Our Groom with Riding Pathway is the one for you!
The BHS Groom with Riding Pathway provides the practical riding skills and knowledge to support you in any discipline. Whether your aspiration is dressage, showjumping or eventing, our Groom with Riding Pathway will help you to develop a sympathetic riding style and ensure you put the welfare of the horse at the heart of your riding.
Progressing from Stage 2 Foundation Rider and Stage 3 Rider you will be required to understand and apply the scales of training for the horse, show an understanding of a horse’s performance and evaluate its way of going, adapting your riding style appropriately.
As you develop more proficiency through the stages towards Stage 4 Senior Rider and Performance Rider you will be required to ride and train horses up to elementary and advanced medium dressage movements and have a balanced seat over fences leading to a course of show jumps up to 1.15 metres and cross-country fences up to 1.10 metres. The full suite of Groom with Riding qualifications will see you riding different types of horses; young, green and accomplished, so you will gain confidence riding a range of horses, evaluating their going and devising training plans.
As a Performance Rider you will be well respected within the industry as a rider and trainer of horses. Performance Riders are competent in both riding and training horses on the flat and over fences in all three Olympic disciplines.
You are most likely to specialise in a discipline with your riding thus we have supported both dressage and jump riding routes through our Groom with Riding Pathway to focus your career progression.
Many riders will be expected to care for the horses they are riding on a day-to-day basis, particularly if you are a rider at a commercial centre or if you own your own horses.
The ability to tow or drive a horsebox is a definite advantage as you may be expected to take the horses to competition. A HGV licence and/or B+E category licence may be required for this if you will be towing/driving over 3.5t. Visit the gov.uk website for further details.
Many riders at top level will also be expected to hold clinics, demonstrations and coach other riders. If you are a self-employed rider this will also provide a steady stream of income for the out-of-season months or perhaps if your horses are recovering from injury. Take a look at our Complete Horsemanship Pathway to gain these necessary skills and add strings to your bow.
