A couple of months ago I had booked to take George to an arena eventing clinic with someone who runs these clinics frequently in my area*. I paid in advance and I was looking forward to getting George out and about and used to other horses. However, on the morning of the clinic it was very wet and rainy. Due to this, I ended up slipping on the ramp of the horse box and hurting my back.
I texted the woman who was running the clinic explaining the situation and asked if it would be possible to change to a different clinic due to my injuries. Her reply was that it was too short notice for a transfer and that she required 48 hours notice for cancellation. This was one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard. How are you supposed to give 48 hours notice that you (or your horse) are going to get injured? I fully understand this policy for non-injury related cancellations but in the horse world it is so easy for your horse to go lame unexpectedly etc. She then said that she would be out of pocket if she offered me a transfer free of charge as she has to cover arena hire, to which I responded that I would be happy to cover this cost if a transfer was available to me. She did not reply to this and so I then decided to cut my losses and not book with her again.
What are other people’s thoughts on this? I believe that she was a little unfair as the accident was unavoidable but I’d love to hear the opinions of others who were not involved! Also has anyone else experienced anything similar?
*I have not named her as she can not defend herself on here.
The Many Tails of Cherry Tree Farm 
I’m so sorry you ran into trouble day-of. I completely empathize with missing something because of an unavoidable injury. However, you may also want to consider the organizer’s side of things. Organizers and the instructors they hire are trying to make a living, and unfortunately if they allowed so much fluctuation in cancellation they could end up only breaking even, or worse losing money. From being involved in organizing clinics, it is extremely frustrating to have no-shows, which I know you weren’t one!! but that’s the experience I had. It was frustrating because that spot could’ve been taken by another rider. I really think a 48 hour window is pretty fair. I’ve been involved with some clinics that needed notice a week or more before to get a refund. I think it may just be one of the precautions that organizers/instructors/show managers must take to make sure they can continue to fund similar opportunities even if it stinks to be on the losing end!
As for a transfer, I’ve never dealt with that and when I’ve had to scratch clinics I’ve just been out of my entry fee. I think that would’ve been nice of her to offer (I don’t hear of that often – at least in Eventing clinics), except she didn’t respond. I agree that was rude, especially since she opened that line of communication.
Sorry again you had to miss your clinic. That’s a bummer!
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It was more the way she handles it and that (in my opinion) she should have made it more clear in her policy! I appreciate her difficulty but she was a little rude about it 🙂
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I agree with you. Clear communication can make everyone’s live so much easier! Sorry you had a bad experience.
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