Equestrian Coaching Certificate
Level One
This general qualification provides you with an introduction to the basic principles of equestrian coaching and enables you to work in an assistant coach capacity under the supervision of a coach with higher level qualifications. It’s open to those who meet the minimum entry requirements of the relevant Member Body.
Coaching outcomes at Level 1
- Prepare for activities in a safe working environment
- Establish working relationships with the participants and others
- Prepare and support participants
- Deliver prepared activities
- Conclude the activities
- Review the activities to help others
- Continuously develop personal practice
The Level 1 is currently offered by the following member bodies...
| General riding | Coaching for a specific discipline |
|---|---|
| The Pony Club | British Reining |
| Horsescotland | UK Polocrosse |
Level Two
This qualification enables you to work independently, without supervision, and is available in general riding or specific equestrian sports. The general riding coaching qualifications enables you to deliver sessions across a number of the key sports,7 as would be required to coach in a riding centre, while the specific qualification is focused on coaching for individual equestrian sports such as showjumping.
To access the general and sport specific Coaching Certificate Level 2 courses, it may be necessary to hold a general riding Coaching Certificate Level 1 or an equivalent qualification to meet the entry requirements. Please contact the relevant Member Body training and education lead for more information.
Coaching outcomes at Level 2
- Review participants' needs
- Produce plans for a series of sessions that support
- Participants' development in a safe coaching environment
- Prepare participants for the series of coaching sessions
- Establish and maintain working relationships
- Deliver coaching sessions
- Develop participants' performance
- Conclude sessions
- Evaluate participants' performance and the sessions
- Monitor personal coaching practice
The Level 2 is currently offered by the following Member Bodies...
| General Riding | Coaching for a specific discipline |
|---|---|
| Association of British Riding Schools | British Dressage |
| Horsescotland | British Showjumping |
| The Pony Club | British Eventing |
| Endurance GB | |
| British Carriagedriving | |
| British Reining | |
| UK Polocrosse |
Level Three
This qualification can also be general riding or discipline-specific, and requires a greater depth of technical knowledge and more developed coaching skills. Level 3 coaches are senior coaches, able to plan and implement longer term coaching strategy and effectively evaluate their own coaching practice.
To access the general riding and discipline specific Level 3 courses it may be necessary to hold a Level 2 or an equivalent qualification to meet the entry requirements. Please contact the relevant training and education lead in the relevant Member Body for more information.
Coaching outcomes at Level 3
- To be a fully autonomous coach – a role model at County/Regional level.
- Able to plan, deliver, analyse and review annual programmes of rider development
- Goal-setting
- Prepare for, deliver and review coaching sessions
- Plan a series of coaching sessions
- Prepare the coaching environment
- Deliver a series of sessions
- Monitor and evaluate coaching sessions and personal practice
The Level 3 is currently offered by the following member bodies...
| General Riding | Coaching for a specific discipline |
|---|---|
| Association of British Riding Schools | British Dressage |
| Horsescotland | British Showjumping |
| The Pony Club | British Eventing |
| Endurance GB | |
| British Carriagedriving | |
| British Reining | |
| UK Polocrosse |
Level Four
We have worked with British Rowing and the University of Gloucestershire to developed and deliver the British Equestrian Level 4 Coaching Certificate (endorsed by UKCC). The course is a bespoke programme developed specifically for the needs of both sports. It should be noted that this course and qualification has no sport-specific technical content or assessment. This is all about developing your coaching skills and knowledge to further your coaching.
The Level 4 qualification is for high-performing coaches with considerable experience and it involves an advanced syllabus of professional academic education. It isn’t exclusive to coaches working in a high-performance environment, we have had coaches from Pony Club and Riding for the Disabled in addition to those from the Olympic sports and beyond.
Further information about the Level 4 Coaching Certificate can be found here.
