Study the Level 2 Coach content by rehearsing coaching decisions, not just recall. For every topic, practise naming what you observe, choosing one priority from the Scales of Training, giving one instruction at a time, and adapting the exercise. Two worked scenarios below show how a plausible mistake differs from the better decision.
Why 'coach' is different from 'instructor': choosing a coaching style on purpose
At this level the distinction worth mastering is between command-style instruction, task-based coaching and guided discovery. Each has a place. The skill being developed is matching the style to the rider's experience and the lesson objective, rather than defaulting to constant verbal correction.
Command style means short, direct instructions delivered in real time: 'heels down', 'shorten your reins'. It suits complete beginners handling a new skill for safety reasons, and it suits moments where timing matters. Its weakness is that a stream of commands can overwhelm a rider and teaches compliance rather than understanding. Trace a beginner's first rising trot: commands are appropriate; the same style for an experienced rider schooling a straightness problem usually is not.
Task and guided-discovery styles hand more thinking to the rider. Task style sets an exercise with a goal, then observes: 'ride three 20m circles, then tell me which rein felt easier'. Guided discovery asks questions that lead the rider to feel the difference: 'what changed in your contact when you shortened the reins?'. Compare the three styles by asking who does the thinking. A useful drill is to rewrite five command-style sentences from an old lesson plan as one task and one discovery question each.
- Command: the coach thinks and speaks; use for safety-critical first exposures.
- Task: the rider executes and self-reports; use to build independence.
- Guided discovery: the rider analyses; use to consolidate an already-taught skill.
Using the Scales of Training as your flatwork decision framework
The Scales of Training - rhythm, suppleness, contact, impulsion, straightness and collection - give coaches a widely used ordering for flatwork problems. At Level 2, the practical application is prioritising: rhythm before contact, contact before impulsion, and so on up the ladder.
Treat the scales as a diagnostic sequence rather than a list to recite. If a rider's horse is rushing and leaning on the hand, the scales tell you to check rhythm first, because a horse that has lost its regular tempo cannot develop a correct contact. This ordering is what turns a vague complaint ('the horse is heavy') into a coaching plan ('restore the tempo with transitions, then re-establish the contact').
Apply the same framework when choosing exercises. A serpentine on a light contact serves suppleness; trot-walk-trot transitions in a steady rhythm serve both rhythm and the beginnings of impulsion. In revision, pick any single exercise - a 20m circle, a leg-yield preparation, polework - and write one sentence naming which scale it develops and why. If you cannot justify the exercise with a scale, an assessor or client can reasonably ask what it is for.
| Scale | What you observe | Typical first exercise |
|---|---|---|
| Rhythm | Tempo regular, footfalls even | Transitions within walk and trot |
| Suppleness | Horse bends on both reins willingly | Large circles, changes of rein |
| Contact | Steady, elastic connection to the hand | Rhythm maintained while shortening reins |
| Impulsion | Active hindquarters from behind | Transitions into and out of trot |
| Straightness | Hindquarters follow shoulders | Circles on the 'difficult' rein |
| Collection | Shorter strides with more engagement | Beyond typical beginner scope; revisit at higher levels |
Coaching rider position: observe the whole chain before correcting one part
Rider position is a linked chain of seat, leg and hand, so a single visible fault often has its cause lower down. Level 2 coaching practice is to observe the chain, identify the primary fault, and address that one thing rather than listing every deviation.
Work through a simple example: a rider whose hands bob. Correcting the hands alone rarely holds, because the hands often move in response to an unsteady seat or a gripping leg. Check the observations in order: is the rider's weight even, is the seat following the movement, are the legs positioned and quiet? The better coaching decision is usually to stabilise the seat first, then re-assess the hands.
Build the observation habit deliberately. Watch one rider for a full minute without speaking, noting three observations top to bottom: balance and alignment, leg position and activity, then rein and hand behaviour. Only then choose the single instruction most likely to improve the picture. Compare this with coaching that fires five corrections in a row - the rider cannot prioritise, and the coach cannot tell which instruction worked. One observation, one instruction, one re-check.
Lungeing as a coaching topic: handler position, voice aids and equipment decisions
Lungeing is a topic worth rehearsing out loud at this stage: the handler's position relative to the horse, the whip and lunge line as connected aids, and a graded voice aid vocabulary. Position and voice are the two areas where your explanation needs to be fluent, so build scenarios around them.
Worked scenario: a candidate lunges a horse that drifts out on the circle. The plausible mistake is to keep pulling on the lunge line and raise the voice, effectively dragging the horse onto the circle. The better decision is to reposition - the handler stays roughly level with the horse's girth, angled so the line and the whip form two sides of a funnel, and uses the whip as the driving aid behind the horse rather than as a threat at its head. This matters because the funnel of aids, not the line, is what shapes the circle.
Second scenario: the handler stands too far behind the movement, near the horse's hindquarters, and the horse looks back anxiously. The better decision is to move up toward the girth so the handler stays in the horse's field of vision, then rebuild a calm voice signal sequence - one tone for walk, a distinct tone for trot, used consistently rather than repeated louder. In revision, practise explaining the funnel of aids out loud while mimicking the handler's triangle of line, whip and body, until the geometry is automatic.
- Check equipment logic: boots or bandages, the line attached correctly, gloves worn.
- Name the voice aids before starting and keep tones distinct and calm.
- Keep the whip low and behind as a driving aid, never directed at the horse's head.
Planning and adapting a flatwork lesson: a worked scenario with a deliberate mistake
A good lesson plan has one clear objective, an exercise that serves it, and a planned adaptation if the first exercise fails. The scenario below shows the difference between repeating a failed exercise and changing a variable - a distinction worth being able to explain under observation.
Worked scenario: the objective is a balanced halt from trot for a novice rider on a schoolmaster. The rider's halts are long and strung out. The plausible mistake is repeating the halt ten times with the command 'sit back' each time. The horse anticipates, the rider stiffens, and nothing improves. The better decision is to change one variable - ride trot-walk transitions first until the downward transition is smooth, then ask for the halt from a shorter, more attentive trot, and praise the first balanced attempt rather than the tenth.
The reason this matters is that repetition without adjustment teaches the pair to fail more consistently. A workable planning template: state the objective, pick the exercise, name which scale it serves, define what success looks like in observable terms, and pre-decide one fallback exercise. Rehearse explaining this template aloud in under two minutes with any exercise you know - a circle, a transition pattern, a pole line. If you can justify the plan and its fallback fluently, you can adapt live without losing the thread.
Safety and arena management: decisions you should be able to justify instantly
Safety coaching is less about memorised rules and more about justifiable decisions: spacing between riders, mounting and dismounting habits, arena surface and footing checks, and matching horse and rider pairings to the exercise planned. Practise stating both the action and the observation behind each decision.
Practise the decision chain, not just the checklist. Before any ridden exercise, the coachable questions are: can this pair safely do this exercise in this space, and what is my control if it goes wrong? For group work that means spacing and gapping rules stated before moving off; for a nervous horse it means choosing an exercise with room to correct without crowding. Compare two answers - 'keep a horse's length apart' versus 'state the gap rule, check it at every change of rein, and slow the whole ride if it collapses' - and note the second is a decision, not a fact.
Extend the same habit to handling scenarios. Leading a horse past a gateway, selecting tack and checking it fits and is safe before mounting, and reading a horse's baseline behaviour before exercise are all decisions you should be able to explain in one sentence each. A good self-test: for any safety point you revise, say aloud what you would actually do and what you would be looking for, then check whether your explanation includes both the action and the observation. If you can only recite the rule, rehearse the application.
A preparation sequence with a peer-coaching exercise and readiness checks
Structure revision in three passes: learn the named concepts, rehearse them aloud in coaching scenarios, then simulate assessed conditions. The peer-coaching exercise below produces concrete observations so you can score yourself against a rubric rather than a feeling.
Peer-coaching exercise: with a friend playing a novice rider (no horse needed), deliver a ten-minute coaching slot on riding a 20m circle. Before you start, state your objective and which scale it serves. During the slot, enforce your own rules: observe before speaking, one instruction at a time, one check question per instruction. Your partner deliberately makes one mistake you did not script - for example, drifting on the circle or tensing the hands. Record the slot on a phone.
Score the recording against this rubric, one point each: you stated a single clear objective; you observed for at least fifteen seconds before your first instruction; no more than one instruction was in the air at any moment; you asked at least one question the 'rider' could answer; when the surprise mistake appeared, you changed the exercise or a variable rather than repeating the same command; you closed with a summary in one sentence. Six of six is a strong learning milestone for this drill, not a prediction of any assessment outcome. Repeat weekly with a different exercise - transitions, then a lungeing briefing - until the decision chain is habit.
Readiness checks before you stop revising: you can name all six Scales of Training and justify two exercises against them; you can explain the lungeing funnel of aids and handler position without notes; you can deliver the ten-minute peer-coaching slot at six of six twice in a row; and you can give a one-sentence justified answer for each safety decision listed in the previous section. Topic coverage and all administrative details - assessment dates, booking terms, fees and any current requirements in the BHS pathway, including Ride Safe - belong with the British Horse Society, so confirm them directly.
References and further reading
Use these references to explore the concepts and check the latest information from the relevant organizations.