# BHS Exam System



## Maisie12

Hi all,
I've been talking to a few working pupils, other candidates at my last exam and doing some scouting on t'internet and I find there is a lot of negativity aimed at the BHS Exam System.

People understandably get upset at failing exams, especially if they have worked hard (I know how it feels myself i am trained by a chief examiner but still failed the Stage 2 and PTT 1st time round) but the common theme is 'the examiner failed me' not that we were not at the required standard on the day.

When I failed my PTT 1st time in Feb 2013 I got a very grumpy examiner who put me ill at ease. Her comments on the day were blunt, not sugar coated and they hurt. I was angry and upset at the time. 
But as i calmed down I realised it was my own fault._ I _cocked up. _My_ lesson was unsafe because _I _lost self control and got flustered. The examiner just did her job. 
Looking back now I am glad she was so blunt. It enabled me and my trainer to work at my problems. It helped me bounce back. It helped me pass my resit in May 2013 spectacularly. I gave the best lesson of my life. It gave me confidence to succeed.

Maybe people should take a moment to think that the examiners do things for a reason. They are all experienced, wise, knowledgeable and we can learn so much from them. It doesn't mean they are all going to be happy, bubbly souls but that doesn't change their assets and value, even if they do act like Shrek at times.
Thoughts anyone?
:w00t:


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## RachJeremy

I do agree with you. However, I failed my stage 1 riding the first time round, and in my opinion, it was 50% my fault and 50% the examiners, as I had given her a doctors note to say i'd dislocated my knee in the past and it'd been troubling me for months due to a recent fall (I dislocated it when I was younger - fell off a few months before the exam and it was still sore and stiff on the day of the exam), and even the instructor said to not put me on anything above 16hh (i'm only 5ft anyway!) as it was more difficult for me to get on and off with my bad knee the higher up I was. Of which point the examiner put me on the biggest horse being used who was 17.2hh!!! It hurt to get on him because the mounting block wasn't huge, they had to faff around for ages because the stirrups on the shortest hole were too long and they refused to do a twist, so spent 15 minutes delaying the exam to find a punch for them.... Bearing in mind, there were taller people who could have ridden this horse in the exam. Even the instructor questioned them putting me on the horse bringing up they were told not to... And the examiner just blanked her. Of which point we were asked to get off, already stiff and sore anyway, I got off landed for a slight second with all my bodyweight on my bad knee and it snapped out of place and I obviously hit the floor... I was failed only because of that, and I think it's unfair as she was told I wasn't to ride something so big due to that very reason. It's careless and not fair. I retook the exam and passed with no trouble. But i'm reluctant to go back and do an exam because of examiners like her. I know we should be able to ride anything and everything in their minds, but if we have a valid reason why we can't then they shouldn't push it... I'd like to see her go through that pain and humiliation and see how she likes it, rather then sneering at my like I'd cocked it up. I told the examiner who passed me what had happened and even she was gobsmacked and said it wasn't fair at all.

When you find a good examiner it's fine. However there are people in this world who are given power and they run with it.


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## Elles

I study classical dressage and reward based training methods. I have well mannered horses I could teach other people with. However, without the BHSAI exam I couldn't get insurance or a riding school licence from the local council, both of which I would need to teach just one person with just one of my own horses. 

For me it's like telling doggie clicker trainers that they must spend a few years training with Cesar Milan and get his approval before they can go out and teach other people. I have no interest in British traditional training methods as practiced by the BHS exam system and complying with their requirements would compromise my personal ethics.

So unless there's a massive social change, the old methods will survive, horses will still be corrected, kicked with the heels and smacked and kinder trainers using well researched reward based training will be prevented from teaching new riders who don't have their own horses, unless they compromise their beliefs for a few years to gain an exam pass, or employ a BHS qualified member of staff.

That's where I believe some of the flack originates, not always from a disgruntled student who thinks they were unfairly failed, but from people who feel the whole system is still in the dark ages and want to see it shaken up.


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## smokeybear

Gosh I have spent most of my life riding and I took my Stage 1/2/3 many years ago and certainly where I rode the Dark Ages were just that, in the past.

Just lucky I guess.

It is the same in all sorts of fields, it is human nature to blame something or someone else for one's own failings.

There is an examinating criteria, if you meet that criteria you will pass; simples.


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## Elles

I took the AI when it was one exam and passed it. That was in the Dark Ages.

As I hadn't kept it up, I retook when it was stages. If the horses were a bit sticky we were expected to smack them. Loading involved lunge lines round the horses' backsides and lunge whips if the horse was a poor loader and I'm sorry, but even not that far back an examiner/instructor told one rider to take a 'stubborn' horse to a quiet area out of sight and have a 'discussion' with him before bringing him back.

Yeah, I suppose he meant take a bit of time with a clicker and a bum bag?

Fine if that's what you're happy doing, but if you're not, there's not much of an alternative, other than teaching people on their own horses, or employing an AI to meet the criteria.


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