Learning from qualified instruction: what each body actually says.

This site is a reference. It describes rules, standards and published data, and nothing on it teaches riding, handling or horse care, which are learned in person from qualified instructors. The Gear Sports does not recommend any riding school, yard, coach or business. What follows is what other bodies publish about instruction, each in its own terms.

What no body says

We looked for a body stating in so many words that riding must be learned from qualified instruction, and did not find one. The statements below are recommendations, legal duties on businesses, or descriptions of certification schemes. They are reported here with the exact force each body gives them, and none should be read as stronger than it is.

United Kingdom

The Highway Code

Highway Code Rule 52 recommends the British Horse Society's Ride Safe Award to inexperienced or returning riders as a foundation for riding on roads. It is a recommendation, not a legal requirement. The BHS says that from 1 September 2026 its Ride Safe (Silver) Challenge Award is no longer required for the Stage 1 Ride qualification and becomes an entry requirement before booking a Stage 2 Ride assessment, and that the change is not retrospective. The road rules are on the riding on roads page.

Licensing law in England

In England, the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) Regulations 2018, in force from October 2018, require a local-authority licence for hiring out horses for riding or for riding instruction as a business. Darlington Borough Council lists the activities this covers as riding schools, trekking, loan horses, ridden pony parties, hunter hirelings and pony rides. Under the Regulations a listed veterinary surgeon must inspect the premises with the council's inspector before a licence is issued, and licences carry a rating of 1 to 5 stars that sets how long the licence lasts.

The British Horse Society

The BHS (page reviewed 22 September 2025) states that all riding schools must be licensed, fully insured and up to date with DBS (criminal record) checks. It runs an Approved Centre quality assurance scheme, under which its inspectors make announced and unannounced visits checking horse care, coaching standards, safety of facilities and working practices including first aid, and whether a centre meets the needs of both beginners and experienced riders. The current page gives no interval for those visits; a search summary of an older BHS brochure says every other year, which we could not confirm.

ABRS+

British Equestrian's member bodies page describes ABRS+ (the Association of British Riding Schools, Livery Yards and Equestrian Centres) as running what it calls Britain's longest-established riding school approval scheme, founded in 1954 and widened in 2021 to livery yards and equestrian centres.

United States

US Equestrian's youth programmes page suggests that families new to riding look for a trainer certified by one of five programmes: the USDF Instructor/Trainer Program, the USEA Instructors' Certification Program, the USHJA Trainer Certification Program, the American Riding Instructors Association, or the Certified Horsemanship Association. US Equestrian notes that the instructors are independent and that listing them is not an endorsement.

A search summary of a Certified Horsemanship Association page says no US law requires a riding instructor to be certified. The CHA is itself a certifying organisation, and we could not read the page, so this is its unconfirmed claim.

Florida's 2009 helmet law (SB 68) places duties on trainers, instructors and anyone renting horses to riders under 16, as set out on the riding on roads page.

Canada

Ontario Equestrian describes Equestrian Canada's National Coaching Certification Program (EC NCCP) as having Instructor, Competition Coach, Competition Coach Specialist and Competition Development (HP1) streams. The Instructor stream works with riders new to the sport, through programmes such as EC Learn to Ride.

On 20 July 2026 Equestrian Canada launched LearnTo, a national athlete development framework delivered by provincial and territorial sport organisations, with eight levels and a LearnToCare horse-care and welfare pathway. EC's LearnTo page says NCCP-certified Instructors need LearnTo Level 6 in their discipline and Competition Coaches need Level 8. The sources differ on how LearnTo relates to the old programme: EC's launch announcement calls it an evolution, not a replacement, of Learn to Ride and Drive, while EC's own LearnTo page says it replaced the previous programme.

In competition

Some rulebooks put responsibility on the competitor rather than on a teacher. British Riding Clubs' 2026 hat rules, for example, state that it is the competitor's responsibility to arrive with a hat to the correct standard.

Why the distinction matters on this site

The injury studies on the injury data page record what happened to riders in the past and are not advice, and the rules on these pages are what bodies publish, not instruction. For how riding lessons, clubs and certificates are organised, see how people learn to ride.