Please read these Terms before submitting a request or using a Ranch service. A confirmed booking may also include a written itinerary, quotation, payment schedule, cancellation terms or activity-specific acknowledgement. Those documents form part of the agreement for that booking.
1. Scope and Acceptance
These Terms apply to use of the website and to booking requests, riding, accommodation, transport and other services arranged directly with Vonfidel Ranch. Browsing the website or submitting an inquiry does not by itself create a booking. A service agreement arises only when the Ranch accepts the request in writing and any stated confirmation requirement has been completed.
2. Requests, Confirmation and Payment
- Review before acceptance: Every request is considered against availability, rider suitability, horse welfare, weather, terrain and operating capacity.
- Written confirmation: Dates or availability are not secured until the Ranch issues written confirmation and any required deposit or other condition has been satisfied.
- Booking-specific terms: Prices, inclusions, payment schedule, cancellation, refund and change terms may vary by service and are stated before confirmation.
- Changes: Guests should communicate requested changes promptly. A change is effective only when accepted in writing and may affect price, availability or other terms.
- Third-party charges: Transport, payment or other external providers may apply their own charges and conditions.
3. Participant Information and Suitability
The person submitting a request must provide complete and accurate information for the applicant and every participant. This may include name, contact details, country, age or minor status, rider sex, riding experience, rider weight, travel details and health or mobility information relevant to safe participation.
- Information must be updated if circumstances change before arrival or participation.
- The Ranch may request additional information, decline a request, adjust the proposed activity or require a different arrangement where suitability is uncertain.
- Horse matching, route, pace and duration remain operational decisions made around the horse, rider and conditions on the day.
Trail Ride emergency contact. A Trail Ride request must identify one reachable emergency contact for the party. The person submitting the request confirms that they are authorised to provide those contact details for safety and emergency communication connected with the request or ride.
Residential pre-arrival registration. Identity particulars are not required in the initial Riding Holiday request. If a residential request advances, every staying guest must complete the Ranch’s separate secure pre-arrival registration by the deadline stated in the written booking communication. The Ranch may request the guest’s full legal name, date of birth, nationality, country of residence, emergency contact and limited passport or national-identity particulars only where reasonably required for guest registration, accommodation operations or applicable law. Guests must not send identity-document images or identity particulars through ordinary email or WhatsApp. Failure to complete a reasonably required registration step may delay or prevent check-in or delivery of the residential service.
4. Horse Welfare, Weather and Operational Changes
Horse welfare and safety take precedence over a planned schedule. The Ranch may change the assigned horse, route, pace, duration, start time or other element of an activity, or postpone or cancel it, because of heat, rain, ground conditions, horse health or workload, rider suitability, staffing, access restrictions or another operational or safety concern.
Where a material change or cancellation occurs, the Ranch will communicate the available options in light of the booking-specific terms and circumstances. No itinerary can guarantee a particular horse, route, pace or weather condition.
5. Inherent Risk and Participant Responsibility
Horses are living animals and equestrian activities carry inherent and sometimes serious risks, including falls, unpredictable movement, terrain, weather and interaction with other animals or vehicles. Participants must follow staff instructions, use required safety equipment, act within their ability and disclose information that could affect safe participation.
The Ranch may stop or refuse participation where conduct, fitness, information supplied or conditions create an unacceptable risk. Any activity-specific acknowledgement or waiver must be read before participation. Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits a right or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.
Permanent accepted version · do not overwrite
Rider Risk & Participation Terms — Version 2026.08
Status of a request. A rider declaration establishes preliminary eligibility for review or assessment only. It does not confirm suitability, horse allocation, progression to open country, availability or a booking. The Ranch makes the operational decision and may request more information.
Inherent equestrian risk. Horses are living animals and may react unexpectedly to people, wildlife, dogs, vehicles, sounds, equipment, weather, terrain, footing, other horses or an unfamiliar stimulus. Riding and handling can involve falls, kicks, bites, crushing, collision, loss of control and other injury, including serious injury. Experience, safety equipment, horse selection and supervision reduce risk but cannot remove it.
Trail Ride assessment sequence. Trail Ride participation follows advance screening, arrival and briefing, horse allocation, mounted assessment and—only where the Ranch is satisfied—an open-country ride. Advance screening or arrival does not guarantee progression beyond the mounted assessment. The Ranch may keep a rider in a controlled area, change the horse or plan, redirect the rider, or stop participation.
Riding Holiday distinction. Riding Holidays remain progressive residential programs rather than the Trail Ride assessment product. Suitability, horse matching, route, pace, duration and session decisions continue throughout the stay. Signature Riding Holidays require the stated independent open-country competence; Horsemanship Training Holidays provide a more progressive route.
Participant responsibility. Each rider must provide complete and accurate information; disclose any experience gap, injury, condition or limitation relevant to safe participation; update material changes; use required safety equipment; follow instructions; and act within the pace set by the Ranch. The person submitting information for another adult or a minor confirms that they have appropriate authority to do so.
Operational discretion. The Ranch may decline, alter, postpone or end participation where rider ability, conduct, fitness, information supplied, horse welfare, weather, footing, route, equipment or another condition makes continuation unsuitable. A particular horse, route, pace, duration or progression is not guaranteed.
Assumption of inherent risk and lawful limits. By accepting this version, the rider voluntarily assumes the ordinary inherent risks of equestrian activity described above and accepts responsibility for loss arising from the rider’s deliberate conduct, failure to follow instructions or material misrepresentation, to the extent permitted by law. This clause does not exclude or limit any right or liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, and does not excuse fraud, wilful misconduct or liability to the extent an exclusion would be unlawful.
Material misrepresentation or unsafe conduct. A materially false or incomplete statement, undisclosed relevant limitation, intoxication, refusal to follow instructions, abusive conduct or deliberate risk-taking may lead to immediate suspension or termination. Any payment, refund, credit or other consequence remains subject to applicable law and the booking-specific written terms.
Assessment-stage commercial treatment. Before a Trail Ride payment is taken, the written confirmation should state what happens if a rider does not progress after the mounted assessment. The Ranch’s refund or credit position for that circumstance remains a management-review item and must not be assumed from the submission form.
Electronic consent record. The Ranch may retain the booking reference, named riders, eligibility answers, exact declaration and acknowledgement wording, consent timestamp, accepted version and the form processor’s submission record as evidence of what was accepted. Acceptance is prospective only: it is not backdated and does not create retrospective acceptance for an earlier activity.
6. Conduct, Property and the Estate
- Respect: Guests must treat horses, staff, residents, other guests, communities, property and the natural environment with care.
- Instructions: Ranch directions concerning horses, routes, access, equipment, accommodation and estate operations must be followed.
- Unsafe conduct: Abuse, harassment, deliberate risk-taking, or participation under the influence of alcohol or drugs may result in immediate suspension or termination of the service.
- Damage and belongings: Guests remain responsible for personal belongings and may be responsible for loss or damage caused by their deliberate or negligent conduct.
7. Accommodation, Transport and Third Parties
Where accommodation, transfers or another supporting service is included, the written confirmation identifies the agreed scope. Guests must observe check-in, access, occupancy and estate instructions. Services delivered by an independent provider may also be subject to that provider's terms. To the extent permitted by law, the Ranch is not responsible for an independent provider's acts or omissions outside the Ranch's reasonable control.
8. Minors
A request involving a participant under 18 must be submitted or authorised by a parent or legal guardian. Participation is subject to prior approval, suitability assessment and the supervision arrangements specified by the Ranch. The responsible adult must provide accurate information and complete any required consent or acknowledgement.
9. Photography and Media
The Ranch may create photographs or recordings during activities, but identifiable promotional use is handled with appropriate notice or permission. Guests may decline to be photographed or filmed by informing the team before or during the activity. A parent or guardian must authorise identifiable promotional use involving a minor.
10. Privacy and Data Protection
Personal information is handled as described in the Privacy Policy. Information supplied for another participant must be provided with appropriate authority. Operational and safety information may be shared with staff or service providers where reasonably required to assess or deliver the service.
11. Website and Intellectual Property
Website text, photographs, video, branding and other materials are owned by or licensed to Vonfidel Ranch unless otherwise stated. They may not be reproduced, altered, sold or used commercially without permission. Guests must not interfere with website operation, attempt unauthorised access or use the site unlawfully.
12. Events Outside Reasonable Control
The Ranch is not responsible for delay or failure caused by events outside its reasonable control, including severe weather, natural events, government restrictions, transport interruption, utility or communications failure, disease, civil disturbance or another material operational emergency. The Ranch will communicate reasonable alternatives where practicable.
13. Changes, Governing Law and Disputes
These website Terms may be revised when services, operations or legal requirements change. The effective date above identifies the current version. A confirmed booking remains governed by the terms accepted for that booking unless a later change is required by law or agreed in writing.
These Terms are governed by the laws of Sri Lanka. The parties should first attempt to resolve a concern directly and in good faith. If it cannot be resolved, the courts of Sri Lanka have jurisdiction unless a separate written agreement provides another lawful process.
14. Contact
For a question about these Terms or a booking-specific condition, contact Vonfidel Ranch directly.