Pennsylvania Council on Therapeutic Horsemanship

PENNSYLVANIA COUNCIL ON THERAPEUTIC HORSEMANSHIP

Phase I 2015 Riding Test Information Sheet & Questionnaire

Therapeutic riding is one form of equine assisted activity – it is not equine assisted therapy. As therapeutic riding instructors, we utilize riding and horsemanship skills to achieve our goals, therefore, it is imperative that the therapeutic riding instructor has a basic understanding of: riding skills, horse handling and other horsemanship skills, and teaching skills. The objectives of Phase I are to clarify, enhance, focus and examine your abilities. To demonstrate riding skills, you are asked to take a basic riding test. The PACTH recognizes that taking a riding test can be a stressful experience and we have endeavored to make this as comfortable as possible.

Riders will be in an enclosed arena in small groups. The evaluators will ask you to walk, trot/jog – both posting and sitting as a group and to canter/lope individually. You will be asked to circle and to change directions, halt, back, and dismount. The evaluators will be in the arena and reserve the right to ask any individual to stop riding if the ride is deemed unsafe. All mounts will be from a mounting block.

All riders must wear a helmet (Wilson has a limited number of helmets available, if necessary) and you must wear appropriate footwear i.e. paddock boots, cowboy boots, tall boots or other hard soled shoes with a heel. Work boots are not recommended. Tennis shoes are not acceptable (unless they are specifically riding tennis shoes). No spurs are allowed.

The horses will be basic level horses used in Wilson’s equitation program. You may ride in either an English saddle or a western saddle without bias, however, either discipline is required to demonstrate both a posting trot and a sitting trot/jog due to the effectiveness of the posting trot for riders with certain disabilities. The horses at Wilson are not ridden western. They do not jog (they trot) and most are ridden in a snaffle bit. Therefore, you should be familiar with holding split reins and direct reining when riding western (they will not neck rein).

A few applicants have indicated that they are currently taking riding lessons and do not feel that their skills are such that they can safely or successfully test at this time and they would prefer to watch the process prior to testing. It is possible for you to take an automatic “fail” on the riding exam by not taking the riding test at this time. Upon returning for Phase II, you will be expected to pay the $25.00 re-test fee and take the riding exam during Phase II. If this is your intention, you MUST check the appropriate box in the questionnaire.

PLEASE FILL IN THE QUESTIONNAIRE BELOW AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE AND RETURN WITH REGISTRATION.

Name:

Intended Testing Level: ¨ Instructor-in-Training (this level does not take riding test)

¨  Instructor

¨  Master

¨  I INTEND TO TAKE THE AUTOMATIC FAIL AT THIS TIME (as described above)

Height: Weight:

Preferred Tack for Riding Test: ¨ Western ¨ English

Please check your confidence level related to taking a riding test on a strange horse:

¨ I am very fearful

¨ I am somewhat nervous

¨ I am fairly comfortable

¨ I am confident

Please check all that apply to your current riding abilities – skills that you can perform comfortably and well (not all are skills that will be asked during the riding test) on a horse that is unfamiliar to you:

¨ Walk

¨ Halt

¨ Halt square

¨ Back

¨ Lengthen walk

¨ Schooling figures in walk

¨ Walk-trot or walk-jog transition

¨ Posting trot

¨ Know posting diagonals

¨ Jog

¨ Half halt

¨ Sitting trot

¨ Schooling figures in trot or jog

¨ Lengthen trot or jog

¨ Extended trot or jog

¨ Walk-lope or walk-canter transition

¨ Jog-lope or trot-canter transition

¨ Lope

¨ Canter

¨ Know leads

¨ Schooling figures in lope or canter

¨ Lengthen lope or canter

¨ Extended canter

¨ Leg yield

¨ Side pass (western)

¨ Gallop

¨ Ride without stirrups

¨ Pleasure or trail ride only

¨ Currently take lessons

¨ Do not ride any longer

¨ Ride only occasionally

¨ Ride about once a month

¨ Ride weekly

¨ Ride daily

¨ Actively compete (indicate discipline & level)

Please provide any additional information that will help us determine the appropriate mount or grouping: