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British Riding Clubs Certificate in Essential Horse Care

Cherwell Valley Riding Club knows the value of learning. The team knows that it’s important for everybody to be up to date in their riding, horse care and knowledge to ensure we are all giving our horses the best life we can. So when the opportunity to run a course leading to a certificate in Essential Horse Care came up, we grabbed it!

Day One

The group met at our committee member Rachel’s house for the first session, where she had laid out chocolate treats for us all. The first thing we all did was go and see the beautiful foals she has! Then, down to business. Annette from BRC HQ came along to take some photos and introduce us all to the course (and kindly made us all a coffee)

We all completed a short form to indicate our memberships (BHS, BRC, BD etc) and so that the tutor, Emma, could learn our names. The attendees were roughly half juniors and half seniors – the juniors being at somewhat of an advantage because they’ve been working their way through the Pony Club tests

Emma explained that we had opted for the second stage to start with, because the introductory level would have been too basic for those of us who already own and/or care for a horse

We covered various topics on the first day, some in more detail than others depending on whether the class knew the answers already:

Horse health

We discussed condition scoring in horses and the two systems available to use. We opted for the 5-stage Carroll and Huntington system where 0 is defined as emaciated and 5 obese. Rose shared photos of a horse she had rescued – that scored 0 in the first picture, and was looking amazing and a perfect 3 (good condition) by the time he found his forever home

Next up was signs of good health: pricked ears, healthy membranes, good appetite, temperature, pulse and breathing etc., followed by signs of ill-health such as loss of appetite, staring coat and changes in behaviour. Because a horse has a strong fight or flight instinct, changes in behaviour are very important. They key is simply to know your horse

Points of a horse

We studied a chart indicating the main points of a horse, and learned what the examiner will be looking for when we are tested. We have to keep in mind that when the examiner points somewhere he is asking for the points of the horse name, not the skeletal system behind it – so if he points to the ribs, he wants to hear barrel

Colours and markings

I was amazed at how many of the colours and markings I didn’t know. How many of you know what a feint is? Or a frosted?!

Feeding basics

Here we discussed the necessities – clean water, clean feeding equipment, good quality forage and food, and feeding the right amount for the horse and its level of work. More detail is to come on this important topic

Word games

We played ‘match the described behaviour to the word’ on small cards. This was much harder that you would think! We all know our horses pretty well, but the aim of this game was to show us that we need to know what the examiner is actually looking for. A bit like a driving test I expect…. Let’s see!

I was pleasantly surprised at how interesting and informative the evening was, and really looking forward to the next sessions

Days Two and Three

The next topics on the list were feeding and watering, worming and vaccinations, illness, wellness and quarantine, and buying a horse





Feeding and watering

We discussed the rules of feeding, which I think we all knew already – little and often, cleanliness is key and fresh water must be available at all time. It got much more interesting when we went deeper into the quantities your horse will need, and we learned a few handy equations to apply for the exam. In real life we feed according to work done, type of horse, and what it says on the feed bag!

There was a little exercise to do for watering – we had to list the advantages and disadvantages of various methods of providing water – buckets, troughs, baths etc. Gets you thinking…

Worming and vaccinations

So those of us who compete for CVRC know already that flu vacs have to be kept fully up to date with annual boosters either on the same date as last year or earlier. Tetanus jabs are every other year, and other jabs such as strangles, EHV and mites would be applied as required and do not affect being able to compete for CVRC

Worming was the kind of conversation you can imagine, with much googling of grim pictures! We all agreed after much debate that the most popular approach would be to worm for encysted redworm in winter, tapeworm in autumn and worm count the rest of the year with a suitable wormer given if need be

Illness, wellness and quarantine


None of us wants our ponies to be ill, but sometimes it happens, so we discussed how to tell, and steps to take in case of contagious diseases such as strangles. Did you know strangles can lie dormant and not affect the carrier horse for up to two years? I didn’t!

Buying a horse

Now for the exciting part! We came down to earth with a bump when we started thinking about the risks of buying horses, and steps you need to take to ensure you’re buying the right horse for you – such as trying it doing what you aim to, and making sure you check its history with locals – ie in Pony Club. We talked about vetting – 2 and 5 stage, and if it’s ever sensible not to (not really). We learned about the right approach to the shopping visit too, and what to make sure you see and do before even thinking about riding your potential new buddy. The key thing I took from this session was take an expert to every viewing

At the start of Day 3 we had a recap of Day 2’s feeding rules and calculations to make sure we’d all understood the maths bit – I think we were mostly OK, shouldn’t be a problem. Now onwards to the next set of topics – we are hurtling towards the exam!

Days 4 and 5 and 6

We moved on at the next session to talk about safety. This topic is really important and safety considerations should drive everything we do around horses. For example we need to know the right way to store tools, how to use electricity around horses and generally that we need to be tidy and organised to avoid silly accidents. We need to know what to do in the event of a fire or an incident where people or horses are injured. We need to know what kinds of clothes and shoes are suitable around horses, and make sure we wear them! We also learned how to move heavy objects safely - important when horse food bags can weigh 20 kilos

Next up was hacking. I am amazed at the number of people who do not wear hi-viz. Nobody will think you're uncool for being visible to drivers. The roads are busy and people rush, wearing a simple hi-viz vest gives drivers the chance to see you in time to take evasive action to avoid an accident. Even on bridleways and fields, you will want to be seen so that if you fall off and need help you can be found. The Highway Code was covered as was the Country Code. We all like to think we already know this stuff, but it does no harm to refresh memories

All horse owners know that a major cost is shoeing. We learned what to look for in a well shod foot and how to spot when we need to call our trusty farrierThe last topic on the syllabus was boots, bandages and tack. We learned how to identify different bits of kit and what their purpose is. We covered bitting in some detail - always a contentious and complex topic!

For the final week we worked on some scenarios that might be seen in the exam, and had an opportunity to quiz Emma Stoba - our patient and knowledgeable coach - on topics we weren't sure of. We particularly covered what the examiners would be looking for - there are always so many 'right' answers when it comes to looking after horses

The Exam!

I planned to arrive early for the exam so that I could do some last minute cramming in the car and meet up with another lady so that we could quiz each other. I was surprised to get there 15 minutes early for the exam and not be first! We were all keen to get in and show what we knew

Annette from BRC came along to take some photos and record the occasion, and Emma was waiting with all of the exam papers from HQ

The exam was an hour and fifteen minutes long, with questions varying from those whose answers were obvious, to those which needed some thought. I actually enjoyed it - fingers crossed we all pass!

My only question now is: When can we do the next one?

Thanks Emma for your teaching, Rachel for your facilities, Alison for winning this course for the club in a competition, and lastly BRC for helping us all to become better owners

Tam (and Beau)x



















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