Safeguarding, safety and horse welfare

If a child or adult is in immediate danger, call 999. For an injured or distressed horse, contact a vet or the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999. Saddle-Up is not an emergency service.

• Children never have their own login; a parent or guardian manages their profile.
• Messages about a child's rides go through the guardian's account, not directly to the child.
• Centres set minimum ages for their activities, and bookings outside them are refused.
• Riding centres are responsible for their own safeguarding policies, staff DBS checks and welfare officer. Saddle-Up tracks coach DBS and first-aid expiry dates and reminds centres before they lapse.

Health, support needs and emergency contacts are shared with a centre only once a ride is booked. Horses are matched within their weight and size limits and rider level, and a horse, coach, arena or rider can never be double-booked. Incidents are recorded by the centre and cannot be edited afterwards.

Every horse has workload and rest limits, and vet, farrier and stand-down records. A horse that has reached its limit or is stood down cannot be booked. Pairings that did not work can be blocked so they are not repeated.

Speak to the riding centre's welfare lead first where you can. You can also email safeguarding@saddle-up.app about a centre, a member of staff, a message, a listing or a horse. We treat every report seriously and may suspend a listing or account while we look into it. Where appropriate we will refer concerns to the local authority, the police, or bodies such as the British Horse Society.