Stage 4 Senior Coach in Complete Horsemanship celebrates your development in coaching both horses and riders in the equestrian industry with considerable knowledge in care and management, riding and teaching. You may be a freelance coach or looking to develop as a trainer across any discipline.
This career certificate demonstrates your experience and skills to independently train and coach individuals and groups of riders, working with riders on their own horses or on centre horses, with sound practical business knowledge and the ability to take responsibility for an equestrian establishment or work as an effective freelance coach.
A Stage 4 Senior Coach in Complete Horsemanship, will showcase appropriate coaching styles to develop riders and train horses to British Dressage Elementary, British Showjumping Discovery and British Eventing 100.
- Freelance coach
- Equestrian training centre coach
- Equestrian centre manager
- Dressage specific coach
- Jumping specific coach
UK assessments only
For BHS Accredited Professionals: £732*
Non BHS Accredited Professionals: £975
Fees for overseas assessments, (including the Republic of Ireland), can be obtained by contacting the BHS Education Team.
*We are delighted to offer a 25% discount for assessment fees for any Accredited Professional. The price shown is with the discount applied.
This includes:
- BHS Stage 4 Care award £225 (£169*)
- BHS Stage 4 Management award £225 (£169*)
- BHS Stage 4 Lunge award £75 (£56*)
- BHS Stage 4 Senior Ride for Training award £225 (£169*)
- BHS Stage 4 Senior Teach award £225 (£169*)
- BHS Stage 4 Senior Coach in Complete Horsemanship Career Certificate
Fees for overseas assessments, (including the Republic of Ireland), can be obtained by contacting the BHS Education Team.
- 18+ years
- Anyone looking to advance their coaching career to coach at higher levels in one of the world-leading equestrian coaching pathways
- Anyone looking to take a senior role or management role within an equestrian business
- Anyone aspiring to become a Stage 5 Performance Coach in Complete Horsemanship
We recognise those following a career in Complete Horsemanship may wish to focus their riding and/or coaching in dressage or show jumping. We are pleased to be able to certify the Coach in Complete Horsemanship Pathway to those only taking show jumping or dressage awards as a BHS Stage 4 Senior Dressage Rider for Training/BHS Stage 4 Senior Show Jumping Rider for Training and BHS Stage 4 Senior Dressage Teach/BHS Stage 4 Senior Show Jumping Teach.
- A Stage 4 Senior Coach (Dressage) will certify those who take the dressage only option at Stage 4 Senior Ride and Stage 4 Senior Teach
- A Stage 4 Senior Coach (Show Jumping) will certify those who take the show jumping only option at Stage 4 Senior Ride and Stage 4 Senior Teach
- BHS Professional Rider Pathway (Dressage) will develop your flatwork and support a career as a dressage rider and trainer
- BHS Professional Rider Pathway (Show Jumping) will develop your jump work and support a career within showjumping
- BHS Coaching Pathway (Dressage) will develop your skills coaching flatwork and support your career as a dressage coach
- BHS Coaching Pathway (Show Jumping) will develop your skills coaching over show jumps and support your career as a show jumping coach
Can some awards be taken on the same day?
Yes! We appreciate you are busy professionals and we have developed the assessment days so combinations of awards can be completed on the same day. Usually, the Stage 4 Care award and a Stage 4 Ride award can be completed on the same day. Similarly, we will often run Stage 4 Management and a Stage 4 Teach award on the same day.
Is the Stage 4 Senior Ride for Training (Complete/Eventing) a combination of the Stage 4 Dressage for Training award and the Stage 4 Show Jumping Ride for Training Award?
All of the Senior Ride awards are individual and separate awards. The combination of the Dressage Ride plus the Show Jumping Ride will not award you the Complete/Eventing Ride award. The Dressage and Show Jumping Ride awards have been developed to assess specific skills required for those disciplines, and there are some Learning Outcomes in these awards that are not assessed within the Complete/Eventing Ride award. Similarly, there are Learning Outcomes in the Complete/Eventing Ride award that are not assessed within the Dressage Ride or Show Jumping Ride awards.
Can I sit more than one Ride award on the same day?
As each of the Ride awards assessments are 4 hours long and require a specific group of horses and facilities at the assessment centre, it is only possible to sit one Ride award on one day. It will be clearly listed on the assessment dates which Ride award is taking place on that day, however, if you are unsure you can confirm this with our Education Team at the time of booking your assessment.
What awards do I need to complete in order to gain the BHS Stage 4 Senior Coach in Complete Horsemanship?
You will complete the Complete/Eventing options for the Ride and Teach awards, as follows:
- Stage 4 Care
- Stage 4 Lunge
- Stage 4 Management
- Stage 4 Senior Ride for Training (Complete/Eventing)
- Stage 4 Senior Teach (Complete/Eventing)
Will there be career certificates awarded for completing a Dressage or Show Jumping award instead of the Complete/Eventing award in Ride or Teach?
Yes! We will continue to celebrate your achievements and award career certificates with these options.
Does the Ride award I choose to complete determine which Teach option I can then complete?
No, you can combine awards as you see fit for your skills set and ambitions. There are different pre-requisite requirements for the Ride Awards, but not co-requisite requirements in order to gain the Senior Coach career certificate.
Does the Teach award I choose to complete determine which Ride option I can then complete?
No, you can combine awards as you see fit for your skills set and ambitions.
Can I complete the awards in any order?
Yes! If you are working towards the Stage 4 Senior Coach career certificate you can complete the Stage 4 awards in any order.
Which career pathway is Stage 4 Lunge award included?
The Stage 4 Lunge award is included in two career pathways:
- Stage 4 Senior Coach in Complete Horsemanship Pathway
- Stage 4 Senior Rider Pathway
We have made the decision, following consultation with industry experts and employers, that from Stage 4 and above, the lungeing sits better within the Ride awards. As you progress your riding to Stage 4 level and above, you begin to influence and train the horse and will have more responsibility in the workplace to work with younger horses and fit competition horses. Lungeing would become a pivotal exercise in the training and development of competition horses, so the decision was made to include the Lunge award within the Rider Pathway.
This does mean the Lunge is removed from the Groom Pathway at Stage 4 and above.
I have already started my Stage 4 qualification before April 2019, what are my options?
If you have started any part of any Stage 4 qualification, and you sat your first assessment before 1 April 2019, you will be required to complete the qualification/s you are currently registered for. As we have revised the Stage 4 awards considerably, we cannot offer any mapping of units or learning outcomes from a previous Stage 4 qualification to allow you to 'top up' and complete the equivalent Stage 4 qualification in the new format. We will hold resit only days, to allow candidates that need to complete the opportunity to do so. These dates will be clearly listed on our assessment dates page, or contact the Education Team.
Will there be a Skills Record requirement for Stage 4?
Yes, we will introduce a Skills Record for all Stage 4 awards from 1 January 2020. If you sit a Stage 4 assessment before this date, you will not be required to complete a Skills Record.
When will the Dressage and Show Jumping routes be available for the Ride and Teach awards?
These qualifications will be available from Autumn 2019, however, you can view and download the syllabus from today.