AVA Horsemanship

Horsecare Leadership

Standards of Proficiency For Horsemanship Levels 2

HP Level 2 Horse Management Standards/Expectations

Candidates should be able to demonstrate simple skills without assistance and to discuss the reasons/importance of the everyday care and knowledge routinely used for their vaulting horse.

Horse Parts, Breeds and General Knowledge

• Identify 5 body parts the examiner indicates and then identify 10 more of your choice.
• Name and describe/identify 10 colors and markings for horses.
• Discuss/demonstrate how to accurately measure the height of a horse including unit of measurement.
• Name 5 horse or pony breeds and describe the characteristics and uses forwhich they are bred.

Conformation, Gaits, and Lameness

• Discuss good and bad conformation.
• Discuss common conformation faults of the neck, back, shoulders, head, and legs of a horse.
• Discuss the 3 basic gaits a horse uses to move forward including how many beats each one has, leads, and desirable characteristics.

Foot and Shoeing

• Identify common farrier tools and describe their uses.
• Give 2 reasons why you have your vaulting horses feet regularly trimmed or shod.
• Describe obvious signs of a hoof that needs to be trimmed or re-shod.

Health Care and Veterinary Knowledge

• Give 2 reasons why you have your vaulting horse routinely checked by a veterinarian.
• Name 3 symptoms of a sick or injured horse that would cause you to call a veterinarian.

Conditioning, Nutrition and Record Book

• Discuss 1 reason for cooling out a vaulting horse after practice and describe 2 different ways to know if the horse is properly cooled out.
• Discuss what roughage and concentrates are.
• Discuss good rules of feeding horses to keep them healthy and happy.
• Discuss what kinds of records and information would be important to keep in a record book for each individual horse.

Stable Management

• Demonstrate how to correctly clean and bed a stall giving reasons for each step.
• Demonstrate how to blanket and un-blanket a horse safely.
• Discuss good safety practices both human and equine for around the barn and arenas, including fire prevention.

Turnout and Tack

• Name 5 grooming tools and demonstrate how to correctly groom and pick out feet with them.
• Present your vaulting horse for an informal inspection in a halter or bridle; horse should show evidence of regular grooming with attention to the mane, tail, and feet.
• Identify 15 parts of the surcingle and bridle and discuss the purpose of each part.
• Demonstrate how to correctly clean and condition tack with attention to stitching and stress points.

Travel Safety and Bandaging

• Discuss 2 ways you can help your vaulting horse be safe and comfortable in a horse trailer.
• Discuss 2 reasons why you would bandage/wrap or use boots on a horse's legs.

Groundwork and Lungeing

• Demonstrate leading and turning a vaulting horse in hand safely at the walk.
• Demonstrate walk-halt-walk transitions in hand safely.

Vaulting Sport Knowledge

• Discuss 2 examples of unsafe attire or vaulter conduct/behavior.
• Discuss/demonstrate an example of ‘good mechanics’ in one of the compulsory exercises.
• Name and describe 6 judging abbreviations or marks commonly written on your score sheets.
• List the different levels of AVA recognized individual and team competition.
• List the rules for a horse to be used in AVA competition.
• Discuss what ‘consideration for the horse’ means and what the consequences are for overusing or overloading a horse.

Click here for Standards of Proficiency For Horsemanship Levels 1 and 2