BHS Pathway

It actually started with the Isle of Man Sport Aid Academy.  A two year programme aimed at committed athletes across all sports.

Over the previous couple of years, we had seen equestrian riders selected for the Academy but then gradually drop away from the programme.  Rather than simply accepting that equestrian athletes perhaps didn't engage with the Academy in the same way as athletes from other sports, we wanted to understand why.

We listened to feedback from riders and parents and looked at what the programme offered them as well as what it didn't.

One of the challenges quickly became apparent: equestrian sport does not fit neatly into the same model as many other Academy sports.

Athletes in many sports already train together regularly, particularly those involved in team and club-based sports.  They may arrive at the Academy already knowing one another, sharing coaches, training sessions and common goals.  The Academy then adds another layer to a group which already exists.

Equestrian sport can look very different.

Our riders compete in different disciplines, at different levels and with very different goals.  They may belong to different clubs, train with different coaches and, despite all being involved in the same wider sport, rarely actually train together.

They also have a horse or pony as part of the equation.

Bringing a group of equestrian athletes together for additional practical training is therefore much more complicated than simply putting everyone into the same training session.  What is useful for one horse and rider combination may be completely different for another.

That left us with an important question:

What could we offer our Academy riders that would give them a reason to come together as a group, while still being genuinely useful to every one of them as an individual?

When the current group came together, we deliberately approached things differently.

Rather than starting with what we thought they should be doing, we looked at the feedback we had received, talked to the riders and considered what they all had in common regardless of discipline, competitive level or the horse or pony they were currently riding.

The answer was horsemanship.

Every rider benefits from better knowledge and understanding of horse care.  Those skills stay with the rider from pony to pony, discipline to discipline and throughout their involvement with horses.

From there, the idea of working towards BHS Stage 1 began to take shape.

Rather than offering a collection of standalone sessions, it gave this particular group a structured programme and something real to work towards together.

Eight Academy riders became our first BHS Stage 1 cohort.

And, perhaps just as importantly as the eight passes that eventually followed, they stayed together as a group.

There is no single route through which a rider progresses, and competitive success is only one measure of development.

Progress can also be heavily influenced by the horse or pony available to a rider at any particular time.  A young rider may outgrow a pony, have a horse become injured, move between disciplines or simply reach a point where their current pony cannot take them any further competitively.

None of that means the rider's own learning and development has to stop.

A qualification pathway gives riders another opportunity to develop their own knowledge, practical skills and understanding of good horse care and management – things which stay with them regardless of the horse or pony they happen to have at the time.

Importantly, we don't see that learning as belonging to one organisation or one pathway.

Young riders on the Isle of Man already gain an enormous amount of knowledge and experience through Pony Club, riding clubs, coaches, competition, helping at yards and simply looking after their own horses and ponies.  BHS training can build on those foundations, reinforce good practice and introduce additional opportunities to put that knowledge into practice.

And it works both ways.

A Pony Club member coming into BHS training may already have a really strong grounding in horse care and be familiar with learning practical skills and working towards assessments.  In turn, the additional practice and knowledge gained through BHS training can support that rider when preparing for future Pony Club tests and assessments.

Rather than seeing those as separate or competing routes, we see them as different opportunities which can support and enhance one another.

The same applies outside formal qualifications.

Greater knowledge of correct and ethical horse care is valuable to anyone responsible for horses. Young riders can become more confident and independent in caring for their own ponies, while parents and horse owners can develop their knowledge and practical skills too.

Ultimately, increasing knowledge and confidence across our whole equestrian community benefits the horses at the centre of it.

For some people, qualifications may also become useful as part of their future plans.  A young person considering equine college or their first job with horses may benefit from having recognised practical skills alongside the experience they have already gained through Pony Club, their own yard, clubs or competition.  Someone already working with horses may choose to add further qualifications to their existing experience.  Others may eventually become interested in coaching.

But that doesn't make one route a progression from, or replacement for, another.

There is no reason a rider cannot be working towards a Pony Club test, taking part in club training and competition, and completing a BHS qualification at different points – with the knowledge and experience gained from each supporting the others.

For some riders, Stage 1 may simply be another opportunity to learn.  For others, it may help reinforce skills they are developing elsewhere.  Some may choose to continue through further BHS qualifications and others may never take another BHS assessment.

All of those are equally valid outcomes.

The aim is not to create another ladder everyone is expected to climb.

It is to add another opportunity to an already strong equestrian community – one which can work alongside, support and enhance what is already here.

One of the biggest barriers facing Manx riders is not necessarily a lack of ambition or ability, but geography.

Accessing recognised qualifications often means travelling to the UK for training as well as assessment.  Once boats, accommodation, transport and time away are added, something which is relatively accessible to a rider living in the UK can become considerably more complicated and expensive for someone living on the Isle of Man.

Our aim was not to recreate the entire BHS system here, but to see how much of the preparation could realistically be delivered on-Island.

The programme combined online theory training with practical riding and horse-care sessions here at home.

The riders worked through the BHS Stage 1 syllabus over a number of months, with training designed not simply to get them through an assessment, but to help them understand the standard expected and become more confident and competent in their everyday riding and horse care.

The final assessment still required travel to an approved BHS assessment centre, but completing the majority of the preparation on-Island significantly reduced the amount of travel required, especially as their own horses were not required for the assessment.

The programme was supported by BHS Isle of Man and Isle of Man Sport.  Jill Joy, local BHS Volunteer, provided the vital link with BHS headquarters, local coach Hannah Goodby-Dudgeon delivered practical training on-Island and off Island BHS Coach Charlotte Duncan provided online theory training, allowing the riders to access specialist tuition without another journey off-Island.

Eight riders then travelled to Wirral Riding Centre to complete their BHS Stage 1 assessment.

Eight came home having passed.

The Isle of Man already has a strong and active equestrian community, and developing another opportunity should not mean overlooking what is already here.

The Island's Pony Club community provides young riders with an enormous range of opportunities to learn, compete, attend camps and rallies, develop friendships and work towards Pony Club tests and achievement badges.

Centre Membership is also available through Ballawhetstone, providing an opportunity for children and young people who do not have access to their own horse or pony to take part in Pony Club training and activities. Where riders later gain access to their own pony, there is then the opportunity to become involved with the Isle of Man Pony Club and the wider programme it offers.

Pony Club membership does not have to revolve entirely around riding either. Non-riding membership can be particularly valuable for siblings or young people who enjoy horses but do not necessarily have a pony to ride, allowing them to take part in many of the activities, learning and social opportunities Pony Club provides.

The BHS pathway isn't intended to replace any of this.

Instead, we see the different opportunities as complementary.

Many of the riders in our first BHS cohort are already Pony Club members and are familiar with working towards tests and assessments. The knowledge and experience they have gained through Pony Club naturally feeds into BHS training, just as additional knowledge and practice gained through BHS training can be taken back into Pony Club, club activities, competition and everyday horse care.

The two do not need to be an either/or choice.

Learning in one pathway doesn't disappear when a rider steps into another – it builds.

Importantly, progression doesn't always have to depend on the horse or pony a rider happens to have at the time. There will be times when a rider is ready to learn more or work towards the next stage, but their own horse may not yet be at that level – or may simply never be the right horse for it. That shouldn't necessarily put a limit on the rider's own development.

One of the advantages of creating access to further recognised training and assessment opportunities is that riders can continue developing their own knowledge, skills and experience without success being entirely dependent on owning a horse capable of competing or performing at a particular level. For some, that may mean progressing through riding assessments on suitable horses; for others, it may be developing their knowledge of horse care, coaching or other areas of the sport.

For Manx Horse Council, that is an important part of developing equestrian sport on the Island: not creating one prescribed route, but helping riders access a range of opportunities which can support and enhance one another.

We also hope that having the BHS pathway available will encourage older riders to continue progressing through their Pony Club assessments too, knowing that the skills and knowledge they are building now can form part of a much longer equestrian journey.  When their time as a Pony Club member comes to an end, there are other pathways available should they want to continue – whether that is immediately or something they choose to return to in the future.

The obvious outcome of the first programme was eight BHS Stage 1 certificates, but there was much more to it than that.

Over the months of training we saw riders become more confident, learn from one another and develop as a group.

They trained together, revised together, encouraged one another and shared the inevitable nerves.

For some, the biggest achievement was mastering a particular skill.  For others, it was managing nerves, building confidence or discovering just how much they already knew.

Friendships developed across disciplines and clubs.

By the time they travelled away for the assessment, they weren't simply eight individual riders taking the same exam.

They were a group.

And that mattered.

Creating that sense of belonging had been one of the things we were trying to address when we first looked at why previous equestrian riders had gradually dropped away from the Academy programme.

The programme also gave us an opportunity to think more widely about rider welfare within our development pathways.

Lottie Moore has recently taken on a developing the rider welfare role within Manx Horse Council, helping us look at how we can better support the people involved in equestrian sport across the Island.  Her role is not about replacing the safeguarding or welfare responsibilities already held within individual clubs and organisations, but about helping MHC provide another layer of support across the wider equestrian community.

As part of the Stage 1 programme, Lottie produced information for the riders ahead of the assessment to help them prepare.  Importantly they knew support was available and who they could speak to if they had a concern or simply needed some help.  It was a relatively small addition to the programme, but an important one.

Going forward, we hope Lottie’s role can help us develop clearer links between the different welfare and safeguarding structures already in place, share useful information and resources, and make it easier for riders, parents, coaches and volunteers to know where to turn when they need support.

It is another area where we see MHC’s role as being about connection rather than duplication – supporting the work already taking place within our clubs and organisations and helping to strengthen the network around everyone involved in equestrian sport on the Island.

The friendships, teamwork, confidence and knowledge developed along the way were every bit as valuable as the certificates at the end. Hearing that the group had planned their own celebratory meal after the results was a lovely reminder that what had started as eight individual Academy riders had become a group in their own right. 

We've heard the questions.

Does the Island really need another qualification pathway?  Aren't there already opportunities for young riders to progress?  Where does BHS fit alongside Pony Club and everything else already happening here?

They're fair questions – and ones we think are worth answering.

The Isle of Man already has a strong and active equestrian community.  We have clubs, coaches, volunteers, Pony Club, BHS activity and a huge amount of knowledge and experience already here.

The BHS pathway isn't intended to replace any of this, and it isn't about creating a competing route.

It is about adding another option.

And importantly, adding another option doesn't diminish the value of any of the others.

The skills riders learn through Pony Club, their coaches, riding clubs, competition and everyday horse care can support them if they choose to undertake a BHS qualification.  The skills they practise through BHS training can equally be taken back into Pony Club, their clubs, their yards and their everyday riding.

The benefit is in having more knowledgeable, capable and confident horse people – wherever that knowledge was gained.

For some riders, BHS may provide a first nationally recognised qualification.  For others, it may sit alongside the Pony Club pathway they are already following or support preparation for future Pony Club assessments.  Some may eventually use qualifications as part of a route into further education, coaching or employment within the equestrian industry.  Others may complete Stage 1 and decide that is as far as they want to go.

And some riders won't want to follow it at all.

That's absolutely fine.

Equestrian sport has never had one single route through it. Riders have different ambitions, different horses, different circumstances and different interests.

The aim shouldn't be to funnel everyone down the same pathway, but to make sure there are different doors available to them.

For Manx Horse Council, developing the BHS pathway is about opening one more of those doors – not closing, replacing or competing with any of the others.

This first programme was deliberately a starting point, a pilot, a test.

It has shown us that BHS training can be delivered successfully on the Island and that there is value in bringing riders together to work towards a recognised qualification.

What it hasn't done is create a set programme which every future Academy cohort will automatically follow.

If there is one thing the experience of the last few years has taught us, it is that we need to keep listening.

Future Academy riders will bring different experience, ambitions and needs, and what we offer them should reflect that.  Stage 1 may be right for some; for others, a completely different programme may be more useful.

At the same time, what we have learned from this first cohort gives us the opportunity to explore whether an on-Island BHS pathway could have a place beyond the Academy.

There may be riders elsewhere within our equestrian community who would like to work towards Stage 1 or further BHS qualifications, and we now know much more about what is involved in delivering that training from the Island.

That is something to explore rather than a finished plan.

We can look at demand, the balance between online and practical training, how sessions might be scheduled, what support riders need and, importantly, how any future provision can sit comfortably alongside and support the opportunities already available through our clubs and organisations.

Most importantly, we want it to remain an opportunity rather than an expectation.

Manx Horse Council's role is not to decide which pathway every rider should follow.  It is to listen, to help create opportunities, to connect the different parts of our equestrian community and, where possible, to reduce some of the additional barriers that come with being an Island.

A couple of years ago, we were looking at an Academy programme from which our equestrian riders were gradually dropping away and asking ourselves what we needed to do differently.

We listened.  We changed the approach.

And this year eight riders trained together, supported one another, travelled away together and came home with eight BHS Stage 1 passes between them.

What began as a way of finding something meaningful for one particular group of Academy riders to do together has now given us another opportunity to explore for the wider Manx equestrian community.

Where it goes from here is something we will continue to develop, listen and learn from.

But eight out of eight passes feels like a pretty good place to start.  

And perhaps the clearest confirmation that we had achieved what we originally set out to do came afterwards: six of those riders chose to continue into Year 2 of the Academy programme.

The qualification was a fantastic outcome.

Keeping our young equestrian athletes engaged, learning and moving forward together was the goal.

Thanks for joining us on this journey, if you have any thoughts you'd like to share please get in touch.