It's congratulations all round!

NRC has just run a British Horse Society Equestrian Tourism 3 day Refresher Course and 1 day Exam in conjunction with the BHS and all 8 candidates passed with flying colours which is some achievment indeed.

Instructor Rhoda McVey originally from Inverness said that the group was one of the most enthusiastic she had ever worked with. 6 of the candidates were put forward by NRC and the other 2 were from Inverness and Crieff.

More information about the exams and the qualification can be found here:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Training_and_Qualifications/Equine_Tourism_Exams.aspx

The Ride Leader level is a highly respected qualification and allows direct entry into BHS Stage 3 Ridng or Stage 4 Horsecare. It also qualifies somebody to supervise a centre up to a month at a time in the absence of the proprietor. BHS Direct Entry Information below:

http://www.bhs.org.uk/Training_and_Qualifications/Equine_Tourism_Exams/Direct_Entry_to_BHS_Exams.aspx

This is the first time the BHS ET has been run in the area and the course was run with support from the Cairngorms National Park who also pledged 50% funding for candidates working in the park area.

A predecessor to this course was run but Ruaridh's father Cameron in Newtonmore during the 60s and 70s under the direction  of the forerunner to Sportscotland and Cameron fully supported Ruaridh in getting back involved in this kind of training again at Newtonmore.

Succesful candidates from NRC were Carrie McNiven, Katherine Weir, Antonina Clement, Pat Morris, Clair Scott and Rebecca Morris. The other two candidates were: Kirsten Millar (Crieff) and Kate Ellistone (Inverness).

It is hoped a similar course will be run again in the spring at NRC.