The ride

A horse is not a machine. This notice is the house’s account of that fact, and of what you accept when you mount, lead, handle, or stand in the yard at Alsio Vandrelli. It is to be read with the conditions of the visit. By writing for a morning, and by attending, you confirm that you have read both, that you understand them, and that you accept them. If you are under eighteen, your parent or guardian reads, understands, and accepts them for you, and attends.

Nothing in this notice excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for any liability that the law of England and Wales does not permit us to exclude. What follows is about the risks that remain when a careful yard has done what a careful yard does.

Inherent risk

Riding, handling horses, being in a yard, walking a lane of paddocks, and standing at a rail are dangerous. Horses are powerful, sentient, and unpredictable. They may shy, buck, rear, bolt, kick, bite, strike, stumble, fall, slip, refuse, or do none of these until the moment they do. They may react to wind, plastic, a bird, a scent, another horse, a sudden hand, a memory you cannot see. Ground that was kind in the morning may be false by afternoon. A fence is a conversation that can end in a fall. A walk in water is still a horse in water. No amount of classical seat removes the animal.

Injuries that occur in the company of horses include, without a complete list, bruises, fractures, concussion, spinal injury, internal injury, trampling, crushing, allergic reaction, and death. Property is damaged. Tack breaks. Other horses and other people are hurt. You accept that these things can happen even when the house, the horse, and you have all been careful, because that is the nature of the work.

The Animals Act 1971, and the common law of England, speak to animals with characteristics and to the knowledge of those who keep them. You understand that horses as a species have the characteristics described above, that the house keeps horses, and that you come to them as a rider, not as a visitor behind glass.

Your part

You are responsible for your own seat, your own hands, and your own judgement once you have been given the work. You will mount, dismount, and handle as instructed. You will say, before you get on, if you are frightened, unwell, in pain, pregnant, recently concussed, or advised not to ride. You will say if a saddle feels wrong. You will not pretend to a standard you do not have. The house cannot keep you if you will not tell the truth of your riding.

You confirm that you are fit enough for the work you asked for, that you are not under the influence of alcohol or of any drug that dulls seat or sense, and that any medication you take still leaves you safe to ride. If that confirmation would be untrue, do not come, and do not mount.

Hats, tack, and the right to say no

You will wear a riding hat that meets a current accepted standard (such as PAS 015, VG1, or such other standard as the house then requires), properly fitted and fastened, unless the house has agreed otherwise in writing for that morning. The house may still refuse to let you mount without a hat. You will wear a body protector if the work or the house requires it. You will not loosen a girth, bit, or strap except as asked. You will not ride in trainers, or in anything without a heel, or in clothing that can catch.

The house may refuse a horse, a fence, a trail, or the whole morning. You will not argue it in the yard. A living animal is not a debate.

Instruction

If instruction is given, it is given in good faith for that hour and that horse. It is not a warranty that you will not fall, that a fence will be met, or that a habit of years will be undone before noon. You remain free — and obliged — to stop if you feel unsafe. Stopping is not a discourtesy.

Those who work the yard are not your servants in the saddle. They may lead, lunge, or ride a horse for the sake of the morning. You will give them room. You will not strike a horse. You will not use a spur, a whip, or a voice that the house has not agreed.

Assumption, release, and indemnity

So far as the law of England and Wales allows, you assume the inherent risks of horses and of riding, including those set out above, and you accept that the house is not liable for injury, death, or loss arising from those inherent risks, or from your own failure to follow instruction, or from the character of your own horse.

So far as that law allows, you release Alsio Vandrelli, those who own and keep the estate, and those who work or ride here in the house’s service, from claims arising out of a morning, except claims for death or personal injury caused by negligence, and except fraud, and except anything else that cannot be released.

You will indemnify the house against loss, damage, and reasonable cost (including a reasonable legal cost) arising from your breach of these notices, from your own horse, or from a companion you brought, except to the extent caused by our negligence.

You are advised to keep your own insurance for riding, for personal accident, and, if you bring a horse, for that animal. The house keeps such insurance as it considers proper for a private estate. That is not a promise that every event is covered, or that you are a named person on a policy.

Medical

If you are hurt, you consent to the house calling a doctor, an ambulance, or such help as seems required, and to the giving of such first aid as a person then present can give. You are responsible for the cost of your treatment. Tell us, in the letter or on arrival, of an allergy, of a condition a first-aider ought to know, and of whom to call. If you refuse that information, you accept the greater risk of being helped in the dark.

How this notice speaks

This notice is governed by the law of England and Wales. It is intended to be enforceable to the fullest extent that law allows. If a sentence is found too wide, it is to be read down, not thrown out, so that what may lawfully be kept is kept. It binds you, your estate, and your parent or guardian if you are under eighteen. It is for the benefit of the house and of those who work here, who may rely on it.

A copy may be asked for your signature on the morning. Signature is a courtesy and a record. Attendance without a signature is still acceptance, if you have been given a fair chance to read. These pages are that chance. The date at the head is the date from which this notice speaks.

If you cannot accept the animal as it is, do not write for the saddle. If you can, write for a morning, and arrive a little early. The rest is the horse, and the long patience the work requires of both of you.