Does anyone know where we can find English versions of the galop exam study books and tests? My husband recently received orders to Paris, we are very excited, but I want to make sure my 12 year old jumper is ready to ride as soon as we get there. She is used to moving, but this move is going to be a bit more stressful than she is used to, and I'd really like for her to be able to ride that off as soon as we get there. Does anybody know anything or have any info on the galop exams? Can you do all the tests at once? Does it take long to get a riding permit? We have 6 months before we get there, and my husband will be partially fluent by then. No idea how long it will take my daughter and I, but hopefully she has the same talent for language that my husband does. Regardless though, I don't think she will be able to study in French for some time. Any and all information on this would be immensely helpful and sincerely speculated!
-
-
How old is your daughter?"When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade." -
Let me ask my friends who live in Normandie!~ Enjoying some guac and boxed wine at the Blue Saddle inn. ~
HORSING mobile training appOriginally posted by LauraKYComment
-
-
http://www.ffe.com/Formations-Equest...s/Les-Galops-R
You can get the page translated with an online program (or start learning French.)
You can take practice quizzes here:
http://www.feracheval.com/examens2.php"When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade."Comment
-
are these tests required for the right to show or advance in lessons?_\\]
-- * > hoopoe
Procrastinate NOW
Introverted Since 1957Comment
-
Hmm, looks like basic horsemanship.
I.e. Which coloring does not have three colors in it: chestnut, roan, pie.
Well at least that's what I think it said.
It's a good idea for your daughter to take these tests. I have yet to find a good French/English horse specific dictionary.
We had a guest trainer who was English and everyone was confused when she asked us to ride in a bubble. I think she meant circle. Heck western lingo to English seat takes translating.Comment
-
Those tests are very much used in France for lots of things ie assessing the level of the riders, etc. I wish there would be something similar here. My DIL started taking them in Qc, but gave up... lol she did not like studying with little kids!
And Amber, do not kid yourself, your daughter will pick up French a lot faster than you think! Kids are like sponges regarding languages!! It was amazing to see the progress my kids made after one month in France (although they did have a good basic knowledge) but still... just make sure she mixes with other kids!
Where are you going in France?
http://www.randocheval.com/dico_en.htm
http://www.lexiqueducheval.net/lexiq...aire_engl.htmlComment
-
Bearcat -thanks so much for those links! How did you find that practice quiz! I've been searching the internet for a week and could only scrape a few useful pieces of info from it! Do you have any recommendations for a good translating software? Google won't translate my documents, it's only a mildly effective translator anyways, heh. My daughter is 12 -she has been showing in hunter/eq for 4 years but recently switched over to Jumpers. She is low training right now.
Bluey -Awesome info! It's good to know that the first 3 tests should be a breeze for her. She needs to test up to at least the 7th though, at least, I think, from what I've been able to gather anyways. That could be a mistranslation though.
Hoopoe -I'm not totally sure what you can do without the permit. I know you do have to have one for showing, leasing and owning and "i think", from translations on the pages of some of the barns near Paris, that you must have one before hacking -but I honestly can't tell for sure.
Chall-yes! we definitely want our daughter to takes these tests, if not just for taking in everything France has to offer! the first few tests seem to be basic horsemanship, but an expat I've been talking to told me that they ride a little differently in France than they do here, but he couldn't be specific about it since he isn't himself a rider, just has friends who are.
FalseImpression- great links! And I agree!! I think it's a great idea, especially for horse ownership! I really hope, that once we get there and our daughter is immersed in French everything, that the language will come quickly. Till then, though, I want to prepare her as much as possible so she can slip right in without skipping too much of a beat
Alibi- I would love to hear what your friends from Normandy say!!! thank you!!!!
Thank you all so much!!! This has been so helpful - and so quick! Wow! I didn't think i'd get responses for a while! You guys are great!Comment
-
If you are interested and want to PM me your address, I can send you some French horse magazines geared towards your daugther's age group. She might not understand it all, but it might help her learn some of the French terms..."When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade."Comment
-
I wonder if expats and foreigners might get away with not taking all the tests from the beginning?
I went through all these as a kid, up to what is now Galop 7 - they used to have different names, bronze and silver of each éperon (spur) and étrier (stirrup) - and you needed them to compete at certain levels. Each test has a part on horsemanship and one or severalriding tests. The last one is geared toward riding instructor and so they can choose to test on just dressage, or dressage and jumping, or all 3 phases.
Things have probably changed but in my day, you wouldn't have been able to take all of them at the same time as it take years to get to the Galop 7 level. But again, they might make an exception in your case.
As for translations...forget about online translators, they all suck, and hire a person! I can do it, if you want (for a fee!)
Good luck - exciting times for your family and yes your daughter (she's 12, right?) will pick up the language a lot faster than her parents!
Ottbs - The finish line is only the beginning!Comment
-
hum, I guess to compete at certain levels, you may have to show you have passed the levels, but I don't see how they can insist on that for ownership! When I visited Saumur, I remember everyone was so proud to say which Level they had reached!
Also, remember that in France, an instructor has to have a certificate or have passed some test to teach, to lead a trail ride, etc. You can't really walk to a barn and offer your services, at least from what I have seen. BUT, my DD was able to go on trail rides, in the countryside and on the beach at La Baule without showing any level. They just took her word for it! It was a decent barn right next to the showgrounds where the GP is held! She had a private ride with a great instructor (different barn, actually the one next to the showgrounds) and had a blast.
wo years before, (different barn), she had a poor experience as the instructor leading the ride took the worst horse he could ie a mare terrified of the waves/water and could not go faster than a walk.
She has enjoyed hacks with an outfit close to my mom's home. The owner knows her now and has invited to come and help at an endurance race where his daughter was competing. Lots of fun...Comment
-
Great idea Bearcat!!! I don't want to send you to the post office, but I will definitely be buying some french horse magazines. Great idea!!!
Thank you Sophie! Bummer about the translators, but I suspected as much, haha! Great info - not what I wanted to hear, but exactly what I wanted to know! Like you said, hopefully there is some sort of exception for foreigners! Now I know what to ask! <3Comment
-
FalseImpression- that's a load off! So glad to know that she could at least go on trail rides and stuff before she passes the tests! I hear that they have some pretty amazing countryside to tour via horseback! thank you!!!!Comment
-
Here's more games for kids to help study for "les galops"
http://www.maxigalop.com/jeux-equitation
(I also am from the generation of the previous system "les etriers d'argent, les eperons de bronze," etc)
And I'd be happy to send you the mags. Hate to just toss them and I sent a batch to another COTHer last year."When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade."Comment
-
Amber, when I was an exchange student in France I did a riding assessment and then was placed in an appropriate level. I didn't have to take any of the tests first (or, in fact, at all if I didn't want to) and they just moved me along with the rest of my lesson group.
I'm not sure what you mean by a permit, but I was required to join the (I think) FFE before I could start regular lessons. That was mostly for insurance and indemnity purposes, IIRC.
Depending on the stable, you will probably find things to be a lot more rigid than what you are used to -- lessons tended to have set times for set levels. If you couldn't make it, that's tough cookies. Privates were only during the day and even then only if you had your own horse. It was also pretty much a requirement where I rode that if you wanted to jump, you also had to do dressage, but that might have been specific to the school where I rode.
Finally, your daughter should pick things pretty quickly once she's in school. After about a month, I had fairly decent basic French and could say almost everything I needed to. After 6 months I was fluent.According to the Mayan calendar, the world will not end this week. Please plan your life accordingly.Comment
-
Hi,
I used to take lots of international tourists on trail rides as my "barn job" as a teenager. We did not require them to have passed any "galops" wejust did a riding assessment and I assume it would be the same for your daughter at first.
She will only really need them if she wants to show in 'official competitions' (galop 7) and the equivalent of some US schooling shows but should be fine for lessons at first (depending on the barn of course).
You can (or at least you could before I crossed the pond and came to live here) take more than one galop at a time - but you had to take the exam (including the written part) in French. The theory is actually fairly similar to pony-club ratings in the US - she could probably start studying with these books before she picks up enough French to learn the local terminology.
As someone mentioned, she'll probably be required to have a "FFE licence" for insurance purposes (but it is a different process than the galops).
Do you know where you'll be living in the Paris area? Have you been looking at barns?
Good luck with the move! I hope you and your family enjoy it there!
Cheers!Comment
-
Rohello - We are planning on living in the 7th my husband will be working at the Ecole de Guerr, and I think, I'd like to send her to http://tcf-equitation.com/ TCF. I can't tell though, if it's accessible to the pubic for riding lessons or if its just for the military. It's the closest barn to the 7th. If you have any info on barns there, omg, I would LOVE to hear it!!!! Thanks for the great info -that really helps! I just bought the pony club books for her to study, make sure she knows as much as possible -but that is a relief that she will be able to ride right off the plane! Thank you.
Ioshad -that quick?? Omg, that's awesome! I'm so excited for this amazing opportunity, especially for her! What I meant by "permit" was -that was the word google translate came up with, so really it could mean anything. Heh, I'm hoping that I too will be ok enough to read a french website and know what they mean by the time we get there! The dictionary of french equestrian terms provided will help immensly for that! Good to know about the dressage -she does jumpers, and could probably stand to have some dressage lessons anyways! I'll ask her coach about getting her started on that, thanks!!!
I just want to re-emphasize how sincerely grateful I am for all the help and advice!!!Comment
-
Any sport in France requires you to buy a "licence" which could be translated as permit. It is the FFE licence for insurance purposes and I don't think it is that expensive.
The big uproar in France right now is the increase from 7 to 20% of the TVA which will affect ALL aspects of the industry. People fear less lessons, less purchases of horses (with the undesired effect on the horses...). But this is an EU decision and France has taken as long as possible to implement it. Taxes are included in the prices in France so you are not always aware of how much tax you pay.
I can't find anything that states that registration is only to members of the military. It only states that you have to have paid your membership. It does confirm the FFE license for insurance purposes (25 euros, valid 16 months). First year, there is a registration fee (110 euros, lifetime) added to the membership (160 euros) which is valid from Sept. 1st to August 31st, only for flat classes. I don't quite get the fact that you get a total of 40 hours over 10 months at fixed times, when obviously there are more than 40 weeks... Then you have the annual packages of classical, dressage, jumping...from 895 euros to over 2000 euros to compete).
Of course, the location within Paris (Neuilly) would attract a wealthier clientele (hopefully friendly!).
Good luck!
I see no trouble for your daughter to go on trail rides by the ocean or anywhere else in France. My DD was never even asked for a FFE licence but she did have an OEF one (Ontario, which covers her everywhere in the world).
Keep us posted.
How long will you stay in France. You will enjoy it too, I promised (once you get over sticker shock!!)Comment
-
Yes, you will enjoy your stay there and the horse experience too.
I have yet to hear anyone that lived in Paris that was anxious to leave.
To the contrary, all were sad and remembered their time there fondly for the rest of their lives.
Hope your experience will be the same.
Comment
Comment