C Test

GENERAL 

Before being awarded the C Test Certificate, candidates must have passed The Pony  Club’s Road Rider Achievement Badge or the BHS Riding and Road Safety Test.  

Before taking the C Test Certificate, candidates must have passed their D+ Test  Certificate.  

OBJECTIVE

To understand the importance of, and to be working towards a secure correct  balanced seat, independent of the reins. 

To understand why a correct seat is important.  

To apply simple aids correctly. 

To have a knowledge of the care and working of a pony off grass. 

To be in control of the pony on the roads and in the countryside. 

To have a proper  regard for country lore 

RIDING 

1. Show safe and tidy turn out. 

2. Check bridle, saddle, girth and stirrups before mounting. 

3. Mount and dismount safely and correctly on either side. 

4. Hold the reins correctly and at a suitable length for the work being done. 

5. Ride with stirrups of a suitable length.  

6. Ride in a secure and balanced seat independent of the reins. 

7. Alter stirrups when mounted and check they hang correctly. 

8. Tighten and loosen girth when mounted. 

9. Use of seat, legs and hands as aids to increase and decrease pace. 

10. Ride in balance without stirrups in walk and trot. 

11. Demonstrate sitting trot, rising trot on the correct diagonal and change of diagonal. 

12. Understand the meaning of and start to establish the pony’s rhythm. 

13. Walk on a long rein. 

14. Canter on both reins. 

15. Ride safely in closed and open order in a group. 

16. Ride independently in the open. 

17. Ride up and down hill in walk and trot. 

18. Show trot and canter in a balanced light seat with stirrups at a suitable length. 

19. Ride in a correct, balanced position in walk and trot over poles on the ground as a  preliminary to jumping. 

20. Ride in a correct, balanced position over small fences. 

21. Show a smooth progression from one fence to the next. 

22. Show suitable skills to be able to ride in the countryside, across farm land and  bridle paths. 

23. Open and close gates. 

What you need to know: (this is likely to relate to the pony you are riding) 

24. Know simple aids and ride turns and circles at walk, trot and canter. 

25. Aids for canter on a named leg on a circle. 

26. Explain the sequence of legs in trot and canter. 

27. Understand the meaning of rhythm and tempo. 

HORSE & PONY CARE 

28. Explain how to care for and work a pony that lives out at grass 

29. Elementary feeding, watering and cleanliness of the pony. 

30. Groom a grass kept pony. 

31. Put on a tail bandage. 

32. Know when a pony needs shoeing. 

33. Put on a saddle, bridle and martingale. 

34. Have some knowledge of correctly fitting tack (saddle clearing withers, height of  bit). 

35. Be able to do up a curb chain correctly. 

36. Know the correct fitting of a flash nose band. 

37. Elementary care and cleaning of saddlery (tack care after daily exercise). 

38. Know the main indications for health in the pony. 

39. Know how to clean a minor wound. 

40. Know which wounds require veterinary attention. 

41. Understand the reason for anti-tetanus vaccination and know when the pony you are riding was vaccinated. 

42. Recognise when a pony is clearly lame. 

43. Explain how to load and unload a horse or pony safely, considering yourself, the  pony and any helpers. 

44. Understand the importance and the means of protecting the pony’s legs while  travelling. 

45. Put on and take off stable and turn out rugs. 

46. Understand and show how to safely lift objects in general use around the stable  yard, for example feed and water buckets.  

READ Pony Club Publications: 

The Manual of Horsemanship 

Caring for a Horse or Pony 

So You Want to Buy A Pony? 

The Pocket Guide to Equestrian Dress 

Wallcharts: Points of the Pony; Poisonous Plants; Native Ponies; Tack; Grooming