English Rider Level exams
Posted by Irina Yastrebova on Monday, November 19, 2007 08:58 AM
I'm sorry I haven't been witting these past days. I have been getting ready for my English Rider Level 8 exams and I did the exams on Saturday. This exam is a part of a process toward coaching certification under Equine Canada guide lines. I have started the process in the spring and did lower level of rider exams then. I must tell you it was fun, very educational and nerve wrecking :) The exam consists of a written test, barn management, riding flat and jumping. Equine Canada developed 8 levels for English riding. Anyone who wants to be recognized in their riding skills can take these exams. For future coaches it is mandatory. In general the program is very beneficial and educational. However, I found written tests are not thought through enough, some questions are in need of clarification. It is not just my opinion. There were 12 people writing tests from 2nd to 8th level and all of them were confused at one time or another because they didn't understand some of the written questions..
Barn management was intimidating a little. We had to put stable and shipping bandages and show on a horse common unsoundness locations and describe conformation characteristics plus teeth.
Riding was fun. I had a wonderful Hanoverian mare Wrana who belongs to Tricia Dahms, English Coach Level 3, Eventing. Tricia has organized the exams and made us all feel most welcome and cared for. Riding had 2 parts: flat and jumping. Flat was easy for me, most advanced exercises were leg-yield and canter serpentine with simple changes through walk. Not a big deal for a dressage rider :) Jumping was more difficult, because I do not know much about technical aspects of jumping courses. We had to do gymnastics and a course with jumps 3 feet high. Thanks to Wrana I did well. She sailed over the jumps like a pro even when I messed up an approach to one of them.
Happy riding...
 
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