Saturdays - 16:00-17:30 starting from 8 March 2025
An intensive 8-week training course to cover all parts of the British Horse Society Stage 1 care exam. The course is open to participants aged 13yrs+.
Price: £264
The course fee is to be paid in full before starting and is non-refundable. Your course fee gives you 20% off 8 Intermediate group lessons and there is a 3pm group lesson just before the training course on a Saturday so we would highly recommend you combine riding lessons with your training course.
BOOK YOUR COURSE TODAY - MARCH START
Week 1 - Introduction to the Course, BHS Aims, and Parts of the Horse
This session will be introducing all participants to the BHS exam, giving out handouts which have information about books to read and we will be learning the parts of the horse. We will also cover information about what else the BHS does apart from exams and talk about hat standards/correct PPE.
Week 2 - Grooming and Tail Bandages
This session is focusing on the correct grooming routine, learning all the brushes in the grooming kit and learning how to put on a tail bandage.
Week 3 - Tacking Up, Parts of the Tack, and Care Routine for Tack
This session we will be learning how to tack up the horse correctly for riding to exam standard, putting on a pair of brushing boots, parts of the saddle and bridle, learn how to put on a martingale, basic fit of tack, and how to care for your tack.
Week 4 - Trotting Up, Footfalls, Parts of the Hoof, and Identify a Horse that needs to be Shod/Trimmed by a Farrier
This session we will learn how to trot up a horse correctly for the vet and learn about the footfalls. We will also learn the parts of the hoof and how to recognise when a horse needs to be shod or trimmed.
Week 5 - Feeding, Watering, and How to Tie Up a Hay Net
This session will be covering feeding ratios, types of feed/forage and rules of feeding/watering. We will also be learning how to recognise a horse that's overweight or underweight. We will learn how to tie up a hay net correctly and how to lift a bale of hay/straw.
Week 6 - Colours, Markings, and Horse Clothing
This session we will be learning all the colours and markings on horses, and we will learn about types of rugs and how to put them on.
Week 7 - Mucking Out and Horse Health Checks
This session we will be learning the correct procedures for mucking out different types of bedding and learning about why we use different types of bedding. We will also cover how to maintain muckheaps and how to dispose of them.
We will also be learning how to check signs of good and bad health in stabled horses.
Week 8 - Field Management and Horse Behaviour
This session will be focused on how to complete the daily field checks, on how to turn a horse out and bring them in safely and how to handle the horse according to their behaviour. We will look at the horse's body language and facial expressions to see how they may be feeling/thinking.