Holders of the BHSII are qualified to teach riders up to Elementary level Dressage, Novice Horse Trials and Newcomers Showjumping.
Candidates taking the BHS Stage 4 examination must have attained the BHS Stage 1, 2 and 3 examinations (complete, or the appropriate section for Riding or Care) and be a minimum age of 18 years for the Riding and 19 years for the Care. The Stage 4 examinations include a Riding and Stable Management section, which can be taken together on the same day or separately. The complete qualification will not be awarded until both sections have been successfully achieved. The candidate must be capable of taking sole charge of a group of horses of various types in stable and at grass. He/She must be an educated rider capable of training and improving horses in their work on the flat, over fences and on the lunge.
Candidates who have taken the Stage 4 Riding exam since the 1st January 2002 and who fail a maximum 2 sections in the Riding only, will be eligible to apply for the re-sit examination. Candidates who fail 3 or more sections will be required to re-take the complete Riding examination. Candidates will be allowed a maximum of TWO re-sit attempts, if they subsequently fail a section on the second re-sit attempt, it will be necessary to retake the entire Stage 4 Riding exam again. The sections are grouped as follows:- Riding on the Flat, Jumping, Lungeing and Theory The fees for the sections are £110 – one section and £158 – two sections. Candidates who wish to apply for a section re-sit must attach a copy of their failure report to their application form. Candidates will be informed of the retake centre and date once sufficient candidates have applied.
Candidates wishing to take the BHS ITT Examination must be a minimum of 20 years of age and have obtained the BHS Assistant Instructors certificate and either the HSE First Aid at Work or the Equine Specific First Aid. Candidates are examined on their general teaching abilities relating to class rides; individual dressage and jumping lessons; lunge lessons; general discussion; talks and short lectures; showing genuine improvement of horse and rider. It is advisable to be at the exam centre by at least 8am to enable you to explore the layout of the centre, read the programme and to receive your teaching topics/lecture subjects from the Chief Examiner. You can then begin to plan your lessons/lectures After all the sessions you will have the opportunity to talk to the examiner/s about your performance. This is very useful. You can elaborate on a contentious issue or clarify certain points.
The section re-sit option is only available to candidates who have failed a maximum of 2 sections (from 1st January 2000 onwards). Any candidate that fails in 3 or more sections must re-sit the whole exam. A candidate will only be entitled to TWO attempts at re-taking their Intermediate Teaching Test in this way, if they fail on both attempts they will have to re-apply for the whole exam. The sections are grouped as follows:-
Candidates who wish to apply for a section re-sit must attach a copy of their failure report to their application form