Additional Skills
It is vital to assess horses for traditional and EAS lessons on all skills they will perform in lessons for the safety and success of both horses and handlers. Due to the diverse nature of lesson programs, the BGSA, AGSA, IRSA, and LRSA may not encompass all the skills your horses need. This necessitates the development of your own program-specific assessment skills. To maintain consistency and uniformity, each skill should be written down using the described steps.
Step 1: Skill
Identify the skill you would like to assess. Give it a title that clearly describes the skill. Some examples of additional skills include leg yield, flying lead change, jumping, long lining, long lining with a rider, driving, and lunge line lessons (with a rider).
Step 2: Why
Write a corresponding why statement. This statement provides the rationale for why the skill is important and explains how it relates to horse and human safety, welfare, and performance in the context of your program. A strong why helps users of the assessment tool understand the purpose behind the assessment criteria and apply them appropriately.
Step 3: How
Describe, in detail, how the horse should be assessed on the skill. The more precise you are, the easier it will be for users to accurately and consistently assess the horses. The how should mimic the way the skill is used in lessons to give a realistic understanding of the horse’s behavior.
Step 4: Scoring Rubric
Create a scoring rubric consistent with the Assessment Tool Scoring Scale used throughout this guide (see Figure 3). A score of zero should always, at a minimum, be described as “displays dangerous behavior and/or is in pain or otherwise unsound.” For scores one, two, and three, carefully consider what behaviors are appropriate for each level.
As you implement the scoring rubric, you may need to revise the descriptions to ensure they accurately and safely represent the skill criteria. Always keep in mind that no matter what the rubric says, it is the instructor’s responsibility to ensure that horses and riders are appropriately paired and not asked to perform skills outside of either’s ability.
A blank score sheet is included in the appendix to be used as you assess the skills you developed (see Appendix 8).
