The BHS way of training instructors...

[maya2008]

Is it really right that an instructor can teach without having to have any idea of how to train a horse? Do people realise this about the AI qualification (and now Stage 2 Teach and Stage 3 Teach)? And it costs so so much for someone to get to Stage 4, where you are actually expected to know that, so there are few instructors available at that level!

Early on, after I bought my first horse, I realised that BHS instructors weren't necessarily the best for helping me to bring on a youngster (I had grown up with loans and shares so she wasn't my real 'first'). Time and more experience backed this up, and I have always looked for a good competition record and people who train their own. I had thought, when buying my lovely 4 year old (totally not what I had been looking for!) that with lots of lessons and advice from a knowledgeable instructor, we would be fine. We were, but mostly thanks to endless books and the help of friends who had the right experience and knowledge. Now, a friend of mine is doing their BHS exams. As I help her revise, I understand more and more why those BHS instructors couldn't help. They had no idea how to train a young horse!

I still have that horse (horse of a lifetime, she has been!). But I lost confidence in the BHS a very long time ago.

 

[HeyMich]

Yes, I agree!

I have a really wonderful instructor who is also regularly schooling my young, green horse for me. She understands the horse's needs, and mine as a slightly nervous older rider (picked up some bad habits and is a bit unsure of bringing the horse on to higher levels of ability by myself). My riding, and the ability of my horse have improved incredibly since she has been involved with us. She has produced other horses to high levels and regularly competes in national level showing and eventing, bringing home many rosettes.

However, she has no BHS qualifications, and is not at all interested in gaining them. And I can totally see why! She says she would have to re-learn the dos and don'ts of the BHS, which is counter-intuitive and a waste of time.

I love her to bits tho, so am very grateful for her knowledge, patience and understanding with us both (plus, if she got all her BHS certificates, she would be far too expensive for me to afford!)

 

[ThatHorseGuy]

I don’t really rate the BHS way any more myself either if I’m honest. It was always a desire of mine to learn and go up in their ranks and achieve their qualifications but the more I progressed and understood as a rider, the more I realised there are AIs out there who haven’t a clue.

I even have two friends personally who are AI qualified but as much as they may be brave and be able to jump around a course of fences or do XC, or hunt even, they aren’t technical riders and they don’t aspire to be. They don’t have a fundamental understanding of how to actually train a horse, train a rider or even have an eye developed that can see things such as tension in a riders knees or something. They’ll teach someone to sit pretty but beyond that there’s little they’ll contribute to a more developed rider. I’m not bashing them or the BHS.

Of course, I’m not saying every AI is like this, there are some out there who are talented and knowledgable but overall I find the BHS system has its flaws. Not everything is textbook. It’s not always black or white.

These days, I’d much rather find an instructor who has knowledge and experience. A BHS certificate doesn’t mean much to me any more.

 

[Spottyappy]

I gave up after my stage 2 exams, as it was the BHS way or no way, and I felt that the BHS did not fit what my expectations were. It was about 25 years ago, and we had people on the course whom were not able to get on and sort out an issue with Horses, during lessons.
My current instructor is BHs qualified, however, but she can really teach.
My daughter uses an event rider who has no qualifications, but can really teach!
Teaching is also a gift, and not everyone is capable of it.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I did my AI (and then my stage 4) back in the 80s. Then it was never ever anything other than the first step in becoming an instructor for fairly basic level riding-had nothing to do with training young horses and nor was it meant to. An AI had to be competent and safe to lunge an established horse with and without rider, give a lesson on postion on the lunge, teach a novice pole/jumping lesson safely and teach a flat lesson with a view to improving the rider, fit a wide range of tack and explain its action and use. They had to be able to manage the grass kept and stabled horse, ride on the flat accurately, jump a course inside and in the open of up to 3ft-again not necessarily to improve the horse's way of going but certainly not to make it worse. I did my AI as a working pupil, worked in a large comp venue/livery yard/RS where I looked after several grass kept ponies, dressage horses at PSG level and livery horses from hunters to eventers. What I learned about young horses and grooming at comps I learned from my livery owners.

It was considered a level by which you were assessed (mostly teaching safely) nothing else-so competition level and experience were always supposed to be used as a guide for more advanced riders. A good AI back then should have been able to teach a useful lesson to a slightly better rider and (going by the riding I see today generally at a low level) an AI from back then would be a better horseperson than your average owner now. Whether something got lost in the meantime I dont know but surely if you had a novice horse that needed bringin on, you'd check the instructor had the relevant experience before booking, surely?

 

[Auslander]

Just bear in mind that a poor BHS instructor is a poor instructor full stop, not just because they trained the "BHS way".

Also - different strokes for different folks - even those who don't go on to develop their own style after they've been through the BHS system have their place. Riding schools need people who do things by the book to teach beginners/young children. You may not rate the way the BHS trains people to do things/teach - but the focus on safe practices, and a consistent way to teaching novice riders is pretty valuable for those who provide weekly lessons to true leisure riders

 

[be positive]

The BHSAI is not supposed to be a fully trained coach/ rider/ instructor/ trainer they are an Assistant instructor with a limited skill set who has passed an exam and is at the start of their career so just like any partly qualified professional there will be some far better than others, it is where they go after the initial training that is more important, many go no further and get by with limited experience, many others go in different directions, learn additional skills and become valuable to the equine world in numerous different ways, the BHS way is a useful stepping stone for many of us and does set a basic standard that is useful in many ways.

 

[conkers]

Completely agree.

Unfortunately, BHS instructors are trained to teach the basics and there does not appear to be any scope to deviate from training the average horse and rider.

I decided long ago that the best way to find someone to train you is to go and watch them teach and see if what they say is compatable with how you think and want to be trained. Not all teaching style will suit all riders.

Sadly qualifications mean little when you reach the point that you want to seriously progress and successfully compete. It is all about finding a trainer who will stretch you and your horses abilities. This does not seem to sit within the BHS remit no matter how qualified and instructor may be.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Just bear in mind that a poor BHS instructor is a poor instructor full stop, not just because they trained the "BHS way".

Also - different strokes for different folks - even those who don't go on to develop their own style after they've been through the BHS system have their place. Riding schools need people who do things by the book to teach beginners/young children. You may not rate the way the BHS trains people to do things/teach - but the focus on safe practices, and a consistent way to teaching novice riders is pretty valuable for those who provide weekly lessons to true leisure riders

can't give you any more rep yet Auslander but totally agree!

I've spent years as a horse owner going to various clinics with some bigger named classical trainers. I have to say, for a non nonsence kick up the backside type lesson where I actually feel I've achieved something, my local BHS RS has been a breath of fresh air when I found myself horseless.

 

[JFTDWS]

I've been subjected to some rather rude responses when I've said similar on here, OP, but I agree. The BHS training system has its place - I entirely agree with Aus about the importance of their H&S training, particularly with riding schools and novices. I also think it can be used as a baseline for a good trainer to develop from. However, whether someone is BHS qualified or not is entirely irrelevant to me when selecting an instructor, largely for the reasons in the OP.

 

[Maesto's Girl]

I have 2 instructors (well 1 in the spring/summer and then 2 in the winter) and neither are BHS instructors. One is my yard owner who's basis is the horse and then the both of you as a partnership (more horsemanship really) and the other has competed at a GB level and has their UKCC. I am doing my BHS exams as I'd love to become an instructor one day, but I will definitely be drawing on my lesson experience from how I am being taught. Thankfully, the horse I ride is about as far away from push button or typical as you can get. She is so quirky it really takes an understanding of how she ticks to instruct, rather than just "leg here, hands here" etc...again something I'll take forward

 

[EventingMum]

Just bear in mind that a poor BHS instructor is a poor instructor full stop, not just because they trained the "BHS way".

Also - different strokes for different folks - even those who don't go on to develop their own style after they've been through the BHS system have their place. Riding schools need people who do things by the book to teach beginners/young children. You may not rate the way the BHS trains people to do things/teach - but the focus on safe practices, and a consistent way to teaching novice riders is pretty valuable for those who provide weekly lessons to true leisure riders

Totally agree. The BHS exam system, which has had a complete overhaul, is a good starting point and shows someone has had a good basic training and will have other supporting knowledge in horsecare which will be useful for advising owners and riders who lack experience.

We seem to have reached a stage where everyone wants to be taught be a competitive name but these people are sometimes not the best coaches or their knowledge may not be relevent to a particular horse and rider. Competive riders will probably benefit more from a coach with knowledge of their chosen discipline to help them reach their goals but less competive riders may not. Some sucessful riders have little experience of less talented horses having always ridden more capable horses.

It has to be remembered that not every rider has the same goals or abilities and choosing a coach should take this into consideration. I personally know a generic UKCC level 2 coach who isn't confident (or competent) teaching canter and certainly doesn't have the horse care knowledge to pass BHS Stage 2 - I find this very worrying. Having done both BHS and UKCC qualifications as well as an EFI one myself I think each pathway has it's own strengths and weaknesses and like anyone teaching anything, numerous factors will affect progress and satisfaction.

 

[spacefaer]

I trained for my BHSAI exams in 4 months - started off with having my PC B test, so a reasonable standard of riding and horse knowledge, and went on an intensive 4 month course. The day after I passed the PTT, I was put on the yard as an "instructor" to teach Saturday morning novice riders. I had no idea what to do with them! I knew how to structure a lesson and manage a ride safely, but unless it followed one of my prepared lesson plans, I was lost.

In the intervening years, I have been lucky to have had a huge amount of experience competing in several disciplines, some to a high level, and have had multiple lessons from some big name trainers.

I have also gone up the BHS ladder, and passed the Stable Manager's section of the BHSI. I didn't bother taking the Riding section as my circumstances changed and I couldn't justify the cost of it.

The thing that made me love my teaching/training/coaching, call it what you will, was being able to use that experience to help other horses and riders, but I always base the lessons on the structure of what I learnt all those years ago at Talland.

 

[Rowreach]

I've been subjected to some rather rude responses when I've said similar on here, OP, but I agree. The BHS training system has its place - I entirely agree with Aus about the importance of their H&S training, particularly with riding schools and novices. I also think it can be used as a baseline for a good trainer to develop from. However, whether someone is BHS qualified or not is entirely irrelevant to me when selecting an instructor, largely for the reasons in the OP.

As someone who worked for a long time as an instructor (with BHS qualifications) I agree with all the above, but would add the following.

I came from a long standing background of working with horses, and went the BHS route because it was the cheapest way of getting insurance for grooming and teaching - although it cost a lot of money to do the exams and annual training to stay on the Register. They charge us more in Ireland, because they say the assessors have to travel further and they can't use all Ireland based assessors because we are a small place and everyone knows each other (........... like the BHS isn't one big clique already .....).

The problem is, nobody can teach you horsemanship - that comes with a mixture of experience, feel, and the innate ability to understand individual horses, and if you want to teach, you have to be able to understand riders as well ....

 

[Celtic Fringe]

Inevitably the BHS exams are very prescriptive. They are a 'one size fits all' type of training so very good on basics of horse care, health and safety, rider training and maintaining a horse in work. As long as candidates can 'tick all the boxes' during the assessments they will pass - just like any formal exam. Quite a few people ask me about lessons for themselves or their children and I always direct them to our local BHS approved schools. However, in terms of training a young or difficult horse I would go on my own personal judgement or recommendations from people I trust - the person who backed my young cob specialised in breaking young horses and had come originally from a Household Calvary background. My younger cob is now in a dressage yard where the YO and riders have UKCC qualifications but more importantly years of experience in classical dressage and working with a wide range of horses. My old cob came from a BHS riding school but could not stay there as he had become dangerous. In his case Kelly Marks associates were very helpful at the beginning (15 years ago) and I still use some of what I learned with them. As others have mentioned the BHS gives a good, well-structured foundation but instructors and riders should continue to learn and develop as they gain experience with a range of horses and situations.

 

[honetpot]

I did my AI (and then my stage 4) back in the 80s. Then it was never ever anything other than the first step in becoming an instructor for fairly basic level riding-had nothing to do with training young horses and nor was it meant to. An AI had to be competent and safe to lunge an established horse with and without rider, give a lesson on postion on the lunge, teach a novice pole/jumping lesson safely and teach a flat lesson with a view to improving the rider, fit a wide range of tack and explain its action and use. They had to be able to manage the grass kept and stabled horse, ride on the flat accurately, jump a course inside and in the open of up to 3ft-again not necessarily to improve the horse's way of going but certainly not to make it worse. I did my AI as a working pupil, worked in a large comp venue/livery yard/RS where I looked after several grass kept ponies, dressage horses at PSG level and livery horses from hunters to eventers. What I learned about young horses and grooming at comps I learned from my livery owners.

It was considered a level by which you were assessed (mostly teaching safely) nothing else-so competition level and experience were always supposed to be used as a guide for more advanced riders. A good AI back then should have been able to teach a useful lesson to a slightly better rider and (going by the riding I see today generally at a low level) an AI from back then would be a better horseperson than your average owner now. Whether something got lost in the meantime I dont know but surely if you had a novice horse that needed bringin on, you'd check the instructor had the relevant experience before booking, surely?

I found this out in the 70's, the AI was not really about teaching or real stockmanship.
To train to be a teacher in school you have to learn how people learn especially children, the whole phycology of teaching and reflect and be assessed how effective your teaching is.
Often riding instructors ask children to things they have not the physical or mental capability to do and wonder why the pony goes one way and the child another.
I have seen a FBHS reduce someone who was paying for a lesson to tears for no obvious reason and with little benefit to the rider and no improvement or solution in the horses behaviour.
I have had over forty years three wonderful teachers, on taught me more in half an hour than the previous 20 years about straightness and the riders effect on the horse. She had no paper qualifications.
In my 30's I went on the BHS course for Stage 4, just to find out how much I knew and found little had changed. It would be interesting to try it now just to see if its progressed.

 

[Kat]

Personally I think it is unfair to judge the whole BHS system on some BHSAIs when it is the very bottom of the ladder qualification wise.

I wouldn't select an instructor on the basis of having their AI, I wouldn't rule someone out purely because they were an AI either but I would want some other recommendation or experience in addition to the qualification.

I have had experience of many many instructors over the years, BHS of all levels, UKCC, ABRS, Pony Club and unqualified. Some have ridden at high levels, others haven't but have lots of experience with youngsters or are just good teachers, some of the poor ones have never ridden outside of a riding school/college environment.

I have never had a bad lesson with a BHSI or FBHS the qualification and breadth of experience required to get to that level is really tough and it shows.

Currently my instructors are one UKCC level 2 SJ, and one who I actually don't know the qualifications of but they have ridden at a high level and came highly recommended by trusted people.

There are good and bad in all professions it doesn't necessarily correlate with where they trained or what qualification they have. You need to do your homework.

 

[maya2008]

I wish it worked better - that a 'BHS instructor' of any stage could be relied upon to help an amateur rider in any discipline, on any horse, however green. OR that it was more clear who could help whom.

 

[be positive]

I wish it worked better - that a 'BHS instructor' of any stage could be relied upon to help an amateur rider in any discipline, on any horse, however green. OR that it was more clear who could help whom.

That is like expecting any school teacher to help any pupil with any subject, they may be able to get the basics across but will be limited in how far the pupil can progress, riding is not as diverse but the disciplines do require a different approach if you want to succeed competitively.

If the green horse is owned by a rider with no experience in one discipline the average BHS instructor would be able to go through the basics and get them started in the right direction but if the rider does not have the skill to continue to develop the horse when not under instruction then it is not necessarily the fault of the instructor, I think most people do not have enough help and very few novices are prepared to pay for the training required to gain the skills they desire, once a week is rarely enough.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I think I was lucky, I had extremely good instructors when I was training, at all levels and lots of great opportunities to ride lots of nice horses and compete them regularly. It was the best job I ever had, just a shame it was when I was 16-its been a long, downhill tumble since then

I've had superb lessons with non-BHS instructors and I've had lessons with teachers that have just spouted complete, nonsensical rubbish throughout that were non-BHS but I'd not call all non-BHS instructors rubbish. I've never had a bad lesson with anyone BHSII or above.


I don't have a lot of sympathy though with people who go to an AI, simply because they are an AI, to help them with a problem thats outwith that person's experience-do your homework.

 

[maya2008]

That is like expecting any school teacher to help any pupil with any subject, they may be able to get the basics across but will be limited in how far the pupil can progress, riding is not as diverse but the disciplines do require a different approach if you want to succeed competitively.

If the green horse is owned by a rider with no experience in one discipline the average BHS instructor would be able to go through the basics and get them started in the right direction but if the rider does not have the skill to continue to develop the horse when not under instruction then it is not necessarily the fault of the instructor, I think most people do not have enough help and very few novices are prepared to pay for the training required to gain the skills they desire, once a week is rarely enough.

I am a primary school teacher - I have to teach every subject, to a reasonable level (year 6) and have the skills to teach a child to read, to infer and deduce from more complex texts, to play football by the rules or learn how to kick a ball. Same with all the other subjects - from the very beginning of how to hold a pencil... All that on one year of training! Many riding club coaches only have AI. It is scary what that actually means, although luckily most of them have continued to develop their own skills.

All those years ago, new to the area, I looked for someone who coached riding club, and who was recommended to me. Unfortunately it wasn't long before I knew more than they did!

 

[Auslander]

All those years ago, new to the area, I looked for someone who coached riding club, and who was recommended to me. Unfortunately it wasn't long before I knew more than they did!

In whose opinion?

 

[maya2008]

In whose opinion?

The next instructor. And the one where I went for schoolmaster lessons. It was after those lessons that I changed - everything they taught made so much more sense, and worked so well! They could suggest solutions for our problems, just in conversation, that I could take home and apply. I went as often as I could, and eventually found someone new to come to me who had similar knowledge.

And that's my point. I am no great rider. I still like to have lessons. I can back and bring on and produce my own, get to Elementary/90cm. But that's nothing special, so surely someone with qualifications should be able to do at least what I can do now. I know plenty of people who don't teach who can do the same!

I think AI was designed for riding schools, and people were supposed to keep doing the qualifications and working their way up. But it is so expensive and time consuming that most people don't- they just get AI and stop there. And that is what the thread is about really - it is such a shame that it is so expensive and time consuming to get to the higher levels.

 

[Mule]

I find the BHS instructors I've had lessons from good because they have teaching qualifications. I've had lessons from instructors who are great riders but can't explain things.