charlie76
Well-Known Member
I took my BHSI ( the equitation and coaching part, I already have the stable managers) last week. Its been a while since I took an exam so had lots of sleepless nights!
Arrived at about 7.15am in the dark to walk the xc and SJ courses. The XC seemed pretty straight forward although not numbered so it was up to you wanted to jump.
There were two SJ courses set up, one on an arena and one on grass on a bit of a slope.
Had the briefing at about 8.15 then were off for the first part of the exam.
To start with all four candidates were together, we each were allocated a horse and were given a brief. Mine was to assess the horse for suitability for a teenager coming off ponies who wished to event. I rode him on the flat and then over some fences. He was bold and straight forward but head shook. He had only been at the yard for 48 hrs so it was a real assessment!
Got off that horse and went straight on to lunging. This didn't go to plan! The horse was a big WB , 3 yr old. He was very green , I think he may have been used to lunging in the lunge pen so in an arena with his friend at the other end was a lot for him to take on. I started him without the side reins but he was falling out and hanging to the door so quickly put them on. The examiner then noticed that the cavesson was pulling into his eye so she stopped me, it was on the outside so I couldn't see it. Tried to tighten it but it wouldn't go any tighter. This flustered me a bit.
Anyway, cracked on with lunging him and to be honest, it was rubbish, he kept falling out and planting, if I used the lunge whip it didn't make any difference. If I had the horse at home I would have been tougher on him but I was aware that the other 3 yr old at the other end of the arena, was nervous and sharp and I didn't want to upset him by giving mine a good slap! In hindsight I should have just done it as he was much better once I got after him a bit. Throught all his antics I didn't really get a chance to assess him so all in all, a bit rubbish! I think I worked harder than him!!
Then onto XC. I only had 15 mins and the horse was not worked in, I got on him, went in the field, had a quick trot and canter round on both reins and cracked on with jumping a few schooling fences, he was a bit lazy and backward so gave him a bit of a wake up. I then went and jumped round the course, he jumped clear which was fine, although he wasn't the most forward thinking. I then went back into the arena to try him over a few steps and drops, which he was happy to do. He was a nice horse but would be a RC horse, not an event horse.
( I later learnt he had a reputation for having a buck if you sent him forward which he didn't with me!).
Then onto the SJ, the horse I had was a HUGE WB, he was primarily a dressage horse and didn't jump much other than the odd jumping lesson, this was evident as he found the whole thing VERY exciting. On the warm up he took off with me with his head in the air, bucking! This was the theme pretty much for the jumping. I found him very strong and in front of the fence he was pretty resistant and then over jumped, this in turn scared him and he would shoot off again. Not great. I therefore made the decision to settle him through grids and single fences, he did settle and was improved but don't think its what they wanted to see.
Then on to the flat , the first horse was very lit up when he came into the arena, took three people about 5 mins to change the stirrups over before I got on( they were VERY long!) Eventually I got on him. He was an older horse, schoolmaster type. He was in a double bridle which I don't think he was keen on and he found the surface very deep, I worked him in and towards the end after some work he started to go forward and become softer. The other horse, being ridden by some one else was very sharp and kept spooking and runnning off so she had to ride her quite deep to keep her under control. I then had to swap on to this mare, I found her tense and sharp and due, our brief was to assess them to see if they could do a medium/advanced medium test. This was almost impossible as she was so BTV and deep that she could barely maintain balance ( made worse by the deep arena surface). I there fore spent time getting her to accept the leg without running away from it and tried to get her a little more up and out. I think she went better towards the end but I was unable to do any changes/lateral work as she wouldn't accept the leg.
Then at last, a quick rest! I was exhausted from nerves and riding!
In the afternoon was the coaching exam.
We started with the theory- this was all fine, questions on dressage, SJ, XC and careers- this went well and the time flew past.
Then onto the teaching. I taught a jumping lesson first. This was in the field with a really nice lady on a lovely mare. The mare was bold and careful but had a habit of running through the hand and getting a bit deep. Teh rider then tended to come a bit forward in her position and was a bit too strong in the hand. We worked on this and the quality of the canter and the horse really improved. Loved every minute of it!
I also had to assess the horse from the ground and tell the examiner what I though of the horses paces, way of going, quality of the canter and jump. I think this was all fine.
Final thing of the day was the dressage lesson. Again, my pupil was lovely. The horse was an older ex event horse that she wanted to compete at medium level. He was a fab horse but lack some sparkle so we worked on developing some expression in the paces, keeping him uphill and connected in the transitions, improving the medium trot ( which really did improve!) and looked at the shoulder in and travers. The rider tended to ask for too much in the lateral work loosing the 1/4s and the forward rhythm, so we worked on that. I also made her a little stronger in her position and told her to demand a little more. The horse was super by the end and I hope she felt a difference!
I then had to assess another horse on the flat- talk about the paces, how it was in the lateral work, the horses outline, things that needed correcting and how the riders position was affecting the horse. I also had to assess the marks the horse world get if it was competing and why. I think this all went ok,
And then it was time to go home!
Although it was nerve wracking and exhausting it was quite enjoyable. The people at the centre were lovely and I rode some nice horses!
So , a long wait for the feedback now!
Arrived at about 7.15am in the dark to walk the xc and SJ courses. The XC seemed pretty straight forward although not numbered so it was up to you wanted to jump.
There were two SJ courses set up, one on an arena and one on grass on a bit of a slope.
Had the briefing at about 8.15 then were off for the first part of the exam.
To start with all four candidates were together, we each were allocated a horse and were given a brief. Mine was to assess the horse for suitability for a teenager coming off ponies who wished to event. I rode him on the flat and then over some fences. He was bold and straight forward but head shook. He had only been at the yard for 48 hrs so it was a real assessment!
Got off that horse and went straight on to lunging. This didn't go to plan! The horse was a big WB , 3 yr old. He was very green , I think he may have been used to lunging in the lunge pen so in an arena with his friend at the other end was a lot for him to take on. I started him without the side reins but he was falling out and hanging to the door so quickly put them on. The examiner then noticed that the cavesson was pulling into his eye so she stopped me, it was on the outside so I couldn't see it. Tried to tighten it but it wouldn't go any tighter. This flustered me a bit.
Anyway, cracked on with lunging him and to be honest, it was rubbish, he kept falling out and planting, if I used the lunge whip it didn't make any difference. If I had the horse at home I would have been tougher on him but I was aware that the other 3 yr old at the other end of the arena, was nervous and sharp and I didn't want to upset him by giving mine a good slap! In hindsight I should have just done it as he was much better once I got after him a bit. Throught all his antics I didn't really get a chance to assess him so all in all, a bit rubbish! I think I worked harder than him!!
Then onto XC. I only had 15 mins and the horse was not worked in, I got on him, went in the field, had a quick trot and canter round on both reins and cracked on with jumping a few schooling fences, he was a bit lazy and backward so gave him a bit of a wake up. I then went and jumped round the course, he jumped clear which was fine, although he wasn't the most forward thinking. I then went back into the arena to try him over a few steps and drops, which he was happy to do. He was a nice horse but would be a RC horse, not an event horse.
( I later learnt he had a reputation for having a buck if you sent him forward which he didn't with me!).
Then onto the SJ, the horse I had was a HUGE WB, he was primarily a dressage horse and didn't jump much other than the odd jumping lesson, this was evident as he found the whole thing VERY exciting. On the warm up he took off with me with his head in the air, bucking! This was the theme pretty much for the jumping. I found him very strong and in front of the fence he was pretty resistant and then over jumped, this in turn scared him and he would shoot off again. Not great. I therefore made the decision to settle him through grids and single fences, he did settle and was improved but don't think its what they wanted to see.
Then on to the flat , the first horse was very lit up when he came into the arena, took three people about 5 mins to change the stirrups over before I got on( they were VERY long!) Eventually I got on him. He was an older horse, schoolmaster type. He was in a double bridle which I don't think he was keen on and he found the surface very deep, I worked him in and towards the end after some work he started to go forward and become softer. The other horse, being ridden by some one else was very sharp and kept spooking and runnning off so she had to ride her quite deep to keep her under control. I then had to swap on to this mare, I found her tense and sharp and due, our brief was to assess them to see if they could do a medium/advanced medium test. This was almost impossible as she was so BTV and deep that she could barely maintain balance ( made worse by the deep arena surface). I there fore spent time getting her to accept the leg without running away from it and tried to get her a little more up and out. I think she went better towards the end but I was unable to do any changes/lateral work as she wouldn't accept the leg.
Then at last, a quick rest! I was exhausted from nerves and riding!
In the afternoon was the coaching exam.
We started with the theory- this was all fine, questions on dressage, SJ, XC and careers- this went well and the time flew past.
Then onto the teaching. I taught a jumping lesson first. This was in the field with a really nice lady on a lovely mare. The mare was bold and careful but had a habit of running through the hand and getting a bit deep. Teh rider then tended to come a bit forward in her position and was a bit too strong in the hand. We worked on this and the quality of the canter and the horse really improved. Loved every minute of it!
I also had to assess the horse from the ground and tell the examiner what I though of the horses paces, way of going, quality of the canter and jump. I think this was all fine.
Final thing of the day was the dressage lesson. Again, my pupil was lovely. The horse was an older ex event horse that she wanted to compete at medium level. He was a fab horse but lack some sparkle so we worked on developing some expression in the paces, keeping him uphill and connected in the transitions, improving the medium trot ( which really did improve!) and looked at the shoulder in and travers. The rider tended to ask for too much in the lateral work loosing the 1/4s and the forward rhythm, so we worked on that. I also made her a little stronger in her position and told her to demand a little more. The horse was super by the end and I hope she felt a difference!
I then had to assess another horse on the flat- talk about the paces, how it was in the lateral work, the horses outline, things that needed correcting and how the riders position was affecting the horse. I also had to assess the marks the horse world get if it was competing and why. I think this all went ok,
And then it was time to go home!
Although it was nerve wracking and exhausting it was quite enjoyable. The people at the centre were lovely and I rode some nice horses!
So , a long wait for the feedback now!
