OK so maybe I am being a little ambitious (!) as I haven't long passed my Stage 3 and PTT, but I was wondering if there was anybody out there who could fill me in on their experiences of the Stage 4 exam??!
How long was it after your Stage 3/BHSAI that you gained your Stage 4? How much training did you do? Were you training on a full or part time basis? Apart from the higher standards expected and added aspects of knowledge, does the exam day differ greatly from the Stage 3?
Any responses would be greatly appreciated!! Keep them coming as this is now a bit of a long term goal for me (logging my hours, and finishing my degree at the moment!), and I would give myself plenty of time to train and learn and gain experience, unlike this year where I have rushed through the stage 2, 3, and PTT in an attempt to get them out the way before I finish uni!!

My suggestion would be to work to broaden your experience, particularly of competing so that you are easily at exam standard before you take the exam.

I trained as a Dressage Judge, saw practice for several weeks with horse vets, helped on studs and at big shows, competed Newcomers /Fox on a horse I had trained from scratch, and did a lot of bodywork - Alexander etc.

Believe it or not I had a full time, non equine job too! It meant I could afford the lessons from good instructors, and to buy the horse to compete on.

The exam was just a port of call on a continuing journey of learning - the key is to prevent yourself becoming entrenched and dogmatic......

Enjoy!

thank you for that any more advice most welcome, i will hopefully be graduating this june (fingers crossed all going well!), and plan on having a very horsey summer!!