StableHQ website
Platform terms (draft — the final version is confirmed before you sign)
These terms are an agreement between:
- SO CRITICAL LTD, trading as StableHQ, a company registered in England and Wales under number 17488326, whose registered office is at 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ ("StableHQ", "we", "us"); and
- the riding school business named when these terms are accepted or signed (the "yard", "you").
You accept these terms when your owner account accepts them in the app, or when you sign them for the pilot (section 14). If you use StableHQ for a company or partnership, the person accepting confirms they have authority to bind it.
1. What StableHQ is
1.1 StableHQ is booking and yard-management software. It gives you a branded booking page on a StableHQ subdomain and tools to run your lessons: lesson types, sessions, horses, instructors, arenas, rider records, bookings, attendance, cancellations and refunds.
1.2 We provide the software only. We do not provide riding lessons, instruct riders, own or manage horses, or employ your staff. We are not a party to any contract between you and your customers.
2. You are the seller
2.1 You are the seller and merchant of record for every lesson and add-on booked through StableHQ. The contract for a lesson is between you and your customer.
2.2 You set your own prices. Prices you enter are the final prices customers pay and are shown including any VAT. StableHQ does not add VAT or calculate tax.
2.3 You are responsible for your own VAT and tax. That includes deciding whether your lessons are taxable, registering for VAT if required, and the wording on your receipts. You enter your legal name, address and VAT status (and VAT number, if you have one) in your settings. We show what you enter; we do not check it. We recommend your accountant confirms your receipt wording before you take live payments.
2.4 You publish your own riding terms and cancellation policy in the app. Customers accept them before they book. You are responsible for making sure they are fair and comply with consumer law. The app applies the cancellation policy you configure (for example a full refund up to 48 hours before the lesson and a partial refund after that).
2.5 Emails in your name. You authorise us to send booking confirmations and lesson reminders to your customers on your behalf. They come from a StableHQ sending address showing your yard's name, with replies going to your contact email. The app does not send automated cancellation, move or refund-update emails; you must contact affected customers yourself.
3. Payments
3.1 Payments go directly to your own Stripe account. Before taking live payments you must connect a Stripe account in your business's own legal name. Customers pay you through Stripe Checkout. We never hold your customers' money and never see or store card numbers.
3.2 Stripe's terms. Payment processing services for yards on StableHQ are provided by Stripe and are subject to the Stripe Connected Account Agreement, which includes the Stripe Terms of Service (together, the "Stripe Services Agreement"). By agreeing to these terms or continuing to operate as a yard on StableHQ, you agree to be bound by the Stripe Services Agreement, as it may be modified by Stripe from time to time. As a condition of StableHQ enabling payment processing services through Stripe, you agree to give StableHQ accurate and complete information about you and your business, and you authorise StableHQ to share it and transaction information related to your use of Stripe's payment processing services.
3.3 Stripe's own fees (card processing, disputes, payouts) are charged to you by Stripe under your Stripe agreement. They are separate from StableHQ's fees.
3.4 Payouts, bank details and identity checks are handled by Stripe. StableHQ cannot move, hold or release your payouts or balance. The only payments StableHQ starts from your Stripe account are refunds (section 4), and our fee (section 5) once it applies.
4. Refunds, cancellations and disputes
4.1 Refunds are your responsibility. You authorise StableHQ to start refunds from your Stripe account: automatically under your cancellation policy (4.2), and when your Owner or Admin issues one in the app. Refunds follow the cancellation policy that applied when the customer booked.
4.2 Automatic policy refunds. When a customer, Owner or Admin cancels within your policy, the app sends the refund automatically once its checks pass. Only Owner or Admin can issue refunds in the app; Staff cannot. Owner and Admin refunds follow the existing policy; only the Owner can override it. If the yard calls off a lesson, the Owner must arrange individual full refunds through the register, using the Owner override where the policy would retain money. Admin can cancel and refund within policy but cannot override it. There is no automatic session-wide refund or top-up of earlier partial refunds. You must contact affected customers yourself.
4.3 Keep enough funds. You must keep enough balance in your Stripe account to pay refunds. If a refund fails, you remain responsible to your customer for it; we will tell you.
4.4 Refunds made outside StableHQ. StableHQ can record Stripe refund observations, but does not automatically resolve refunds you make directly in your Stripe Dashboard or cancel the booking because of them (the place stays held). You (with StableHQ's help if needed) handle the refund and the booking by hand, using the Stripe Dashboard and the app. Attendance is recorded in the lesson register in StableHQ: authorised yard staff can check in, mark attended or absent/no-show, and clear or change a mark from 60 minutes before the lesson until the end of its yard-local day. After that, only the Owner can correct it, with a reason, through the seventh following local day. Changes are audited and do not charge or refund money. Attendance remains subject to booking eligibility: a recorded full external refund can block marking; an unattributed Stripe payment change is shown for staff to check.
4.5 Chargebacks and disputes are between you, your customer and Stripe. You respond to them in your Stripe Dashboard. If Stripe marks a payment as disputed, the app will not send a refund on it. StableHQ does not yet record dispute outcomes or change bookings because of them. You (with StableHQ's help if needed) handle the outcome, any refund and the booking by hand, using the Stripe Dashboard and the app.
5. StableHQ fees
5.1 Founding-yard offer. You receive 12 months without StableHQ platform fees from go-live (section 14). Stripe’s processing fees still apply to the yard during this period.
5.2 Platform fee. After the founding-yard fee-free period, our platform fee is 1% of each customer booking payment (plus VAT if applicable). The 1% is calculated on the customer’s total payment for lessons and add-ons, including any VAT charged by the yard. VAT on StableHQ’s fee is separate and follows section 5.3. Stripe deducts our fee from each payment as a Stripe "application fee". Stripe’s processing fees are charged to the yard by Stripe, separately from our platform fee. We will give you at least 30 days’ written notice before the platform fee starts.
5.3 VAT on our fee. Until StableHQ is VAT-registered, no VAT is charged on our fee. Once registered, we charge VAT on our 1% platform fee at the applicable rate, whatever your own VAT status. We will provide VAT invoices or statements for our fees.
5.4 Fee refunds. When a customer payment is refunded, StableHQ platform fees are refunded proportionately: a full refund returns our whole platform fee on that payment. We do not promise to return Stripe’s processing fees; those are governed by your Stripe agreement.
5.5 Changes to fees need at least 30 days’ written notice. Fee changes apply to new bookings only, never to bookings already paid.
6. Safety, riders and age
6.1 You are responsible for everything that happens at your yard, including:
- the safety of riders, staff and visitors;
- horse welfare, horse suitability for each rider, and the workload and rest limits you set in the app (StableHQ does not set welfare limits);
- instructing and supervising riders, and approving and grading riders;
- holding any licence you need to hire out horses or run a riding establishment; and
- holding suitable insurance, including public liability insurance.
6.2 The app is a tool, not a safety system. Eligibility checks (such as age, weight and grade limits) only apply the rules and information you and your customers enter. Riders' information is self-declared and we do not check it. You should make your own judgement before each lesson.
6.3 Age. Customers confirm at booking-account onboarding: "I confirm I'm 18 or over." The app records that confirmation; earlier age/guardian wording remains historical evidence. Account holders may add other adults or children. At one-time booking-account onboarding, they accept the ongoing account-holder responsibility: "If I add someone else, I confirm I have their permission, or permission from their parent or guardian where needed." The wording and version, actor, timestamp and acceptance command are recorded once per account, across yards. Existing accounts without this acceptance are asked once at their next add-rider or booking action. Historical per-rider add declarations are retained. This records an account responsibility, not proof that any particular rider consented. No guardian relationship field is collected. StableHQ does not verify anyone's age or identity. You are responsible for judging riders' and account holders' ages and whether an adult may book for a child. If you are unsure, ask for ID in person.
6.4 Your indemnity to us. You will indemnify StableHQ against any claims, losses, damages, fines and reasonable legal costs arising from:
- any lesson, riding activity or other service you provide, including injury to any person or harm to any horse;
- rider safety, horse suitability, supervision and your judgements about age, ability and eligibility;
- your prices, VAT, tax, receipts, riding terms and cancellation policy; and
- your breach of these terms or of the law, including data protection law.
This does not apply to the extent the claim is caused by our own breach of these terms or our negligence. We will tell you promptly about any such claim and let you take reasonable part in handling it.
7. Data protection
7.1 Roles.
- You are the controller of your customers' and riders' information (listed in Schedule 1).
- We are your processor for that information. We handle it only to provide StableHQ to you, on your instructions set out in these terms and given through your use of the app. Schedule 1 sets out the processing details and our processor commitments, and forms part of these terms.
- We are a controller of StableHQ account and login data (for example, a person's email address, sign-in details and security logs). One StableHQ login can be used at more than one yard, so we look after it ourselves.
- Stripe is not our sub-processor. Stripe provides payment services to you directly under your own Stripe agreement (section 3.2), and handles payment data as your processor or as an independent controller under that agreement. On your instruction, the app sends Stripe the booking and payment details it needs.
7.2 Your responsibilities. You will:
- have a lawful basis for the information you collect, and only ask customers for what you need (for example, only ask for weight and health information where you genuinely need it for safety);
- collect health information only through the app's health notes field, which requires the customer's consent tick box. Do not record health information in other notes or fields;
- publish a privacy notice to your customers in the app (we provide a template; see the yard privacy notice supplied when you sign), and give a copy to any emergency contact who asks for one;
- give app access only to staff who need it, make sure they keep the information confidential, and remove access when they leave. All your staff with access can see rider health, weight and emergency details, and those views are logged;
- deal with data requests from customers, riders (including children old enough to make their own) and emergency contacts. Where a request needs us, such as deleting data or withdrawing health consent, tell us by email and we will act on it (Schedule 1); and
- report personal data breaches to the ICO where required.
7.3 Our commitments as your processor are in Schedule 1.
7.4 Statistics. We may use anonymised, aggregated statistics (which do not identify any person or your yard) to run and improve StableHQ.
8. Your content and our software
8.1 You own your yard's content and data. You give us permission to host, copy and display it only as needed to provide StableHQ.
8.2 We own StableHQ and its software. You get a non-exclusive, non-transferable right to use it for your yard while these terms are in force. Your booking page carries a small "Powered by StableHQ" footer.
9. Acceptable use
You must not, and must make sure your staff do not:
- use StableHQ for anything unlawful, misleading or harmful;
- try to access another yard's data, or any account you are not authorised to use;
- share logins, or turn off multi-factor sign-in where it is required for your account;
- copy, resell, reverse-engineer, scrape or overload the software;
- upload malicious files or content you have no right to use; or
- use customer contact details for marketing without the customer's consent.
We may suspend access (in part or in full) if we reasonably believe you have broken this section, if there is a safety or security risk, or if the law or Stripe requires it. Where we can, we will tell you first and explain why.
10. Availability and liability
10.1 As is. StableHQ is a new service. We provide it "as is" and "as available". We will use reasonable care and skill and try to fix problems promptly, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted or error-free. There may be planned maintenance. Keep your own record of anything you cannot operate without (for example, the day's register).
10.2 Our liability cap. Our total liability to you under or in connection with these terms in any 12-month period is limited to the greater of £100 and the StableHQ fees you paid us in the 12 months before the claim.
10.3 Losses we are not liable for: loss of profit, revenue, business or goodwill, and any indirect or consequential loss.
10.4 What we do not limit. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law does not allow to be limited.
11. Ending these terms, export and deletion
11.1 Ending. After the pilot, either of us may end these terms by giving 30 days' written notice. Either of us may end them immediately by notice if the other seriously breaches them and does not fix the breach within 14 days of being asked, or becomes insolvent.
11.2 Future bookings. Before your access ends, you must either honour your customers' future paid bookings or cancel and refund them through the app.
11.3 Export. For 30 days after these terms end, you can ask us for a manually prepared copy of your customer, rider, booking and financial records.
11.4 Retention defaults. While these terms are in force, we apply these defaults to your data. You can change them (for example, on your accountant's advice) by telling us in writing:
- Financial and audit records (bookings, payments, refunds, fee and audit history) are kept for 6 years after the booking, payment or event they relate to, then deleted. Audit records show who did what and when; they must not keep copies of health notes.
- Rider personal information, including health notes (and earlier versions of them), weight and emergency contacts, is deleted 12 months after the rider's last booked lesson or 12 months after the customer's account closes, whichever comes first. The exception is the minimum the financial records above need (for example, a rider's name on a booking).
- Earlier deletion. If a customer asks for deletion sooner and you agree it is due, tell us and we will delete what the financial records do not need, within one month.
StableHQ does not yet delete data automatically. Until it does, we check for data past these periods at least every 3 months and delete it by hand.
11.5 Your data when these terms end. By the end of the export period in 11.3, tell us which you want:
- (a) delete: we delete your yard's customer and rider data, including copies; or
- (b) keep, then delete: we keep your data and apply the 11.4 periods to it, and delete each record when its period ends.
If you do not tell us, we will follow (b). Either way we may keep data where the law requires it, and our own records of the fees we charged you (as a controller). Backup copies are overwritten within the backup period confirmed in your signed agreement.
11.6 Sections 4.3, 4.5, 6.4, 7, 10, 11.4, 11.5, 13 and Schedule 1 continue after these terms end, for as long as we hold your data.
12. Changes to these terms
We may update these terms. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any change that materially affects you. If you do not agree, you may end these terms before the change takes effect. Fee changes follow section 5.
13. General
13.1 These terms (with any signed pilot details) are the whole agreement between us about StableHQ.
13.2 Neither of us may transfer these terms without the other's consent, except that we may transfer them to a company that takes over the StableHQ business, provided we tell you.
13.3 Neither of us is liable for delays caused by events outside our reasonable control.
13.4 Notices must be sent by email: to us at privacy@stablehq.co.uk, and to you at your yard owner email address.
13.5 Nobody else has rights to enforce these terms.
13.6 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction.
14. Founding-yard pilot
14.1 Founding-yard offer. All yard features and a custom website we set up for you are included. You receive 12 months without StableHQ platform fees from go-live. Stripe’s processing fees remain payable by the yard. The go-live date is recorded in the details below.
14.2 Ending the pilot. Either of us may end the pilot at any time by giving 14 days' written notice (email is fine). Section 11 (future bookings, export, deletion) applies when the pilot ends. If you continue after the 12-month founding-yard fee-free period, the platform fee in section 5 applies. We will give you the notice required by section 5 before it starts.
14.3 No live payments until signed. Live card payments will not be switched on for your yard until both of us have signed these terms and the pilot details below.
14.4 Pilot software. The pilot is an early version of StableHQ. Some features may change or be missing, and we will work with you to fix problems. Section 10 applies.
Pilot details (to be completed and signed)
| Yard legal name | the yard named in your agreement |
| Trading name | yard trading name — completed when the yard signs |
| Address | yard address — completed when the yard signs |
| VAT registered? / VAT number | yes/no — completed when the yard signs / vat number, if any — completed when the yard signs |
| Go-live date / start of founding-yard fee-free period | date — completed when the yard signs |
| StableHQ offer | All yard features and an assisted custom website; 12 months without StableHQ platform fees from go-live, then 1% of bookings; Stripe processing fees separate; no monthly subscription or extra StableHQ rider booking fees |
| Pilot notice period | 14 days, either side |
Signed for SO CRITICAL LTD (StableHQ): ______________________ Name: __________ Date: ______
Signed for the yard: ______________________ Name: __________ Position: __________ Date: ______
Schedule 1 — Processing details (UK GDPR Article 28)
This schedule applies where we process personal data as your processor (section 7.1).
1. Subject matter. Providing StableHQ booking and yard-management software to your yard.
2. Duration. While these terms are in force, and afterwards for as long as we hold your data under sections 11.3 to 11.5.
3. Nature and purpose. Hosting, storing, organising, displaying and sending your data (booking emails, and payment instructions to Stripe) so that you can take bookings, payments and refunds; manage riders and eligibility; record attendance; and contact customers. It also covers support when you ask for it or when needed to fix a problem.
4. Data subjects. Your customers (account holders), riders (including children), emergency contacts, and your owners, staff and instructors.
5. Types of data. Names, email addresses and phone numbers; riders' dates of birth, whether they are the account holder or someone else (adult or child), with historical relationship descriptions retained, experience and weight; health and support notes (special category data) with the consent record; emergency contact names and phone numbers; adult confirmations, account responsibility acceptance and historical per-rider add permission evidence, historical guardian confirmations and acceptances of documents; approval status and grades; bookings, attendance and cancellations; payment and refund amounts and references (no card numbers); staff access logs.
6. Instructions and confidentiality. We process your data only on your documented instructions (these terms and your use of the app), unless the law requires otherwise, and will tell you if we think an instruction breaks the law. Everyone at StableHQ who can access your data is bound by confidentiality.
7. Security. We keep your data secure using measures appropriate to a V1 service:
- authenticated yard staff access; management multi-factor sign-in is supported but is not required under the current pre-launch configuration;
- separation between yards;
- encrypted connections;
- logs of staff views of health, weight and emergency details; and
- support access only with a recorded reason.
Railway's published DPA states, as a general platform statement, that databases are encrypted at rest. Backups follow our hosting provider's configuration. We will tell you on request what measures we use, so you can meet your own security obligations.
8. Sub-processors. You authorise these sub-processors:
| Activity | Provider | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Hosting and database | Railway | EU West Metal, Amsterdam, Netherlands (production database, web and worker) |
| Sign-in and account security | Clerk | USA |
| Booking email delivery (once live) | Resend | USA |
We use each on its standard data protection terms, which we will check give equivalent protection to this schedule. We remain responsible to you for their performance. We will give you at least 30 days' notice of any new sub-processor. You may object, and end these terms if we cannot resolve your objection. Stripe is not a sub-processor (section 7.1).
9. International transfers. Some sub-processors handle data in the USA. Railway publishes EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum (DPA section 9 and Exhibit D). Clerk states that it is certified under the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, with EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum as a fallback. Resend incorporates EU Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum for UK transfers (DPA section 6.4). We will not transfer your data to any other country without an appropriate safeguard, and will give you details on request.
10. Assistance. Requests are handled by email by a person at privacy@stablehq.co.uk, within a reasonable time and in any case in time for you to meet legal deadlines. We will help you:
- respond to data subject requests (including deleting data, withdrawing health consent and removing earlier versions of rider details, which we do by hand);
- meet your security obligations;
- carry out any data protection impact assessment or ICO consultation; and
- deal with personal data breaches.
11. Breaches. We will tell you without undue delay, and within 48 hours of becoming aware, about any personal data breach affecting your data, with the information we have.
12. Audits. We will give you the information you reasonably need to show we meet this schedule. We will also allow audits and inspections by you, or an auditor you appoint who is bound by confidentiality. Audits are on at least 30 days' notice, no more than once a year (unless after a breach or at the ICO's request), and at your cost.
13. End of processing. When these terms end, we delete or return your data, at your choice, including copies, as set out in section 11.5, unless the law requires us to keep it.