HI all,
Just thought I'd let you know that I have finally passed the PTT. Although I had a couple of borderlines, I am over the moon.
Stage 3 next.
How long do you have to wait before your log book comes? I can't wait to start clocking up the 500 hours.

Evelyn.

Congratulations Evelyn , hope I can say the same when I get some time to revise and practise for it again ( hopefully the end of the year ).
Love to hear what lessons you got , and what the topic was for the written paper.
I believe you can log your hours as soon as you've passed ?? , so keep a note of them to transfer to your log book.
Once again , well done.

Jonathan.

The written paper was quite easy, really. We got a written sheet of the story of two girls going for a ride and one falling off and hurting her arm. We had to fill in the accident form finding all the relevant details from the text. A bit like an English test in a way. I just copied everything I could onto the form and passed, no problem. However, there was a comment from the examiners that some people had filled the form in as if they themselves had been on the ride, so they got marked down for not following the instructions for completing the form properly.
My group lesson was jumping a grid - I made the mistake of setting up the grid with a bounce distance but luckily the riders were ok but I should have had one stride between each element.
The theory was fine - just like from the examiners handbook.
My lecture - fitting a New Zealand rug - my only problem was that it petered out towards the end and I waffled, I was told I should have just finished cleanly.
The lunge lesson is another story! The side rein was stuck in a very narrow D ring on the saddle and eventually one of the examiners managed to get it free. One brushing boot fell off during the lesson, and they both kept coming undone. Every time I changed rein I re-fastened them. Again there was a general comment from the examiners about everyone's lunge lesson - we need to be able to lunge better but as we were being tested on our teaching ability, we managed to get borderline passes.
Hope this is of some use to you.
I have started to clock up my 500 hours but haven't got the log book yet.
Stage 3 is next on my horizon and the first aid certificate.
Good luck Jonathon.

congratulations evelyn and good luck with your stage 3. when are you thinking of taking this? i will be having my first crack at both of these exams in the next couple of months - nerves are beginning to set in!

I was thinking of taking stage 3 next summer. What happens if the ground is unsuitable for the cross country if you take it in the winter? Is the exam cancelled? Not that I'm ready to take it this winter, but I just thought the summer would give a better chance of getting through all the parts.

Good luck with both yours - you're very brave taking them so close together.

Hi,

I passed mine (ptt & stage 3) a few months ago. The log book came within about a week or so, in a lovely blue folder!

Good luck with your stage 3 and well done

Chantal






http://www.jigsawequestrian.com

Thanks for your feedback on the exam Evelyn - I read it a few days before I did my PTT - and I passed!!!!!

I've found the information from other people on this site, about what happens in the exams, really useful - so I hope you'll all excuse me adding my own experiences unprompted.

I had the same written paper - and the same lecturette topic as Evelyn, so not much to add there.

My class lesson was around balance and accuracy of school figures. I had 3 students, all of whom could ride reasonably, but none had done any exams. I'd planned this lesson in advance (as all the books say to do) and was going to start with some work on transitions, and then build up to doing a 3 loop serpentine. However, having seen the quality of the 20m circles done in the assessment phase, I had to abandon my plan and worked on 20m circles instead. This went OK - although it was slightly hampered by the fact that the arena which had been marked out for me to use was more square than rectangular!!! I guess the main learning points from this were (1) be able to be flexible with your lesson plans and (2) don't let the circumstances / surroundings phase you - adapt your lesson to them as best you can.

I had a lead rein lesson, which we were briefed to 'teach what you see'. The main thing that phased me here was that when I chatted to the client at the start of the lesson, she said she's passed her stage 2. To be honest - I think this was a bit of a bad arrangement to put exam students under. The feedback from the examiner was that my teaching had swung from treating her as a beginner, to treating her as a Stage 2 rider. It was a fair comment - it was a rather 'schizophrenic' lesson. Apparently I should have taught her as a stage 2 rider and done work at her level - bit bizarre really. Anyway - I passed.

Sorry this has been rather a long post - but I thought someone out there might find it useful.

Stage 3 here I come!!!!!!

Juliet

ptt is looming and this has scared me!!! how do you teach a stage 2 lead rein lesson?!

Yes, a stage 2 lead rein sound utterly confusing. How can you be expected to teach a stage to on the lead rein???? Sounds ridiculous really.