Welcome to Galop 5
Galop 5 changes the question you are asked. It is no longer just about staying in balance and steering well, but about being precise — to the metre on a track, to the letter in a transition — and about starting to shape your horse: bending it, moving it sideways, lengthening its stride without hurrying it.
What Galop 5 certifies
With Galop 5, you sit in a good position in all three gaits, you look for bend on curves, you strike off into canter exactly where you choose, you ride a leg-yield at the walk and you ride tests and courses at Club 3 level. On the ground, you present a horse in hand, you lunge it, you try long-reining and you load it into a trailer or a horsebox. You put on stable bandages. And you know how a horse learns, how its body is built and how it is identified.
All of this builds on Galop 4: flexion and bend, coordinating the aids, moving the shoulders and the quarters at the walk, the canter strike-off from walk. If any of these is still shaky, go back to it first.
How the exam works
Like every Galop®, Galop 5 is made up of three modules. Module 1, specific to this Galop, covers riding and some knowledge at this level. Module 2 (common module A) covers groundwork and care; module 3 (common module B), knowledge of the horse and general knowledge. A common module, once passed, counts for every Galop of the same level.
From Galop 5, the riding in module 1 includes shared requirements — steadiness without stirrups, bend, lengthened strides, riding out — and three parts:
Part 1
Dressage
Circles, serpentines, accurate canter strike-offs, leg-yield at the walk; a Galop 5 test at Club 3 level and a sequence of movements like the Club 3 Preliminary dressage test.
Part 2
Jumping
Grids of about 90 cm, a 75 cm course in the right rhythm, then a Club 3 show-jumping or Hunter round.
Part 3
Cross-country
Small cross-country fences, balance over the stirrups on varied ground, an even speed, then a Club 3 cross-country course.
Each part can also be taken in an equivalent Pony class. The federation’s rules are clear: a Galop is awarded only when all its modules are passed. So prepare all three parts, even if one discipline has your heart. Your instructor decides how it is run: an exam session, or assessment as you go, through lessons and courses.
Did you know?
What if I only ride one discipline?
There are other routes: the Dressage rider Galops, with no jumping, and the Competition Galops 5 to 7 — dressage, show jumping, eventing, Hunter, TREC, endurance — awarded on your results in Club or Pony competitions. Ask your instructor.
Safety
For every mounted test, a riding hat to current safety standards is compulsory. For the cross-country tests, so is a body protector to current standards.
How to use these pages
- The pages follow the domains of the exam: knowledge of the horse, groundwork and care, then riding, with one page for each part.
- Techniques are set out step by step: read them before the lesson, then get corrected in the arena.
- The last page brings together a summary sheet, a quiz and a checklist.
Tip
Get someone to film you: one minute of video of a canter circle teaches you more about your position than ten comments heard in the saddle. And learn your tests on foot, by walking the track.
Contents
- 01WelcomeOverview
- 02How the horse learnsKnowledge
- 03Pied, spotted, additionsKnowledge
- 04The skeletonKnowledge
- 05The musclesKnowledge
- 06DigestionKnowledge
- 07SIRE, microchip and registersKnowledge
- 08Presenting in handOn foot
- 09Lunging and long-reiningOn foot
- 10Loading and stable bandagesOn foot
- 11The riding basicsIn the saddle
- 12TransitionsKnowledge
- 13The leg-yieldIn the saddle
- 14The dressage partIn the saddle
- 15Snaffle bitsKnowledge
- 16The jumping partIn the saddle
- 17The cross-country partIn the saddle
- 18RevisionRevision