1. HJC Code of Ethics
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A code of ethics is a set of guidelines and
values which dictate how our staff and vol-
unteers handle situations (human and
equine), teach students and work together.
As we are working with clients and horses
we hold these core principles at heart.
HJC is more than just a place. We are a
feeling and a sense of home for our cli-
ents. Embodying our core principles and
making them your own will lead everyone
to success.
“Kids don’t learn from peo-
ple they don’t like.”
– Rita Pierson
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2. 1. EDUCATION: our job is to teach. Sometimes the lessons
which need to be taught are not always the lessons a stu-
dent (or parent) wants to learn. Teach them anyway. There
is opportunity to learn from every experience, facilitate
learning for parent, student, horse and entourage. Never
stop learning: learn from your students and horses and
seek outside learning opportunities for yourself. You will
stay fresh and eager the more you push yourself to learn,
the minute you think you know it all, quit - you are no
longer HJC material.
“Aging? Ballooning? Grieving? The answer is always the same and it always
works. Teach. Because in the end students are what matter.” - Susan Rich-
ards from Chosen Forever
2. INTEGRITY: always do right by the horse and the client.
By practicing integrity you will always do right by HJC and
yourself as well.
3. SAFETY: always act with safety of self, horse and others
at heart. If unsure what to do in any situation (i.e. cancel-
ling lessons for weather) ask yourself: if an accident were
to occur would you feel you could have done something to
prevent it? To feel safe is more than feeling physically safe
from harm. Emotional safety is equally important, take
steps to ensure the emotional safety of clients by refrain-
ing from gossip, judgement and destructive criticism (at
HJC or online). A horse’s emotional wellbeing ensures the
physical safety of our clients, horses should always be
monitored for signs of stress and not worked more than
twice a day, five times a week. Our horses need to be con-
sidered equally important to our participants. The better
you care for and understand them the safer our clients will
be.
Milton Friedman
said, "the only
entities who can
have responsibilities
are individuals ... A
business cannot
have
responsibilities.” At
HJC we challenge
this statement. We
stand together as a
group of individuals
and as a business,
together we are
responsible for each
other. This is how we
will change the
world.
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3. 4. HONESTY: always tell the truth with kindness. Truths are
not always easy to hear, especially when negative. Re-
member, our job is to teach, find a way to tell the truth
with integrity and to educate. Difficult conversations are a
part of the territory. Put what is best for the client and the
horse ahead of the business decision, for example:
Q: “Is my child ready to own a horse?”
A: “Honestly? In my opinion no, not yet. Susie is showing enthusiasm and is
growing as a rider each lesson however at this time she is still a beginner.
Entering in to horse ownership is a huge family decision. You want to make
sure that everyone is ready for the responsibilities and financial commit-
ment. Little Susie is excited and loving horses right now, but how will she
feel on Christmas morning? How do you feel about her riding on her own
without supervision? If this is a goal which you would like Susie to work to-
ward we could consider her trying out some clinics or perhaps a partial
lease to ease everyone into the transition or even increasing the number of
lessons per week and see how she holds up. Ultimately, as her coach I just
don’t believe she is there yet, but she will be one day.”
5. TRUST: always follow through. The push up list is not a
threat, it is a promise to our clients. We care enough about
our clients to enforce our rules and maintain a healthy
structure. By making promises and keeping them we will
earn even the most skeptical client’s trust. Be consistent
in all you do. This is true for both horses and our clients.
“Don’t be a victim. Be busy with your horse so you stay out of trouble – oth-
erwise, trouble will come and find you. Be assertive but don’t be aggressive,
if you are aggressive you’ll make the horse flighty. The horse needs perime-
ters like anyone else. Give them guidance, support, rules. The same rules.
Don’t change the game. Don’t let them have excuses just because of their
past..........and love them.” - Buck Brannaman
6. RESPECT: accept differences of; opinion, culture and cir-
cumstance without judgement. Treat the property, the cli-
ents and the horses as you would treat your own.
Success:
To laugh often and love
much,
To win the respect of
intelligent people,
and the affection of
children,
To earn the appreciation
of honest critics,
endure the betrayal of
false friends,
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit
better,
whether by a healthy
child, a garden patch, or
a redeemed social
condition,
To know even one life
has breathed easier,
because you have lived.
This is to have
succeeded.
~Elisabeth-Anne
Anderson Stanley
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4. 7. FAILURE: is feedback. Allowing clients to fail and facilitate
a learning experience is at the heart of teaching. Rescuing
is not helping. We want our students to become independ-
ent, learning how to fail is a part of becoming a healthy in-
dividual. Support your client in a way that every failure is
feedback - more information they have gained in their jour-
ney.
8. FAMILY: treat one another as you would your family. For-
give, support, defend, challenge and love. Be your best
self for your HJC family and reap the rewards. When your
HJC family is difficult remember: we all have two things in
common, HJC and horses - build on that.
"My belief in life is that we can all get along together if we try to understand
one another... You'll meet a lot of people and have a lot of acquaintances,
but as far as having friends—they are very rare and very precious. But every
horse you ride can be your friend because you ask this of them. This is real
important to me. You can ask the horse to do your thing, but you ask him;
you offer it to him in a good way. You fix it up and let him find it. You do not
make anything happen, no more than you can make a friendship begin."
-Ray Hunt
9. ENVIRONMENT: always strive to create a stable environ-
ment where horses thrive and students feel accepted,
heard and supported. Actualize the environment you want
to be a part of and watch your students participate, grow
and excel beyond your imagination.
“Environment builds behaviour.” -Bill Strickland
10. HUMILITY: be humble. If you are wrong, say you’re sorry
and mean it. There is no place for inflated egos in the sad-
dle, at HJC or in life. Allow yourself to be wrong. Admit it.
Learn from it. Move on. If you don’t a horse or a student
will happily bring you back down to reality. Acknowledge
“Lasting change is a
series of
compromises. And
compromise is all
right, as long your
values don't
change.”
― Jane Goodall
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5. there are more than one way to do things and that your
way might not work for every student or horse. Never be
scared to ask for help when you need it. Even the experts
need help.
11. SUPPORT: always support your clients in their goals and
endeavors at HJC and away from HJC. HJC is not a com-
petitive stable, we are not preparing people for the olym-
pics, we are preparing them for life. We do not believe
horseback riding is the only part of our clients lives which
need support. Support individual goals and inspire stu-
dents to support each other. Provide them the time and en-
vironment which allows them to realize those goals. The
only goal for your students you should have are theirs. As
an employee, volunteer or client you have HJC’s full sup-
port. You are family, we are behind you.
“no hour of life is
wasted that is spent
in the saddle”
― Winston Churchill
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