Challenge Awards

Absolutely anyone who is a BHS member! It doesn’t matter what previous experience they have with horses, or if they’re a complete beginner. All you need is enthusiasm and a love for horses!

There are no age limits or restrictions to the awards. The only exception to this is within silver riding out safely; the minimum age limit to sit the Ride Safe award is 11.

For a small fee we will supply you with information booklets for each award, which you can distribute to participants upon registering for an award. Each information booklet will include an award checklist, which lists the skills and knowledge required to complete an award; think of it as a checklist of what the participant needs to do. Within the checklist will be space for you to date and sign when the participant has demonstrated competence for a practical task, or able to discuss a topic confidently.

There will be certificates issued for completion of a single award (for example, lungeing your horse bronze) and badges issued upon completion of combination of awards; so all your participants will receive recognition of their achievement; whether they complete all challenge awards or pick and mix individual awards.

There is a minimal fee to pay for these resources, to cover our costs.

This is completely up to you; there are no set time limits. As part of the support package to you, we will provide you with session plan templates for each award, to provide suggestions and ideas for content to include in your sessions. Following a session plan is not compulsory, and we encourage you to adapt them to suit your participants, the facilities, time of year and horses available to you. You should expect and plan to spend more time on some areas, or repeat sessions, to build participant confidence and allow them time to achieve the skills required for the task – remember there are no time restrains or time limits.

Following a session plan is not compulsory, and we encourage you to adapt them to suit your participants, the facilities, time of year and horses available to you. You should expect and plan to spend more time on some areas, or repeat sessions, to build participant confidence and allow them time to achieve the skills required for the task – remember there are no time restrains or time limits.

You, the coach. You should not organise formal assessments, but instead, sign off the award checklist on a continuous basis in an informal setting, as and when tasks have been completed.

Once you have signed off the entire award checklist for a participant, you will notify us, and we will post the certificates to you. We recommend you acknowledge your participant’s achievement with a small prize giving ceremony.

Once a participant has been awarded their final bronze, silver or gold award within the About the Horse or About the Rider series, we will send the badge with the fourth certificate for you to award to your participant. We recommend you acknowledge your participant’s achievement with a small prize giving ceremony.

The challenge awards are open to any BHS Silver or Gold member. For any participants that are not already members of the BHS they can join online or by calling the Membership team on 02476 840506. Before you begin the delivery of your course you should ask to see the participants’ BHS membership cards to confirm membership (these are posted to the member approximately two to three weeks after they join). We will also check currency of membership at the point of awarding certificates and medals.

BRC members will receive a 30% discount on their first years’ BHS membership.

Every member will be issued with a membership card approximately two weeks after joining. We recommend you ask to see the membership card before you begin to deliver the course.

No, this would not be acceptable. We understand that the membership fee may be an additional cost that has not been planned for, but the participant is required to be a member of the BHS to access the challenge awards. There are many more benefits than just a certificate to being a member, and with membership starting from as little as £3.66 a month, we hope your clients will want to support our charity and enjoy the benefits that come with membership.

Yes, absolutely! The awards are completely flexible and you and your participants can pick and mix the awards to suit their skills, experience and ambitions. You can begin at any award, at any level. The only exception to this is silver ride out safely must be achieved before moving on to ride out safely gold.

The challenge awards are to be delivered and assessed by BHS Accredited Professional Coaches* and BHS Approved Centre coaches* (Approved Centre coaches that hold the Stage 2 Complete Horsemanship are recommended to be supervised by a Stage 3 Coach in Complete Horsemanship).

*Exemption to this is the silver riding out safely award which comprises of the Ride Safe award. This must be assessed by a BHS Ride Safe assessor at a Ride Safe assessment.

You are eligible to deliver the challenge awards following a short introductory training session.

You can deliver the awards within a BHS Approved Riding Centre or on a freelance basis. If you are freelance, the awards can be delivered at the participant’s livery yard using the participant’s horse or horses (the livery yard does not have to be a BHS Approved Livery Yard), or at the British Riding Club grounds if delivering a course for a BRC group. We would advise you to check that the venue hosting the session has appropriate public liability cover in place for the hiring out/use of the facilities for the lesson. This information should be found on the policy schedule.

If the participants do not have their own horses, or their horses are not suitable, the awards must only be delivered at a BHS Approved Riding Centre. If you are in doubt please contact us before you begin your course and we will be happy to advise further.

Absolutely! There is no reason why you cannot deliver the challenge awards outside of the UK, on a freelance basis. We advise that you check you have the necessary insurance in place depending on the country you are in. Just be aware that you may have to adapt some of the content based on different husbandry practices outside of the UK.

If the participants do not have their own horses, or their horses are not suitable, the awards must only be delivered at a BHS Approved Riding Centre. If you are in doubt please contact us before you begin your course and we will be happy to advise further.

Please note, for courses being delivered outside of the UK and the Republic of Ireland, we will accept overseas e-membership for the participant's membership level.

Challenge awards can be delivered at any BHS Approved Centre, where at least one member of staff has attended the introductory training. If your riding school is not BHS Approved, you will not be eligible to deliver the awards. For further information about becoming BHS Approved contact our Approvals team on approvals@bhs.org.uk, or call 02476 840509.

The introductory training (for coaches to deliver the challenge awards) is absolutely free.

There is a cost to purchase the resource packs, per participant, applicable at the time of registering your participants with us. This will all be explained in the introductory training.

It is up to you to set the fees for training and delivery of the challenge awards. We recommend you factor the costs of the resource pack into your course fees.

You are able to buy resource packs that includes four awards at the level you specify (bronze, silver or gold) or two awards included in the introductory pack. The cost per pack is reduced the more you buy.

In order to keep costs to a minimum, we are unable to offer resource packs for single awards. It is not compulsory for a participant to complete all four awards within a pack if they do not want to; so the participant could buy single award courses from you if they should wish to.

The costs for training and assessing participants for the challenge awards are set by yourself. We have kept our costs for resources as low as possible so we are unable to provide any further discounts. You may wish to offer discounts to different groups of clients at your discretion.

If you want to sign up to deliver the challenge awards there is a short introductory training session we ask you to complete. Once you have completed the training you will be listed on our website as a Challenge Awards Trainer or Challenge Awards Centre. If you are signing up your Approved Centre, we recommend that all coaches involved with the training complete the training, however this is not compulsory. The proprietor, or lead coach, completes the training as a minimum.

We currently have two options available to you for your training session:

1. Attend a Challenge Awards information day
Join us to be involved with live demonstrations, interactive discussions and presentations that will provide you with all you need to know. This will also be a great networking opportunity to meet other Accredited Professionals in your area. Click on the link below and search for 'Challenge Awards information day'.

Book your Challenge Awards information day today

2. Book a conference call
We are hosting two sessions per day, every day in September. Upon booking your session you will be emailed further information and guidance that explains the Challenge Awards and how to deliver them. Your conference call will then give you the opportunity to go through the process in more detail and ask any queries you may have. The call shouldn’t last longer than one hour. Click on the link below and search for 'Challenge Awards coach training'.

Book your session today

Both options are free to book. Once you have completed either of the options above, you will be eligible to deliver the challenge awards.

The introductory training is absolutely free.

There is a cost to purchase the resource packs, per participant, applicable at the time of registering your participants with us.

For the full list of costs, please refer to your coach handbook.

We expect they will slowly phase out as the challenge awards are rolled out. However, we have not set any end dates for the qualifications. We will continue to review this.

Yes! If you and your clients feel the challenge awards are more suitable for them, you can stop the PRTs and begin the challenge awards at any time.

No. For a challenge award to be achieved, the award checklist must be completed and signed off.

The challenge awards are designed for horse owners, loaners, recreational riders and anyone else who wants to learn more about horses and develop their skills for personal achievement. When a participant completes an award they will be recognised with a certificate, but the challenge awards are not industry recognised qualifications for the professional market.

If you have clients that aspire to work in the equestrian industry we have dedicated professional pathways which will help them do just that. As an APC or Approved Centre you can offer training towards these qualifications too.

We are delighted to offer entry to the BHS Equine Excellence Pathway for challenge award participants who may wish to transition to our suite of professional qualifications.

Groom Pathway
Completion of the following challenge awards will provide entry to BHS Stage 2 Care* and Stage 2 Lunge*

• About the Horse - Silver

Professional Rider Pathway
Completion of the following challenge awards will provide entry to BHS Stage 2 Ride*

• About the Rider - Silver

Complete Horsemanship Pathway
Completion of the following challenge awards will provide entry to BHS Stage 2 Care*, Stage 2 Lunge* and BHS Stage 2 Ride*:

• About the Horse - Silver
• About the Rider - Silver

Upon completion of the Stage 2 Care, Lunge and Ride, you can then progress to the Stage 2 Teach within the Complete Horsemanship Pathway.

Equine Tourism Pathway
This pathway is for those that wish to work in the equestrian tourism industry. The suite of professional qualifications will provide career opportunities from ride leaders through to equestrian tourism centre managers. The entry level qualification within the Ride Leader Pathway is Ride Out Stage 2. The entry requirements for Ride Out Stage 2 are:

• Riding out Safely – Gold (Challenge Award) (compulsory from 2020)

• Stage 1 Care or About the Horse – Silver
• Stage 1 Ride or About the Rider - Silver

*Please note the minimum age requirement for a participant to sit any Stage 2 Care, Lunge or Ride assessment is 16 years old and to be a BHS Gold Member.

If you have clients that are aiming for a career in the equestrian industry we recommend they sit BHS Stage 1 Care and Ride, instead of the challenge awards.

We believe this will enhance their training towards the Stage 2 and will be beneficial for their learning and professional career.

Please contact us at any time if you have any questions, or feedback, about the challenge awards. We have a dedicated email challengeawards@bhs.org.uk, or you can call the Equine Excellence Team on 02476 840508.

All of the supporting documents for you will be listed on your online business toolkit, for you to download at any point. If you are an APC, you can access your online business toolkit here, if you are an Approved Centre, access your online business toolkit here. If you require login details please contact us.

Yes! We have set up a closed facebook group for Accredited Professional Coaches only to encourage you to share ideas and good practice within the APC community. If you are not part of this group, contact accreditedprofessionals@bhs.org.uk and request to receive your invite.

If you are an Accredited Professional Coach, and have opted to include the insurance within your membership package, you are covered to coach riders on their own horse. The Care, Custody and Control cover also allows you to handle that horse during demos, as appropriate. Approved Centres must abide by their own riding school insurance conditions.

For more information on your insurance cover provided within your APC membership, go to your online business toolkit.

We would also advise the coach to check that the venue hosting the session has appropriate public liability cover in place for the hiring out/use of the facilities for the lesson

Technically the Riding School License is required when tuition in riding takes place, this includes polo, ridden pony parties, hunter hirelings etc. If pony parties (whereby pony is not sat upon) were used as an example comparison, then a ‘stable management’ activity could fall under the requirement for an Animal Exhibits License. At the moment it will be at the discretion of the Local Authority interpretation of the Defra Procedural Guidance that they operate under. We would suggest that you contact your Local Authority and ask for written confirmation. If the Local Authority confirms in writing that a Riding School License is not required, you should contact SEIB for further guidance on 0345 4500634. If you have not opted for insurance cover with your membership, you should contact your own insurance provider.

Technically the Riding School License is required when tuition in riding takes place, this includes polo, ridden pony parties, hunter hirelings etc. If pony parties (whereby pony is not sat upon) were used as an example comparison, then a ‘stable management’ activity could fall under the requirement for an Animal Exhibits License. At the moment it will be at the discretion of the Local Authority interpretation of the Defra Procedural Guidance that they operate under. We would suggest that you contact your Local Authority and ask for written confirmation. You would, as a minimum, need to ensure you have relevant insurance to teach with your horse/s, on the basis that your horse may kick/injure a participant. If the Local Authority confirms in writing that a Riding School License is not required, you should contact SEIB for further guidance on 0345 4500634. If you have not opted for insurance cover with your membership, you should contact your own insurance provider.

This will vary from each Local Authority, as they issue the license. The advice given to local councils from the Government is available to read here www.local.gov.uk/open-business-lga-guidance-locally-set-licence-fees. Technically the Riding School License is required when tuition in riding takes place, this includes polo, ridden pony parties, hunter hirelings etc. If pony parties (whereby pony is not sat upon) were used as an example comparison, then a ‘stable management’ activity could fall under the requirement for an Animal Exhibits License. At the moment it will be at the discretion of the Local Authority interpretation of the Defra Procedural Guidance that they operate under. We would suggest that you contact your Local Authority and ask for written confirmation.

This would be acceptable as long as the arrangement is between the two participants and you (the APC) does not have involvement in selecting/pairing horse and rider. Both participants must ensure they have public liability cover as if there is a claim it may be directed to the owner or rider and the APC policy only covers the instruction element.

There is no cover for the hiring out of facilities/arenas etc, this should fall under the property insurance.

These activities are all acceptable as long as they are carried out during the lesson and not as a separate class, this is acceptable under the APC policy