01Who we are

The information below is given to you in accordance with section 43 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002.

Horse Flow Academy is owned and operated by Rynhardt Erasmus and trades from Wilderness, Garden Route, Western Cape. Our full registered business details, and our physical address for the service of legal documents, are available on request — email us and we will send them to you.

What we sell, and at what price, is described on the relevant product, service or event page. How you pay is set out in section 06, and how cancellations and refunds work is set out in our Refund & Cancellation Policy. How we handle your personal information is set out in our Privacy Policy.

02Agreeing to these terms

By using this website, creating an account, or buying anything from us, you agree to these terms. If you do not agree with them, please do not use the site or buy from us.

These terms, together with our Privacy Policy and our Refund & Cancellation Policy, form the whole agreement between us. Where we have a separate signed agreement with you — for example a clinic indemnity or a written quotation for a job — that signed document governs anything it specifically covers, and these terms cover the rest.

Nothing in these terms takes away any right you have that cannot be taken away by agreement — in particular your rights under the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 and the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002. If any part of these terms conflicts with those Acts, those Acts win.

03The words we use

• “We”, “us”, “our” — Horse Flow Academy, as identified in section 01.
• “You” — the person using the site or buying from us. If you are buying for a business, “you” includes that business.
• “The Compass” — the Horse Flow Compass assessment tool, in any of its versions: the Foundation Compass, each discipline compass, and the Complete Collection.
• “Digital products” — the Compass, online courses, downloads and any other content delivered to you electronically.
• “Events” — clinics, demonstrations, webinars and any other dated gathering, in person or online.
• “Services” — work we do in person, such as farriery, training sessions, behavioural work, backing and horse transport.
• “The site” — horseflowacademy.com and everything on it.
• “CPA” — the Consumer Protection Act, 68 of 2008. “ECTA” — the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of 2002.

04Your account

You need an account to use the Compass and our online courses, because your ratings and progress are saved to it.

• You must be 18 or older to open an account and to buy from us. If you are younger, a parent or guardian must do it for you and is responsible for the account.
• Give us accurate details and keep them up to date. We send tickets, receipts and access details to the email address on your account.
• Your login is personal to you. Do not share it, sell it or let anybody else use it. Accounts are not transferable.
• You are responsible for everything done through your account. Tell us immediately if you think somebody else has your password.
• One account per person. If we find one login being shared between several riders or a whole yard, we may suspend it — see section 22.

05What we sell

Descriptions, photographs and item counts on the site are given in good faith and are as accurate as we can make them. Small differences — a photograph of a different horse, a rounded number, a venue detail — do not entitle you to cancel unless the difference is material.

06Prices, currency and payment

• Prices are shown on the site and include VAT where VAT applies. If we are not registered for VAT, no VAT is charged and none may be claimed.
• Our home currency is the South African Rand. Where we display a price in another currency, that is the price you pay in that currency. Your bank or card issuer may add its own conversion or foreign-transaction fee, which is between you and them.
• We may change our prices at any time, but a change never affects an order you have already paid for.
• Obvious mistakes. If a price is clearly wrong — a decimal in the wrong place, a discount that was never intended — we may cancel the order and refund you in full rather than honour it. We will tell you promptly if this happens.
• Payment is taken at checkout through our payment provider. We do not see or store your full card details.
• Your order is only accepted, and the agreement only concluded, once payment has been received and we have confirmed it. Until then we may decline the order.
• Access to a digital product is granted once payment shows as received or processing. If a payment is later reversed, we may withdraw access.

We take reasonable steps to keep our payment system secure, as ECTA requires, including serving the whole site over an encrypted connection and using a recognised payment provider.

07Digital products and your licence

When you buy the Compass or a course, you are not buying the content itself — you are buying a right to use it. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence, which cannot be sub-licensed, to use what you bought for your own horses and your own learning.

You may

• use it for every horse you own, keep or ride;
• save, print or export your own results for your own records;
• show your results to your vet, farrier, coach or instructor;
• use what you learn in your own riding and in your own work with your own clients.

You may not

• share your login, or let anybody else use your account;
• copy, download, scrape, republish or redistribute the assessment content, the item banks, the courses or the videos;
• resell, rent, licence or give away access;
• use our content to build, train or feed a competing product, course or dataset, including any machine-learning system;
• use it commercially as an assessment service you charge others for, unless we have agreed that in writing.

Professionals — coaches, trainers, yard owners — are very welcome to use the Compass in their work. If you want to run it across a string of clients under one roof, talk to us about a professional arrangement rather than sharing a login.

08Access, availability and changes

Access to a digital product you have bought is not time-limited: it lasts for as long as we keep offering that product, and for as long as your account remains open and in good standing. There is no subscription and no recurring fee.

We may improve, add to, re-order or correct the content of the Compass and our courses. That is normal and is usually to your benefit. If we ever have to permanently withdraw a product you have bought, we will give you at least 60 days’ notice, let you export your own records, and offer you a fair alternative or a pro-rata refund.

We aim to keep the site available at all times, but we do not guarantee it. Hosting, maintenance, updates and matters outside our control mean there may be interruptions. Where we can, we will give notice of planned maintenance.

Your Compass records live on our website. Please export or print anything you would be sorry to lose. We keep backups, but we cannot guarantee against every kind of data loss.

09Online courses

• A course marked “coming soon” or “in production” is not for sale. Nothing on those pages is an offer, and no dates given for release are promises.
• Once released, a course is delivered through your account under the licence in section 07.
• Course material is for education. It does not certify, qualify or accredit you, and it does not entitle you to teach our method as an instructor of Horse Flow Academy unless we have agreed that separately in writing.
• We may update course content over time. You get the updates.

10Clinics, webinars and events

Booking and tickets

• A place is only reserved once payment has been received. Places are limited and are allocated in order of payment.
• Your ticket is issued to you by email and may carry a barcode or QR code. Bring it, on your phone or printed. We may refuse entry without a valid ticket.
• Tickets are for the named person, but you may transfer your place to somebody else at any time before the event starts — just tell us who is coming.
• Rider places include bringing your own horse and working in the session. Auditor places are for watching and learning, without a horse.

On the day

• Arrive at the stated time. Latecomers may be asked to wait for a safe moment to join, and no refund is given for time missed.
• You must follow all instructions given by Ray, by our staff and by the venue. We may ask any person or horse to leave, without refund, if they are unsafe, aggressive, under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or disruptive.
• Approved safety headgear must be worn by every rider at all times when mounted. Sensible footwear is required by everyone in the working area.
• Every rider, and every person entering the working area, must sign our indemnity before taking part. Under-18s need a parent or guardian to sign.
• Your horse must be sound enough for the work, up to date on vaccinations as the venue requires, and free of any contagious condition. Tell us in advance about any medical, behavioural or handling issue — this is a safety matter, not a judgement.
• You remain responsible for your own horse throughout, including its handling, feeding, watering and welfare.

Webinars

• Webinars run live online. A join link is emailed to you before the session — check your spam folder if it does not arrive, and tell us if it has not come an hour before the start.
• Participants join with camera and microphone and can ask questions. Auditors watch the live call.
• A recording is sent automatically to everyone who registered, whichever ticket they bought.
• You are responsible for your own internet connection, device and software. We cannot refund a place because your connection failed — but you will still get the recording.

Recording and photography

We often photograph and film our clinics and record our webinars, for teaching and for marketing. By attending, you agree that we may do so and may use that material as described in section 15. If you would prefer not to appear, tell us before the event starts and we will do our best to keep you out of shot.

You may not record, stream or publish our clinics or webinars yourself without our written permission. Notes for your own use are always fine.

Cancellations, postponements and refunds for events are dealt with in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

11Farriery, training and yard visits

• Bookings are confirmed by message or email. Where a quotation is given, it is valid for 30 days and assumes the work described.
• Please have your horse caught, dry and ready at the agreed time, in a safe, level, well-lit working area with a way to tie up or hold the horse.
• A competent handler over 18 must be present unless we have agreed otherwise. If nobody is there and the horse cannot safely be worked with, we may charge for the visit.
• Tell us in advance about any behavioural issue, injury, illness, medication or history of striking, biting, rearing or kicking. This is for everyone’s safety, including your horse’s.
• We may stop work at any time if it becomes unsafe for the horse, for you or for us. We will explain why and we will help you find a way forward.
• Travel outside our usual area may carry a call-out or travel charge, which we will tell you about before we come.
• Farriery and hoof care is a craft, not an exact science. We will apply proper skill and care, but we cannot guarantee a particular outcome, timeline or resolution of lameness, and shoes can be lost in the field for reasons that have nothing to do with the fitting.
• Training is a process, not a purchase. We will be honest with you about what is realistic and how long it may take. We do not guarantee that a horse will reach a particular level by a particular date.

Cancellation notice periods and call-out fees are set out in our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

12Education, not veterinary advice

Everything we publish, teach and assess is educational. We are horsemen and farriers, not veterinarians.

• Nothing on this site, in the Compass, in a course, at a clinic or in the book is veterinary, medical, nutritional, physiotherapeutic or legal advice, and none of it is a diagnosis.
• The Compass measures what a horse can do. A low score is not a diagnosis, and a high score is not a clean bill of health.
• If your horse is lame, unwell, in pain, losing condition or behaving out of character, call your vet. Always consult a qualified veterinarian before acting on anything you read or are told here, and never delay veterinary attention because of it.
• Advice about your own body — fitness, injury, riding after illness — is for your doctor, not for us.

Any results, timelines or transformations described on this site, including in testimonials, are examples of what has been achieved. They are not a promise of what you or your horse will achieve. Every horse and every rider is different.

13Horses are dangerous animals

In addition to this notice, every person taking part in an in-person clinic, session or yard visit must sign a separate written indemnity before starting. That signed document is required by law for an activity of this kind and is not replaced by this website. If you are not prepared to sign it, we will refund you and you will not be able to take part.

You must arrange your own insurance. We strongly recommend personal accident cover and public liability cover for yourself, and appropriate cover for your horse. We do not insure you, your horse, your tack, your vehicle or your possessions.

You are responsible for your own horse's behaviour and for any harm it causes to another person, horse or property, at our clinics or during our visits.

14Our intellectual property

Everything on this site and in our products — the Horse Flow Compass and its assessment framework, the item banks, the compass rose, the courses, the articles, the photographs, the videos, the text, the design, the logo and the name Horse Flow Academy — belongs to us or is used by us under licence. It is protected by copyright and trade mark law.

You may read it, print a copy for your own use, and link to it. You may quote a short extract if you credit us and link back. You may not otherwise copy, reproduce, adapt, translate, republish, sell or exploit it, in whole or in part, without our written permission.

The book Communicate With Your Horse is a separate copyright work by Rynhardt Erasmus, sold through Amazon on Amazon’s terms.

If you think we have used something of yours by mistake, tell us and we will put it right quickly.

15Your content and photographs

When you send us a review, a testimonial, a photograph, a video or a question, you keep ownership of it. You give us permission to use it on our website, in our marketing and on social media, with your first name and, if you have given it, your horse’s name. You may withdraw that permission at any time by asking us, and we will stop using it going forward.

We also take photographs and video at clinics and record our webinars, as described in section 10, and may use that material in the same way.

Please only send us material you actually own. Do not send us anything unlawful, defamatory, or that infringes somebody else’s rights.

Your Compass records are private and are never used in marketing in a form that identifies you or your horse. See our Privacy Policy.

16Acceptable use

Please do not:

• use the site for anything unlawful, or to harass, abuse or defame anybody;
• try to gain unauthorised access to any part of the site, another member’s account or our systems;
• introduce a virus, or attempt to overload, disrupt or damage the site;
• scrape, harvest, mine or bulk-download the site or its content by any automated means;
• impersonate anybody, or misrepresent your association with us;
• strip out or obscure any copyright notice or credit.

We may suspend or close an account that breaks these rules, and where a breach is serious we may report it to the authorities.

17Cancellations and refunds

Cancellations, cooling-off rights and refunds are dealt with in full in our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these terms. In short:

• You have a 7-day cooling-off right under section 44 of ECTA on most things bought electronically, subject to the exceptions in that Act.
• Digital products carry a 14-day satisfaction guarantee from us on top of your legal rights.
• Clinic and event places may be cancelled or transferred on the sliding scale set out in that policy, as section 17 of the CPA allows.
• If we cancel or postpone something, you always get a full refund or a credit, at your choice.

18Other people’s websites

We link to other sites — Amazon, WhatsApp, video platforms, our payment provider and others. Those sites are not ours. We do not control them and we are not responsible for their content, their products or their privacy practices. A link is not an endorsement. Read their terms before you use them.

19Your rights under the Consumer Protection Act

If you are a consumer, the CPA gives you rights that these terms do not and cannot take away, including:

• the right to plain and understandable language (section 22);
• the right to fair and honest dealing, free of misleading or false representations (sections 40 to 41);
• the right to services performed with reasonable skill, care and diligence, within a reasonable time (section 54);
• the right to goods that are of good quality, in working order and free of defects, and to return them within six months for a repair, replacement or refund if they are not (sections 55 and 56);
• the right to fair, just and reasonable terms, and protection against the unfair terms listed in section 48 and prohibited by section 51.

If any term here is found to be unfair, unreasonable or prohibited, it falls away and the rest of these terms carry on.

20Limitation of liability

We will always do our work with reasonable skill and care, and we take responsibility when we get something wrong. Subject to that, and to the extent the law allows:

• We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss — for example loss of profit, loss of opportunity, competition entries missed, or loss of a horse’s resale value.
• We are not liable for anything caused by your own act or omission, by your horse, by another attendee, by a venue, or by your failure to follow instructions or to tell us something material.
• We are not liable for loss or damage to your vehicle, trailer, tack, equipment or possessions at an event or a yard visit.
• We are not liable for interruptions, faults or data loss on the website, or for anything caused by your device, browser or internet connection.
• Where we are liable, our total liability for any claim is limited to the amount you paid us for the product, event or service that the claim relates to.

21Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against any claim, loss or cost we suffer because of your breach of these terms, your unlawful act, your misuse of our content, or harm caused by you or by your horse to another person, horse or property at one of our events or visits.

This indemnity does not apply to anything caused by our own negligence, and it does not cover any act that is unlawful on our part.

22Suspending or closing an account

You may close your account at any time by asking us. Closing it does not automatically entitle you to a refund — see the Refund & Cancellation Policy.

We may suspend or close an account, without refund, if you seriously or repeatedly break these terms — for example by sharing a login, redistributing our content, or behaving abusively toward our staff or other attendees. Where it is reasonable to do so we will warn you first and give you a chance to put it right.

If we close your account, you may ask us for a copy of your own Compass records before they are deleted.

23Things outside our control

We are not in breach of these terms, and not liable, if we are prevented or delayed by something genuinely outside our reasonable control — severe weather, flooding, fire, load-shedding or power failure, failure of the internet or of a supplier, illness or injury of the instructor, an equine disease outbreak or movement restriction, accident, strike, civil unrest, or an act of government.

If that happens we will tell you as soon as we can, and we will reschedule, credit or refund you in line with our Refund & Cancellation Policy.

24Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as our business changes. The version and date at the top of the page always tell you which version applies. The terms in force when you place an order are the ones that govern that order.

If a change materially affects your rights, we will tell you before it takes effect. Continuing to use the site afterwards means you accept the new terms.

25Complaints and disputes

Talk to us first. Email horseflowacademy@gmail.com or send a WhatsApp to +27 71 611 0734 and set out what went wrong. We will acknowledge you within 3 business days and give you a considered answer within 15 business days. In our experience almost everything is solved at this stage.

If we cannot resolve it between us, you may refer the matter to a consumer court, to an accredited consumer goods and services ombud, or to the National Consumer Commission, as the Consumer Protection Act allows. Referring a dispute does not stop you going to court.

We will always try to resolve a dispute by discussion, and then by mediation, before either of us goes to court.

26Governing law

These terms, and any dispute arising from them or from anything you buy from us, are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa.

You and we consent to the jurisdiction of the Magistrate’s Court having jurisdiction over you, in terms of section 45 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act, 32 of 1944, even if the claim exceeds that court’s normal limit — which keeps disputes cheaper and quicker for both of us. Nothing stops either of us from bringing a matter before a higher court where that is appropriate, and nothing here removes your right to use the consumer protection channels in section 25.

If you are buying from outside South Africa, you may still have rights under your own local consumer law that these terms cannot remove.

27General

• Whole agreement. These terms, the Privacy Policy and the Refund & Cancellation Policy are the whole agreement between us, and replace anything said beforehand.
• Severability. If any part of these terms is found to be invalid or unenforceable, that part is removed and the rest continues to apply.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right immediately, we have not given it up.
• Transfer. You may not transfer your rights under these terms to anybody else without our written consent. We may transfer ours if the business is sold, and your rights are not reduced by that.
• Notices. We contact you at the email address on your account, and you contact us at the address in section 28. An email is treated as received on the day it is sent, unless it bounces.
• Electronic agreements. Clicking “I agree”, ticking a box or completing checkout creates a valid and binding agreement, as ECTA provides. A printed copy of an electronic record is admissible evidence.
• Headings are there to help you find things, and do not affect how these terms are read.

28How to reach us

Anything at all — a question about these terms, an order, a clinic, or your horse — just ask. A real person answers.

Helping People, Helping Horses.