have been tested to a much higher level.

Riding isn't part of the groom pathway at all so if that is what you thought you were taking then any ridden assessment is moot. Perhaps supporting the concern that the new equine excellence route wasn't fully understood?

I don't get this. I presume the op did stage 1 care and stage 1 ride as in the complete horsemanship pathway, why on earth would there be two different levels of care knowledge within the same stage? Why would they assess the grooms pathway stage 1 care to a higher level than the complete horsemanship stage 1 care? It's the same component, it should be assessed the same, require the same depth of knowledge and be interchangeable otherwise once you start down one path you're stuck with it.

 

[Michelle1109]

I don't get this. I presume the op did stage 1 care and stage 1 ride as in the complete horsemanship pathway, why on earth would there be two different levels of care knowledge within the same stage? Why would they assess the grooms pathway stage 1 care to a higher level than the complete horsemanship stage 1 care? It's the same component, it should be assessed the same, require the same depth of knowledge and be interchangeable otherwise once you start down one path you're stuck with it.

Hi
Yes I took complete horsemanship sorry my mistake - I wanted the groom, but wasn’t available
I did ride and care stage one.
I do admire the BHS for trying to extend them selfs overseas and sharing the education of welfare etc it must be hard.

I do think it could be better organised by the centres / centres be better Equipt for the exams but it’s a working progress and do hope they continue there work

The “old” BHS I heard was pretty brutal lol and installing so much change to the exams I’m sure has caused confusion at home let alone overseas

I’m awaiting my results and I have given positive feedback to the BHS in the hope it will help them in future

If I continue with the levels I will for sure be doing them in the uk

 

[Shay]

I was confused as to why you would be riding in the Groom pathway! It does take time to get your head around but the different options at the higher levels do make it easier to get professional recognition in your specific area without also having to do everything at every point.

 

[Michelle1109]

I was confused as to why you would be riding in the Groom pathway! It does take time to get your head around but the different options at the higher levels do make it easier to get professional recognition in your specific area without also having to do everything at every point.

Hope so! As I’ll never make a good rider hahah! But I can tack up and turn out like a pro