LESSON POLICIES

Payment is due upon booking the lesson.
A lesson will be considered cancelled if payment has not been received 24 hours ahead of the scheduled time, unless other arrangements have been made.
I prefer payment by e-transfer or PayPal. If you would rather pay cash, please let me know.

CANCELLATIONS

Lessons cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice forfeit the full lesson fee, including travel charges.
With 24–48 hours' notice, lessons can be rescheduled, subject to a $25 penalty.
Lessons can be cancelled or rescheduled at no penalty given a minimum of 48 hours' notice.
Extraordinary circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Please note weather considerations, below.

WEATHER CONSIDERATIONS

I teach year-round. Lessons will proceed rain, shine, or snow unless the conditions become unsafe.
If ground conditions are poor, we will adapt the content of the lesson appropriately.
Please note my cancellation policy and use your best discretion when booking winter dates. If a storm or extreme cold snap is forecast, we can proactively reschedule ahead of time.
Alternative lesson formats are always available both in person and online, and are a recommended alternative in cases of unexpected bad weather or poor working conditions:
- "Tack room" lessons are an ideal opportunity to practice skills like line and whip handling.
- Theory lessons allow us to dive deep into the discussion of a relevant topic and expand your understanding of the concepts behind the work that we are doing.
- Pre-recorded video lessons use other recent video footage of your work, which we watch together and discuss in depth.

LATES & NO-SHOWS

No-shows will be charged the full lesson fee, including travel charges. A no-show is assumed 10 minutes after your scheduled time.
If you are going to be late, please communicate with me. Late arrivals will usually mean a shortened lesson, in order to not affect the lessons scheduled after yours.
If for some reason I am going to be late arriving, I will communicate this with you ASAP, and it will NOT affect the length of your lesson.

For lessons at your location, there is a travel fee of $0.60/km round trip from my home in South Calgary.
If I am teaching multiple students at the same location, the travel fee is shared accordingly.
If I am teaching multiple students at different locations within the same general area, I calculate the total distance that I will be driving, and divide that among the number of farms I am visiting in the day.
This means that the exact travel charge on your invoice may vary from one week to the next, depending on how many other students I am visiting that day. I have found this to be the most effective way to keep costs as low as possible for my students, while ensuring that my vehicle expenses are covered.

LESSON PACKAGES

Monthly packages, paid in advance, offer you the consistency of the same reserved timeslot every week, as well as a 10% discount on the lesson fees.
Payment is due by the 23rd of the month prior in order to guarantee your preferred time for the following month.
Packages are attached to the student. Multiple horses may be used, but package may not be split between different people.
Package rates are available when booking a minimum of four lessons per month.
If you must miss one of your regular scheduled times, a make-up lesson can be arranged given at least 48 hours' notice, subject to availability. Make-up lessons must take place in the same month as the originally-scheduled lesson.

SEMI-PRIVATE LESSONS

Semi-private lessons (groups of two) are suitable in cases where you are both working on similar things. It is best that both the horses know each other and are comfortable sharing the space.
Activities such as liberty work may not be possible in a semi-private lesson.
Fees listed for semi-private lessons are per person.

For safety and insurance reasons, there may not be any dogs off-leash in the lesson area.
Disruptive dogs will be asked to leave.

Lesson Waivers

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