An equestrian facility is a labour intensive and costly undertaking, essentially funded by the horses and ponies being used to provide riding lessons and related activities. Additionally, Instructors and staff who help the girls before/during/after lessons have to be booked in advance to provide the training and support which clients rightfully expect. When lessons are cancelled at short notice, however, all the committed costs still have to be met. As a result, it is necessary to define the Terms and Conditions for Cancellation of all horse/pony related training activities to ensure that the establishment is efficiently and economically managed.
General
❖ No monetary refunds will be given but credit will be applied as outlined in these terms.
❖ If STE is unable to offer ridden training due to weather or unforeseen circumstances, stable management or equitation theory training will be provided instead. Please note that riders will be expected to arrive dressed to ride in all weathers with suitable outdoor clothing befitting the weather conditions.
❖ In the unlikely event that STE has to cancel a lesson or an activity completely, riders will receive a credit for the equivalent value of the session or will be offered a catch-up session if possible.
❖ In all circumstances, in order to qualify for a credit, cancellations MUST be notified to the office by email or phone and NOT by the account holder on the booking system:
St. Teresa's Equestrian Office on 01372 750257 or equestrian@st-teresas.com
Termly lessons
Discounted termly lessons
❖ Riders who commit to all 10 termly lessons will be entitled to a 12% discount on the understanding that it is not possible to receive a refund/credit for a cancelled lesson for whatever reason. It will, however, be possible to move up to 2 lessons within the term with a minimum of 72 hours' notice.
❖ If a Rider’s termly lesson slot falls on a Monday, the commitment will reduce depending on the number of Bank holidays during the term. STE will not run lessons on Bank holidays, so the commitment will be to the number of lessons minus the Bank holidays. The policy will be as outlined in the bullet point above.
Full price termly lessons
❖ For riders who need more flexibility, it is possible to book termly lessons without the discount.
❖ Cancellations will be accepted due to an unavoidable conflict with an Effingham School Trust event for which the rider’s presence is mandatory/critical, as long as 72 hours' notice is given. IMPORTANT: please do not sign your child up for a sport on the day that their lesson has been assigned.
❖ STE will endeavour to offer a catch-up session, but in the event that this is not possible, a credit will be applied to the account.
General termly
❖ For existing riders, it may be possible to reschedule their termly slot if a conflict with another activity becomes apparent at the start of the Autumn Term. This must be done before the second week of term, when riding lessons begin.
❖ If a rider doesn’t attend for three lessons during the term, they will lose their right to renew their termly slot and their place will be offered to riders on the STE waiting list.
❖ Riders are required to give six weeks’ notice to cancel regular termly riding slots. However, in the case of Autumn Term cancellations, notice must be received BEFORE the school breaks up for the summer holidays as per the St Teresa’s website, i.e. nine weeks.
Non-termly/Ad-hoc lessons/Holiday activities
❖ Notice of cancellation must be given 72 hours or more in advance in order to receive a credit for the session or to be offered a catch-up session.
❖ If notice of cancellation is received LESS than 72 hours in advance of the scheduled activity, no alternatives will be offered, no credit will be issued, and the activity is not eligible for transfer.
NSEA Show Entries
❖ NSEA Show entry cancellations are non-transferrable and non-refundable, except on production of a doctor’s or veterinary surgeon’s note, in which case a credit for the equivalent value of the entry fee will be issued.
Arena hire
❖ The Arena is available to hire for free by pupils and staff of the Effingham Schools Trust but it is requested that 72-hours’ notice is given for any cancellations.
❖ The Arena is also available to hire by external riders for a fee. Notice of cancellation must be given 72 hours or more in advance in order to receive a credit for the booking.
You will need:
Please do not wear:
We will provide and fit a riding hat and boots if needed, but please bring your own riding hat, boots, body protector and any other riding wear if you have it.
We will need to check that your equipment fits to our satisfaction and meets our safety standards (particularly riding hats) in your first session with us. If there are any problems you will be able to borrow our equipment (sadly many European standard hats do not meet the recently revised safety standards in the UK).
Please note that body protectors are compulsory for pole work and jumping lessons, but air jackets/vests are not permitted at STE.
Although we cater for all abilities, there is currently a weight limit of 11st (70kg) for riders. Our minimum age is 5 (School Year 1) for private lessons or Age 6 for Pony Days. Also, riders will only be allowed to work over poles or jump if they are wearing a body protector – we are able to provide and fit these (child sizes) if you don’t yet have your own.
We do, although Effingham School’s students get priority for booking sessions during the school term. If we have availability, we are happy to welcome other riders, both children and adults (when space allows).
STE is situated in a wonderful area for hacking, nestled at the top of the North Downs with some wonderful views across the countryside. There is a small amount of riding on the road required in order to access wonderful off-road riding across Ranmore Common and around the National Trust Property, Polesden Lacey and the Surrey Hills.
We also have two hacking routes on site where all our riders can ride around our fields and along our woodland trail, to gain confidence riding out in an open space but in a more controlled environment than being out in the countryside.
Riders 11 years and over are able to hack off site, under supervision, providing they have passed either the Pony Club Road Rider Test, or the British Horse Society Ride Safe Examination. Over 18s are allowed to hack if they are assessed as competent by our staff. Riders are also required to wear hi-viz and we strongly recommend a body protector when hacking offsite.
Please note that booking hacks is dependent on what staff and what horses we have available.
We are passionate about our teaching, and we teach to the very highest standards we can. And we know that cantering is fun! However, riding is a risk sport, and one of the riskiest stages is that of learning to canter. Therefore we stipulate that, before you learn to canter, you must first be balanced in trot, and able to control your own balance and your pony in all basic school movements, in sitting, with or without stirrups, rising and light seat at trot.
Once you can balance and ride the trot work effectively, we usually recommend that your first canters are on the lunge or on the lead rein, where we can have more control over the pony for you. Once you can sit the canter (and the transitions in and out) safely and easily, you can start to canter “free” and enjoy moving on to more advanced work, pole work and jumping.
You will be able to work towards show jumping up to around 1m, depending on your weight and which horse you can ride. Remember that there is far more to jumping than the jump itself! We make sure that you are balanced and effective in a light (jumping) position in trot and canter over both single poles and a line of poles, and other turning exercises over poles, before you leave the ground. We also coach for eventing and arena eventing (jumping with style), and all NSEA events. Please note that riders under 18 who do not have a body protector will not be allowed to jump, and air jackets are not permitted at STE.
