How do you all afford to take your BHS stages?

I am an ordinary person , and I assume an AI has a lot of horse related experience,not just passed some exam, so either get a job and pay for lessons and exams, or go to work for a yard. I really do not want someone to instruct me when they have no idea.!!!
 
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Blimey MrsD123, OP only asked a question!!!!!

The cost is staggered though OP, if you are starting at stage 1 or via a work placement.
 
MrsD123 said:
I am an ordinary person , and I assume an AI has a lot of horse related experience,not just passed some exam, so either get a job and pay for lessons and exams, or go to work for a yard. I really do not someone to instruct me when they have no idea.!!!
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Unfortunately you'll still find some people with an AI who have no idea, however they've paid for it ;) Or those with AIs with loads of experience.
 
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Most ai's i know can't get the 40 hours a week needed to make a living and end up having a part time job on the side so its Probs not worth all the money anyway.
 
I have done mine very spread out to cover costs of exams and training. Its expensive but not too bad if you can spread the cost or dont need much training for them. I have managed to get up to PTT without spending loads on training as have had lots of hands on experience.

I had a few refreshers at local riding school for stage 1.

Learnt stage 2 care stuff in one of my jobs as I gave my manager a list of stuff I wanted to cover and we did these during less busy moments.

Stage 2 riding had lots of lessons but I have regular lessons anyway so just asked to focus on the syllabus and get chance to ride lats of different horses.

PTT - go and work at riding school and get experience of day to day life as well as teaching, then attend some training specific to the exam.

Hope thats of some help. Just offer your services in exchange for training and see how much you can get in exchange for manual labour.
 
I've gone down the PC route which is loads cheaper, once passing my B test I'm going to take my stage 3, PTT and AI. Still going to be very expensive but haven't had to fork out for stage 1 and 2.
 
£1000 is a nothing for a professional qualification!

I was married and was (and still am)pretty much supported by my OH to do mine. I had a PT job which paid for my exams.

If you work in a RS they will pay your way and give you training. But as others posters have said, being a freelance AI is not the job for you if you want a mortgage and actually earn proper money!! You would need to have a yard of your own/ work in a RS to bring in a regular wage.
 
BHS exams themselves are a chunk you wish wasn't going out of your bank, I think I paid £165 for my 3 care, which is the last exam I took. HOWEVER, you are paying examiners, admin, the centres for their time and use of their horses (and usually they can't run lessons for a good chunk of the day so are loosing revenue, as they're big ECs that would have been bringing in money all day) etc.

If there's 10 people at an exam and all have paid £200 to do riding, yes it's £2k - but that goes a lot of ways in for example a 3 exam where you want an arena full of showjumps for candidates to walk so nobody can be teaching in it; an arena for flat (and remember, BHS insist that their exam centres have indoor facilities for at least one of these arenas); XC facilities; around 10 stage 3 standard horses; yard staff to have these horses prepared and in the right place at the right time; yard admin staff to meet, greet and reassure these nervous, and sometimes lost panikcing and phoning candidates; possible catering staff depending on the facilities; 3 examiners; people at BHS doing admin (and they don't even want you to provide your own stamp anymore! So you're saving 60p ;) ) etc. It's got to cut a lot of ways.
 
£1000....... Less than £20 per week for 1 year. A smoker or drinker would spend more, infact pizza for family cost less. It's not a lot when put into perspective. The pay back will be so much more. If you have a dream then follow it.

If you are under 19 you can get equestrian qualifications paid for by the state. If you are over 19 and your income is low, i think less than £15,000 per year you can get college funding to do it.

Contact your local colleges and see what you can get. The riding school BHS private route is not the only way to achieve your goal.
 
i have my stages 1 and 2, and I am now going to continue by taking my UKCC LEVEL 2 Coaching certificate, the BHS charge far too much money for their exams, and I will certainly not be going down that route again, so I am now applying for a place on the BS coaching course.
I do have to say that I much prefer someone with the relelvant experince teaching me, and not someone with a few letters after their name (no offence to the experinced AI's) but there are a few people who have scraped through the exam but it does not mean in any way they are able to teach.
good luck with your choosen path though, but do look into other avenues first.
 
goneshowjumping said:
i have my stages 1 and 2, and I am now going to continue by taking my UKCC LEVEL 2 Coaching certificate, the BHS charge far too much money for their exams, and I will certainly not be going down that route again, so I am now applying for a place on the BS coaching course.
I do have to say that I much prefer someone with the relelvant experince teaching me, and not someone with a few letters after their name (no offence to the experinced AI's) but there are a few people who have scraped through the exam but it does not mean in any way they are able to teach.
good luck with your choosen path though, but do look into other avenues first.
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I did my BHS stages 1-3 which gave me my grooms diploma then went down the ukcc coaching route as it was a subsidised course for the level 2 sports coach, saved me some cash.
I have had horses the bulk of my life, but my main job is a nurse to fund my
horse habit, that was how I did it, i was fortunate enough to find a great instructor and had access to different horses to work and gain ridden education
While i didnt actively work in the business, i have my own 3 horses and rode countless others, from babies and nutjobs to schoolmasters over the years.
If you want to do it you'll find a way, if youre passionate enough about it:D
 
i have taken all different routes to get my qualifications! I did my road safety, then BET assistant ride leader so skipped stage one. Then did stage 2 care, and Ride Leader, then NVQ 3 with schooling and jumping, then my UKCC2 and now doing an NVQ3 in management. Im still to book my PTT and then i will still need to do my Stage 3 riding even though i have proved myself in my NVQ. I have the chance to do my Centre Manager when i feel ready too.

How have i done it? lots of hard work and volunteering at a charity to gain experience and in return i get training and qualifications.
 
EKW said:
Yup! I know one of these! Once again the theory is there but the practice is far, far lacking!
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My boy got cast once, the lovely girl who had done all the exams, was handy, I always keep a lunge rein hand, popped my helmet on and showed her what to do, turned out she had already had the lesson, just did not know exactly what "cast " was, she was in charge of 35 horses.
 
I am at a loss, if you want to work as an instructor, do you not need to get experience of working with horses?
Thank goodness I was only a stable lad, no qualifications, just 20 years getting paid for what I did best.
 
MrsD123 said:
I am at a loss, if you want to work as an instructor, do you not need to get experience of working with horses?
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I'd like to think you can't get through the exams on theory alone. BUT the PTT is only the initial teaching qualification. In teaching terms it's like the stage 1 in riding terms, and your BHSI is like your 3/4. But surely it is always best to judge your instructor by how well they teach you, than by their bits of paper. For every AI you don't think deserves to be one, there'll be one who is much better than average AI standard but for whatever reason hasn't moved on up the ladder.

That comes from somebody who teaches unqualified but insured and has done for years. Attempting to do UKCC at the moment, but am a complete wimp jumping and after making an abysmal show of myself in two stage 2 exams gave it up as a bad job and started doing it for fun only and not for exams. So, until this new more open system, I couldn't take my PTT *shrugs* That's life innit. I wanted it badly enough to throw every penny I had at trying to get through it, and eventually admitted to myself that I knew damn well I would still go to pieces in the exam, and risk losing all the enjoyment and confidence I'd built up, so it obviously isn't meant to be. Simples.
 
I did my stage 1 and 2 (complete) through my National Diploma at college, they pay for one exam per student per year, however if you fail then you have to fund the re-sit(s) yourself. I am currently saving up to take my PTT and stage 3.
 
MrsD123 said:
Yep, I could not agree more.
The qualification is useless if the person has been trained to pass an exam, btw I think I have all the qualifications, but I would not try to instruct someone who knows how to ride!!!!!
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LOL or someone that doesnt:D
 
MrsD123 said:
I am at a loss, if you want to work as an instructor, do you not need to get experience of working with horses?
Thank goodness I was only a stable lad, no qualifications, just 20 years getting paid for what I did best.
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Yep, i agree you need to gain as much experience as you can. I have been at my yard for 4 years but have helped at my vets yard, also been to a college and we have a high turnover of horses so i have had plenty of experience with different horses of different breeds and ages.

You'll never stop learning though!
 
galaxy23 said:
£1000 is a nothing for a professional qualification!

I was married and was (and still am)pretty much supported by my OH to do mine. I had a PT job which paid for my exams.

If you work in a RS they will pay your way and give you training. But as others posters have said, being a freelance AI is not the job for you if you want a mortgage and actually earn proper money!! You would need to have a yard of your own/ work in a RS to bring in a regular wage.
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I wish my training only cost £1000! Galaxy is right, £1000 is really cheap for a serious qualification that will be properly respected in the industry that you want to work in. I've done two degrees to become a secondary teacher and I'm still only just finishing off. Including the cost of only working part time for five years it's cost about twenty times what you're talking about, so don't despair, it can be done if you want it badly enough.
You can work part time while you train (I work pretty much every day), get loans and help from your family if they're in a position to do that, get credit cards and overdrafts although I probably shouldn't be saying that one, and of course you can always space your training out in order to work in between taking your exams. In my case I had the summer holidays to work full time and at one point I took a year out to work and save money - in your case especially once you are doing your PTT I imagine work experience and fundraising will go hand in hand! Good luck, and remember that everything is possible if you want it badly enough!
 
MrsD123 said:
Yep, I could not agree more.
The qualification is useless if the person has been trained to pass an exam, btw I think I have all the qualifications, but I would not try to instruct someone who knows how to ride!!!!!
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jhoward said:
LOL or someone that doesnt:D
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Enough of the hilarity, it maybe was written haste, but there is some truth in it, I could teach someone who is a beginner, I mean I think I can show someone how to hold the reins and bob up and down in time to the rhythm of the horse, just a bit short on the BHS lingua franca , so used to posting on this forum, I've forgotten how to do it on a horse!
 
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