BHS Stage 1

[Wel-She]

In September i start a short course that will prepare me for my BHS stage 1, and im looking to take my first exam around November time. I cannot say how excited i am!

Having read the syllabus, it reads to be fairly straight forward, but i am a little one for nerves when anyone is watching me ride. Therefore i was wondering if anyone had any tips, what the stage 1 involves etc (probably sounds a silly question, as it'll involve what it says in the syllabus).

I'm looking to take my first and second stage and my PTT in time, but one step at a time i'll see how it goes!

p.s. I've been riding for quite awhile, so i was debating doing the short course, but surely this will just help me do everything the correct way, and therefore is worth my time doing?

Cheers

[clashfan83]

Hi there,

congratulations on entering your exam! I think a course is an excellent way to brush up your skills and check you're doing everything the BHS way. I did my BHS 1 & 2 without a structured course but I had regular lessons with BHS instructors and also had input from them on the care side of things, they watched me lungeing et. It is always good to get feedback and then you will be confident and ready for your exam. The course will also get you used to having people watching you and hopefully you won't be so nervous about that :)

My tips would be to get the Hazel Reed BHS Stages books, do not get the BHS ones, in my opinion they are a waste of money. Hazel Reed goes into much more detail and helps you to actually understand what you need to do to pass.

Also the BHS do DVDs for each stage which I found very helpful and it gives you an idea of what the day is actually like.

[CityLights]

the DVDs are good, and giv you a good idea of what passes what doesnt and how to do things, but stage 1 is an absolute doddle, i think i did mine when i was 15,

[Wel-She]

Thanks :)

I'll take a look into both the books and DVDs, especially thanks to the recommendations on the books ClashFan83, i hadn't looked at those.

The syllabus as i said, does sound fairly straight forward, so fingers crossed i'll find it a doddle! I'm 20 now and have had horses all my life, so if it's as easy as you say CL, if i do fail i've certainly been doing something wrong!

[CityLights]

Im on with stage 3 at the moment, cant say ive met anyone who has failed stage 1,

[jaffa]

When i did my stage 1 I thought i was going to fail as one of the horses i rode would not canter when i tried and you only had 1 lap of the arena to do it. So I pulled her back up into a better trot and asked the instructor if I could do it again, they said yes and i got her into canter. The moral of this story is that if you do something wrong or it doesn't work, correct your mistake and they are fine with it. They know horses have a mind of their own. if you give up then you have made a problem for yourself.

Best of luck though Im sure you'll do fine.