POLICIES
The policies below are designed to help us keep our program running smoothly and to maintain a predictable schedule for the comfort and well-being of our horses. Due to the high volume of clients and lessons, the policies below are strictly enforced. Please understand that while you may be managing your lesson schedule we have 35+ clients at any given time and horses to care for. In fairness to everyone, there are no exceptions to these policies. Thank you for understanding.
General Requirements & Barn Rules
- Riders must be at least 18 years old - SMSH is an Adults Only riding school!
- Riders may not exceed 200lbs
- Fees may be incurred for replacement costs of any lost or damaged equipment
- Outside pets are not allowed
- Closed toe shoes must be worn at all times
- The property gate is not open during non-lesson hours. Please do not let yourself in through the locked gate unless you have been expressly permitted to do so.
Riding and Barn Attire
- Long pants. Please make sure your pants have NO rhinestones or buttons on the back pockets. Replacing a punctured saddle seat typically runs around $350 and will mean that saddle cannot be used for 4-6 weeks.
- Boots with a 1/2"-1" heel
- Correctly fitted ASTM/SEI approved helmet
- Students may wear tennis shoes and borrow a helmet for first 4 lessons. After that, students must purchase their own if they would like to continue riding.
- Students may bring new boots or helmets to their lessons to ask about fit or anything else.
- No fashion or dancing boots. Boots must be designed for riding and have a spur ledge.
- Please ask about boots or helmets before buying, your instructor can help guide you in the right direction.
- No jewelry. Make sure to take off rings or any dangly necklaces or earrings prior to lessons.
- Students without proper attire may be denied a lesson without a refund or make-up lesson.
Lesson Format & Policies
All lessons begin on time. Grooming, tacking, and untacking after the lesson are included in the lesson time.
If you are more than 15 minutes late to a lesson you will not be riding that day. If it is a private lesson you will be focusing on groundwork techniques. If you are late for a group lesson you may audit the lesson. Groundwork and auditing lessons are VERY beneficial – if you know you will be late please still come to your lesson. You can learn so much from the ground! If you are consistently late for group lessons, you will be asked to move to private lessons.
If you arrive early for your lesson, feel free to pet the horses or sit on the benches and watch the ongoing lesson. Remember, any student taking a lesson deserves the instructor’s full attention - please don't interrupt lessons unless there's a problem of some kind. Students may not go into stalls or pens unless instructed to do so.
Weather
Lessons are held rain or shine unless you are otherwise notified. Tack room or barn lessons can be held in the event of dangerous riding conditions (high wind, rain, lightning, etc). For the safety of our horses and students, lessons are often cancelled if the forecast calls for 110+ degree temperatures at the time of the lesson. Please don’t assume a lesson is cancelled due to weather, always check with your instructor.
Safety
South Mountain School of Horsemanship, LLC reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time. While it is not possible to list every circumstance in advance, some examples of reasons for refusing service include: incorrect attire, inappropriate or abusive behavior toward horses, staff, or students, disregard for the rules, regulations, policies and procedures whether written or oral, late arrival for lessons, weight exceeding the horse's ability to carry, excessive anxiety, inability to perform basic tasks such as cleaning hooves or mounting the horse without help, or a language barrier sufficient enough to be a safety concern.
Payments
- Students may either pay through AutoPay, or stay on a pay-as-you-go plan.
- Pay as you go students make payments through PayPal (add a 3.5% service fee) and are only eligible to partake in Private and Semi-Private Lessons. Students are required to pay in full when booking a lesson.
- Enrolled AutoPay students are eligible to take any kind of lessons that they like, including group lessons. Packages and discounts are only available for enrolled AutoPay students. Enrolled students are also able to participate in any of our extra barn activities such as:
- Trail Rides
- Barn Nights/Parties
- Lake Trips
- Clinics
- Special Practices
- Open Rides
Cancellations & Rescheduling
- Students are allowed 12 make-up lessons every year. 24 hours' notice is required for cancellation of any lesson regardless of the reason. If canceling with 24+ hours' notice, the lesson can be rescheduled within 60 days of the missed lesson. If canceling with less than 24 hours' notice, the lesson will not be rescheduled, regardless of the reason. Rescheduled lessons will not act as credit for the following month’s lessons or lesson package.
- Make-up lessons cannot be used to extend lessons past your requested last lesson date and cannot be transferred to any other students. Any unused make-up lessons will be forfeited after your last enrolled lesson.
- In order to be eligible for a make-up lesson, cancellations or reschedules must be submitted through the online form on the SMSH Website.
- If SMSH cancels a lesson for any reason, students will be credited that lesson and will not lose it.