Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cindy Jeffery on November 3, 2008 at 4:47pm

I totally understand and I think EC (Equine Canada) is shooting themselves in the foot by making certification and upkeep so costly. There are some very talented and experienced horse people out in the rural small town areas of Canada that don't live there because they are affluent, but have lots to offer as fare as instructing and coaching. This one of the reasons I chose the Certified Horsemanship Association.

Permalink Reply by Karen Bohna on November 10, 2008 at 12:27pm

Thus is true the gold membership is $100 and the over all certification process cost about $1000. In addition you must keep up a certain number of mentoring hours, which costs to go to these clinics and seminars. However, the clinics and seminars often excell your understanding and knowledge
The benifit of beging certified is that you cary cheaper insurance (save about $500 oer year), current first aid and have access to many lesson plans that can help you excell as an instructor.
The cheaper insurance can pay for your certification within two years in savings. If you currently do not carry insurance I would urge you to do so. My childhood instructor is a wonderful person but had a student do a very inocent fall of thier own horse in a lesson. Waiver was signed. However, the child ended up as a semi paralized and she was personally sued. She is still paying monthly and this is 15 years later. SO PLEASE BE INSURED for your well being. It would be a shame your income from other jobs to be taken away because you were just "helping" a friend!
So, back to the high cost... there is another option to get a cheaper certification that still allows you to get cheap insurance. The certified Horsemanship assocoation (CHA) offers correspondance and certification that carries over to cananda (relavily $500 and one weekend). And the yearly up keep is minimal. May be check them out http://www.cha-ahse.org/
Hope this helped :)
Karen

Permalink Reply by Karin on November 20, 2008 at 7:47pm

Hi ladies,
thanks for replying to my message. I would never dream of coaching un-insured, but I'm not teaching or course designing enough to justify the costs of approx. $722.50 per year. Most of the costs I don't mind - I would attend the clinics for my own riding.

First Aid $85 every two years
Capri Insurance $200 per year
20 updating hours every 3 years $310 per year in clinic costs
Equine Canada Gold membership $100 per year
EC Coach fee $20 per year
EC Hunter Course Designer r $25 per year
EC Jumper Course Designer r $25 per year

Thanks, Karin

Permalink Reply by Sarah Yantzi on December 10, 2008 at 12:42pm

I am just newly certifiied and I am wondering how I am going to be able to pay for the certification. As of right now, I am not teaching a whole lot so it is very hard to actually be able to justify spending all the money. If you don't have your own school horses or barn, you only get some of what the students actually pay. Equine Canada should lower the cost for coach one but increase it for coach two as these people are more likely to be a little bit more established and have a barn or a good flow of students on their own. Just a thought that I had that might help improve the coaching system

Permalink Reply by Geoffrey Pannell on December 14, 2008 at 8:04pm

Hi Sarah, Some words of encouragement for you. It's a hard slog starting out on your coaching career and the rewards are not always something you can put in your pocket. I think the only real way to be successful as a coach is to be seen out at shows with well presented horses, going nicely . So people will see you RIDING and HANDLING horses in a way that they want to ride themselves. The odd ribbon doesn't hurt either. Be prepared to offer some FREE advice from time to time , and make yourself available at shows to help out a bit. All these things will raise your profile , witch is the most important part of success. And of course keep upgrading your coaching skills . A great way to do that is to find a level 2 or 3 and ask if you can sit in on some lessons , you can get a lot from watching other coaches styles . I don't think making fees lower helps the system, doing that devalues the system by making it to easy to make a living . Then we have every man ,girl and dog becoming coaches , the whole thing benefits from having committed people in the system . So it's not a bad thing if it's a bit hard. So keep plugging away at it Sarah, the rewards are there for the effort, and good luck .Cheers Geoffrey

Permalink Reply by Sarah Yantzi on December 21, 2008 at 9:43pm

Thanks for the encouragment...and the tips! I am hoping that once I get started in January that I will have a couple of new students come in and then I can start growing from there. I will just have to fork out the money and keep hoping for the better things in the long run...I love seeing students learn too much just to quit and give it all up...just hoped that it would be a little simplier than this!
I will still keep on learning!

Permalink Reply by Cindy Jeffery on January 21, 2009 at 11:43pm

Sarah it can be a little easier. I am hosting a Certified Horsemanship Standard Instructor Clinic September 14 - 19, 2009. This clinic costs $700 includes your CHA Manuals which you read over lots before you come, you get these when you register. If you already have instructing experience you are way ahead of the game. Your fee also includes 1st time CHA membership, accommodation, food, beverages, horses and tack, you can bring your own tack if you like but need to be prepared to allow others to ride in it because you will be expected to ride other horses not just the one you are assigned. When you come to the clinic there are introductions of everyone and the 2 clinicians, the class is not larger than 8 people not including the clinicians. It is up to you to show the clinicians how you teach with safety being the main priority. You will be tested on the first day with a written test and a riding test, then again at the end. You must receive 80% on your final exams to pass and receive accredition in any Level 1-4 in English and/or Western. You receive your accredition immediately and hang your shingle right away. Insurance is as cheap as it is with EC. You still need to pay $100 for the officials membership with EC, but your insurance is cut in half. There are no mentoring fees, no Learn to Teach course, it is all included in your manuals and is included in your exams. You can go to updating clinics during your 3 years of accredition if you wish, but all clinics that you attend qualify. Annual membership to CHA is $55 a year. More info can be found on the CHA website www.cha-ahse.org

Permalink Reply by Silke on January 26, 2009 at 12:42pm

Hello,

This is the first time that I have heard of CHA. How does it compare to the EC? Do ppl recognize this certification the same as EC?
What do you think is better? I already have some german certifications... and run our own lesson barn.
Thanks!!!