Our horses are part of our family and as such we care deeply for them. This may mean that lessons sometimes have to be cancelled or delayed due to care or health issues. Our policies surrounding lessons, payments, cancellations, and other issues can be found below.
Registration
For therapeutic riding lessons, our registration package needs to be completed, including a medical release form completed by a physician, prior to lessons. For equine assisted learning or coaching sessions, the registration package, with the exception of the medical release form, needs to be completed. The completed package needs to be sent back to our Head Instructor prior to lessons starting.
Horse assignment
Horses are assigned to each rider at the discretion of the instructor. Requests can be made for a specific horse however this may not be possible due to multiple factors including horse health, rider weight, lessons the horse has already done or is schedule for that day. For these reasons, a request for a specific horse may or may not be accommodated at the discretion of the instructor.
Rescheduling
Lessons are booked on a monthly or seasonal basis. When more than 48-hours notice is given, lessons can be rescheduled once per month as long as they are rescheduled within 8 days of the original lesson. Lessons cancelled with less than 24-hours notice are forfeited and will not be rescheduled.
Late arrivals
Students arriving later than 15 minutes after their scheduled start time will be allowed to participate in a ground-based lesson. Students later than 25 minutes after their scheduled start time will be allowed to groom their horse and feed treats only.
Payment
Lessons are invoiced on a monthly or seasonal basis. Invoices are sent through Wave Accounting to your email. If you haven’t received an invoice within a week of beginning lessons, please check your spam folder or reach out to Amanda to sort it out. Payments can be made via etransfer to apratt@freedomreinstrlc.ca or by credit card. Please note that credit card payments are subject to a 7% processing fee.
Attire
Students should wear long pants and closed toe/closed heel shoes with a 1-inch heel. Crocs, sandals, bare feet, high heels, and flip flops are not acceptable and will result in the student being asked to change their shoes before the lesson can begin.
Helmets are mandatory and will be fitted properly at the beginning of the assessment. A fee of $10 will be charged per season for the rental of the helmet.
Weather conditions
Lessons are held outdoors and are therefore subject to the elements. Lessons will continue in light rain or snow. If winds reach above 50km/h gusts or 45km/h base winds, lessons will be rescheduled. Temperatures below -10C or above 30C may result in riding switching to ground-based lessons or being rescheduled. Students will be notified 3 hours prior to a lesson if the lesson will be cancelled or rescheduled. The instructor is responsible for cancelling the lesson and failure to show up for a lesson due to weather conditions will be considered as a 24-hour cancellation and the lesson fee will be forfeited.
General farm rules
- No smoking permitted on the property. No exceptions.
- Anyone coming to the farm must wear closed toe shoes or stay in their vehicle at all times. Approaching the horses will not be permitted.
- Phones should be set to silent or left in the vehicle. Loud, random noises can startle the horses and our students.
- Ask before taking pictures. Flashes can startle the horses and not all of our students and volunteers want their picture taken.
Contact us at apratt@freedomreinstrlc.ca if you have any other questions!