Horse Employee Policy Page
The purpose of this document is to provide riding instructors, CTRS, therapeutic riding instructors and barn staff timely updates to barn policies regarding attendance, horse usage and expectations. It will be kept in an accessible, published area for all CRC employees to view. Any updates to this document will be sent to all pertinent employees within 24 hours of the update.
Attendance
All employees responsible for teaching/providing RETH services are expected to provide every scheduled session unless ill, emergency or CRC cancels due to weather or other unforeseen incident.
Cancellations or makeups due to CRC/instructor are expected to be made up in order to provide the client all promised lessons within one (1) week of original date.
Short notice or no notice cancellations by clients are not required to be made up.
Any conflict dates must be provided in writing to her/his supervisor no less than 2 weeks from the conflict date or prior to the start of the session.
No more than two (2) absences due to conflicts are allowed in one quarter.
Substitutes: Only private lessons are able to be covered by another teammate without first doing a CBT, however, reading the rider’s file for any notes is highly encouraged. TR lessons can be covered by another PATH certified instructor only after CBT on rider is completed. RETH lessons can only be made up by providing CTRS.
Expectations
Be professional and safe.
Commit to teaching the entire session of lessons.
Bring any challenges/conflicts with parents, riders, other employees to supervisor or HR.
Be positive. Speak kindly and professionally about your colleagues, equine partners and the facility.
If you have concerns regarding horse behavior, health, equipment, etc. please bring this to the attention of barn manager, PC or director. This includes broken equipment, tack, feed questions, etc.
Arrive 10-15minutes early for each lesson.
Begin and end each lesson on time.
Provide all paperwork, proof of certificates, insurance, etc. as requested by HR.
Log time worked within 4 hours of working.
Track attendance for your individuals. (tardiness, illness, no-call/no-show, etc.) If you have a rider who has inconsistent attendance/timeliness, please bring this to the program coordinator’s attention. Having written documentation will help when discussing a challenging situation.
Note: Parents and riders have agreed to attend at a certain day and time each week. They have arranged to have their child or rider here on that scheduled time and day. As professionals, CRC employees need to honor our rider’s commitment by providing lessons on their scheduled time and day. Keep in mind that it may be difficult for parents/riders to move lessons to another day and time due to other child/work/family commitments. Please do not cancel lessons without prior approval from supervisor.
Teamwork/Ownership
Every team member at Camp Red Cedar appreciates the uniqueness of the space. The opportunity to have horses in order to help unlock doors to those served is not lost. Horses take a tremendous amount of care and upkeep in order to keep them healthy and safe. As a part of the CRC team, there are certain unspoken expectations that fall under the #13 in every job description: “Other duties, as assigned. “
The upkeep and maintenance of the barn is a team effort lead by the Barn Manager/Facility Manager. Camp Red Cedar expects all team members to help in the following ways: (this is not a comprehensive list)
- Clean up after yourself and be conscientious of others. This includes all areas used by instructor/client. I.e. Crosstie, arenas, tack, instructor’s office, restroom (wipe down sink, replenish PT/TP, remove trash when full
- Sanitize and disinfect all equipment used (tack, brushes, tables, broom handles, crosstie straps, games if handled, feed door/stall door latches, computers, chairs, etc.)
- Attend staff and participate in staff meeting and trainings.
- Attend all horse related special events, unless permission from director is provided.
- Remove arena set up after the last lesson of each week in order for arena to be dragged the following Monday.
- Rotate creating and implementation of weekly lesson plans for all instructors to use. This will include an arena set up diagram, equipment needed and general description of how the area can be used and adapted to many different clients throughout the week. The purpose of this is to encourage instructors to continue to grow and learn new ways of teaching, as well as to prevent lessons from getting stagnant or the burden of one person creating lesson plans. Instructors are encouraged to use resources both online and in the library in the director’s office.
- Occasionally, CRC provides one time lessons/trail rides or field trips to special interest groups, Girl Scouts, schools, etc. Based on instructor scheduling, CRC instructors may need to facilitate or assist with these activities.
Safety
All instructors and barn employees will go through orientation and be provided a copy of the Staff Manual which covers basic safety for both staff and clients when around horses.
If a horse appears “off”, agitated, ill, etc., the instructor has the option to consider using another horse for the session.
In the instance that a horse shows signs of fear or misbehavior, instructor will use his/her best judgement to redirect during the lesson if possible.
Be kind and aware of horse behavior. “Ask” for permission to enter a horse’s stall. They could be resting or need a few moments to realize the presence of a person.
No bareback riding is allowed. If bareback riding with a bareback pad, the rider must be assessed as a competent, balanced rider and/or the instructor must remain clipped on to the horse inside of the arena.
Group lessons must be held in a contained area, such as indoor/outdoor arena.
Trail rides for group lesson will be walking only and only if the rider is deemed advanced enough to control a horse in the case of unforeseen incidents. Otherwise, each rider must have an attendant who can clip on in case of emergency.
Instructors will not ride with their students.
No standing on a horse’s back.
Instructors are here to promote independence with all clients and encourage each rider to learn to work through difficult/frustrating situations, however, if a horse is misbehaving, scared or startled, the instructor has the choice to clip a lead rope onto the horse or dismount the rider in deference to safety.
Horse Usage and Personal Riding:
Everyone participating in any equine activity must have a signed equine liability on file.
Instructors may ride horses with permission of their supervisor, barn manager or director with the intention to school, maintain horse health or increase instructor knowledge.
All employee rides must be cleared through barn manager or director.
There must be one other staff member on premises while riding.
Personal horses:
Owners may bring family members or friends out to ride their personal horse only. Riding not to exceed 2 hours, in deference to PATH horse usage standards and must follow weight restrictions posted on stall doors.
Owners may use tack owned by CRC. Please clean and properly put away all equipment used.
A person owning a horse at CRC must not ride personal horse without another adult on the property for rider safety.
Tack
Lesson areas
Session Length
Important Employee Links
Staff Manual (Not updated Version)
Staff Work Attire
© 2023 Camp Red Cedar (260) 637-3608
Camp Red Cedar’s programs are CARF (Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities) accredited, the only PATH, Intl. (Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International) Premier Accredited Center in Northeastern Indiana, is a member of the Certified Horsemanship Association and the Indiana Horse Council.
