wrote
In a Cessna 172, no doubt about it. But, the instrument rating is
not a rating ride limited to 172's.

It kind of is, though. Oh, I don't mean literally - but the lowest
published holding speed (other than STOL) that I've ever seen is 180
kts. I can't think of ANY airplane that won't COMFORTABLY hold at 120
kts or less that you will ever be able to fly without
insurance-mandated type-specific training, including instrument
training. Strictly speaking, since an instrument ride in a single
engine airplane always gets you an instrument rating limited to single
engine airplanes, and since the single engine jets all require type
ratings or LOA's anyway, it's not even an insurance issue. For all
practical purposes, there is no need to test an applicant taking an
instrument ride in a C-172 or equivalent on proper holding entries,
because he's not getting a rating that will allow him to fly IFR in
anything where they matter.

The only thing that really matters is that he can become reasonably
established on the inbound course before crossing the fix a second
time, and that only matters for approaches where the hold is the
published course reversal. Even that is somewhat questionable, since
he can always take a second trip around the hold to get established if
absolutely necessary.

Let's face it - the only real reason for teaching and testing the
holding entries is to develop and test for situational awareness.

Michael