BHS stages

showjump2003

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I have no plans to make horses a career but for my own enjoyment I think I would quite like to start my BHS stages. Soooo.... my questions are! I will obviously be doing them in my own time so how long do they take and how much am I looking at it costing me? What is involved with the first stage?
 
You have to join the BHS

and then its summat like £100 per exam, or something like that last time I checked

Syllabus is on BHS website, but Stage One is stupidly easy
 
Thanks. I am already a BHS gold member so that's ok. My starting level of horse knowlegde is pretty good. I was working towards my pony club B test when I was 17/18 but then left the pony club before I actually sat it (I'm 21 now). I own three of my own horses so ride everyday and compete weekly and currently have lessons on my own mare weekly at a centre that does the BHS training.
 
If you were working towards your PC B test, then you're already looking at over stage 2 standard.

Cost is expensive -

HK&R Stage 1 £130
HK&R Stage 2 £150
HK&R Stage 3 £190

That's the complete free for both sections of the exam, you can do them seperately but it costs more.

Think the only thing you have to bare in mind is just doing some stuff "the bhs way". It's mainly common sense though. For the riding - especially at stage 1, they're not looking for you to ride the horse into an outline (in some cases, you can fail for it) - it's about the basics. Stage 2 - you're working into an outline and then stage 3 is the "proper" outline.

Feel free to ask anymore - spent 3 years working at a where to train yard
 
I'm doing the same thing! I passed my Stage 1 last month after going to a few classes. It was a bit of a risky policy but it paid off, lol! 2 riding schools in my area run evening classes up to stage 2 level. So I'm going to these weekly now, and am hoping to do the exam in a few months.

The Hazel Reed books have been a big help so far, as they tell you everything you need to know. If your riding/handling is good you should be fine having read these as well. Good luck!
 
You want to do BHS exams; 'for my own enjoyment!'

Hee hee, joking. Maybe you will enjoy them I don't know although I found them quite stressful when I did mine! As Anakin says the Hazel Reed books are very good and make sure you do everything the BHS way. First stage is fairly basic stuff, feeding is the main bit some people find difficult as you need to plan a ration based on weight and workload etc.
 
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