Hints and tips please :) BHS Stage 2. Does competition exp help?

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Hossrider

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Hi all

Doing my stage two in about three weeks. Need lots of hints and tips please?

I compete at horse trials, up to be100. I don't ride many other horses though apart from my two. Will this hold me back?

Worried that I'm going to make huge mistakes, have had horses for several years and look after them my way so think I'm going to do something stupid.

I don't lunge although currently practicing so hopefully I'll be ok with that but beginning to feel scared!

Thanks in advance.
 
I suspect you are way ahead of the game. Having watched potential (dont all laugh at once) STAGE 3,S who basicly couldnt ride anything competatively,I suspect you have nothing to worry about.
 
I did mine last year it was amazing to me how many people hadn't learnt the syllabus, the whole day they basically go through that asking you qus and to demonstrate so make sure you know your digestive system properly, types of clip, feeds etc.
The riding is basic arena shapes and no stirrups my whole group passed the flat then you go and canter round a field then sj 2 horses over a small course. My first horse was a dream the second 9 be a nightmare but in had 2 clear rounds. A girl I know who did it with me had 2 refusals and still passed. You don't have to he perfect. I think if you are competing be100 you will sail through the riding.
If u need any advice feel free to msg x
 
Don't forget you will be riding RS Horses, who are likely to be much less responsive than yours. So if you are out of practice on those, got for a couple of lessons somewhere to get your 'discrete pony club kick' on!

I'm sure you will be fine though. When I did mine the stable management theory side was by far the hardest bit.

Make sure you can put your hand on all of those bones and know the names and where they are (the name of the 3rd bone in the Pelvis is burned into my brain as all of my group forgot and had to be told by the examiner in a very sarcastic tone!).

We also had to actually take a shoe off rather than just talk about it as there was a farrier due, so they wheeled one out that was going to be shod.

NB: I did mine 20 years ago, so the syllabus might have changed (not wanting to panic you!).
 
thank you for your advice and help!

I can actually remove a shoe so thats ok, and I happy with bones of the body, although I did notice that the BHS stage 2 book actually has the canon bone in the front leg written down as the metatarsal, which is wrong (its the metacarpal ;) )

hmmm, will have a sit on a friends cob before I go, and definitely need to practice the lunging, swot up on feeding and, well, basically everything! :)

definitely need all the hints and tips I can get, I'm actually doing it at a centre I haven't been to before (it was the only one I could get into and not have issues taking the day off work). I have been there with my horse competing in the past but not in the RS bit. eek, maybe this was a mistake!!
 
I would make the effort to go and have a couple of lessons at the exam centre and ask to ride the stage 2 horses.

It might hurt to hand over money to ride them but probably worth the investment. The BHS stages are a bit like your driving test, you need to learn how to pass the exam. The BHS can be a little bit 'special'
 
sadly I'm not going to be able to do that due to working and other commitments.

hopefully I should be ok, although I have just been told that there are certain rules about riding in open order - apart from the usual left hand to left hand, is there anything else obvious?

I feel confident that I should be ok with the knowledge and theory, and with the jumping - I have produced several horses over the years, so hopefully I will get a nice horse I can pop round on. Lunging needs to be practiced alot over the next couple of weeks. maybe I should borrow friends horses to lunge too.

thanks for your help and advice though, its making me feel partly better and partly nervous - which is better than totally nervous so all good! :D
 
Yes school rules are in open order if you wall go onto the inner track and lateral work takes priority.
I would forget metatarsal that's not what they want it's cannon, pedal, etc
 
Don't worry about stops or poles falling in the jumping, it's how you deal with it that counts. Lunging is the thing that more people fail on than any other section - remember the horse must be going forward on a big enough circle, handle your equipment correctly and safely, you don't need to use the side reins, if you do make sure they are correctly adjusted and don't use them until the horse is loosened off on both reins. You don't have to canter the horse, if you do make sure it's safe - no loin tamer antics with the lunge whip (I have seen that happen and it upset the other candidate's horse too which wasn't funny at all).


Good luck!
 
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