Terms & Conditions

Bookings & Payments

All bookings via our online system should be treated as provisional until you receive confirmation from us via email. To secure your booking a non-refundable deposit of 30% (or full payment) of the cost of your stay is required. Bookings must be paid in full 8 weeks before your stay. If your booking is less than 8 weeks from the date of your stay the full cost of your stay is required.

Loose Reins only accepts bookings from persons over 18 years of age.

When you submit a booking via our online reservation system you will receive an automatically generated booking summary by email to the email address you provided. This automated email does not form a contract between you and Loose Reins. A contract will be formed when Loose Reins sends you a booking confirmation letter via email or post.

If the balance is not paid by the due date Loose Reins reserves the right to re-let your accommodation and retain the deposit.

The prices featured on the website are not binding. Loose Reins reserves the right to modify these prices. The price stated on the confirmation invoice is binding.

Loose Reins reserves the right, at all times, without statement of reasons, to refuse or cancel a booking.

Cancellations & Refunds

We strongly recommend that you have appropriate holiday insurance cover in place and that you check the terms and conditions of your insurance to make sure it provides the cover you need.

If you cancel within 8 weeks of your arrival date, we will endeavour to re-let your accommodation. If we are able to do so without reducing the price, we will refund any monies paid for accommodation less your deposit. If we are able to do so with a price reduction, we will refund any monies paid for accommodation less your deposit and less the price reduction. If we are unable to re-let your accommodation, regretfully we will be unable to refund any monies paid.

Should you cancel prior to 8 weeks of your arrival date, we will refund any monies paid less your deposit or, if it is feasible for us to do so, reschedule your stay for another date. An administration fee of £50 will be charged in this instance.

In the unlikely event that we need to cancel your holiday to perform essential maintenance, we will do our best to offer you a suitable alternative; this might be alternative dates or alternative accommodation at Loose Reins. If we’re unable to offer a suitable alternative or you don’t accept the alternative we offer, your booking will be deemed cancelled and we will refund you the total amount you’ve paid us for the booking. We will not be responsible for any other losses you incur linked to that change or cancellation.

If it becomes impossible to provide your holiday for the dates booked due to unforeseen events beyond our reasonable control, such as government instruction to prevent the spread of a disease outbreak, we’ll do our best to offer you suitable alternative dates. If you don’t accept any of the alternatives, your booking will be deemed cancelled. Please contact us for the next steps.

Arrival & Departure Times

Please arrive on your specified arrival date no earlier than 5pm. We operate a virtual check-in process and will send instructions nearer the time. Part of Loose Reins’ beauty is that it is traffic free and you will find luggage trolleys in the guest car park. If you have mobility considerations and require help transferring your luggage to your accommodation, we will be glad to help – just let us know in advance.

We ask that you please vacate your accommodation by 9.30am on your specified departure day.

These arrival and departure times enable us to thoroughly clean your accommodation and allow for enhancements we’ve introduced since the pandemic. There’s a lot for us to accomplish in a short time and we ask that you leave your accommodation tidy and place your rubbish and recycling in your bins.

To help keep you and our team safe, we have introduced remote payment for purchases from our honesty shop. We will let you know at the end of your stay what your total spend is. Please settle your bill promptly by bank transfer or call us to pay by bank card.

Group Bookings

If you’re looking for an exceptional venue for a large family get together or to celebrate a special occasion, Loose Reins can be booked for exclusive use. We’ll take care to understand your needs and work with you to ensure everything is perfect. Call or drop us an email to ask about your dates and we’ll get the ball rolling.

For smaller groups, please get in touch with us to chat through what you are looking for. Loose Reins is a place for people to escape life in the fast lane and enjoy some tranquility. As you’d be sharing Loose Reins with other guests, if you want to party and pump up the volume we probably aren’t the best match. But if you are looking to connect with nature, or recharge in a peaceful part of heaven on earth, you’ve found the perfect place and we’d love to see you!

Noise

It’s important to us that all our guests enjoy a peaceful, relaxing stay with us. Loose Reins is in a quiet, remote location in the countryside and guests choose to stay with us because they are seeking to relax and unwind. To keep this peaceful tranquility, we do not allow any music or radios outside of the cabins or lodges. There may well be young children sleeping so we ask that you are aware of how much noise your party are making around the camp fires at night. It would also be greatly appreciated if parents of young children can try and let the adults sleep in in the morning without unleashing the children to the great outdoors until after 8.00am!

By 9.30pm please could children play quietly inside their accommodation and not run around outside. And after 10.30pm the only sounds we’d love you to hear are the owls hooting in the woods, the sound of our sheep grazing contentedly in the fields and the low murmuring of our guests enjoying some tranquil star gazing. If anyone wants to karaoke around the camp fire at 2am, then Loose Reins isn’t the right site for you!

In exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to ask a party to leave if there is repeated noise and respectful requests to help keep things tranquil are ignored. This would mean that the terms of our contract with you will have been breached so there would be no refund. We are extremely happy to say that in all the years we have been open, this has never happened and we warmly thank all our guests for being considerate to each other!

Smoking

Smoking is not permitted at any time within the cabins, lodges or on the verandahs. We have a strict no smoking policy around the horses and barn and would be grateful if you would respect this rule.

Candles & Fires

Our fire pits are pegged to the ground a safe distance from your cabin or lodge. Please do not move them and please do not leave fires unattended. Paraffin lamps are not permitted inside the cabins or lodges, but candles may be used on the verandahs in the holders provided. Please extinguish candles and do not leave them lit unattended.

Logs & Campfire Wood

We provide you with sufficient seasoned split logs and kindling for normal usage of the wood burning stove. You can purchase extra wood and kindling from our honesty shop if you need any extra or wish to burn logs on your fire pit. Please do not take wood or twigs from the surrounding forest. As it is unseasoned it causes damage to our wood burning stoves and will soon contravene new government rules on wood burners.

We sell locally made Dorset charcoal in our honesty shop which works really well on the BBQs. It lights easily, burns well and will help you produce the perfect outdoor meal, especially when used to cook one of our wonderful locally produced BBQ packs!

Security Deposits

We reserve the right to apply a security / damage / cleaning deposit of £250 per lodge or cabin, for instance for group bookings (i.e. an adults only booking of three people or more) or if you are bringing a puppy. This will be refunded if there are no damage or breakages or extra cleaning required.

Cleaning, Breakages & Damage

Please leave your accommodation tidy and let us know if anything gets broken so we can replace it for our next guest. We will only charge for replacements in exceptional circumstances, as we expect a degree of wear and tear. If the damage is directly attributable to the guest, then we reserve the right to request payment to make good the damage.

All reasonable cleaning is included as part of your stay. If additional cleaning is required, including washing up, additional cleaning of the interior or fixtures and fittings then Loose Reins reserves the right to charge for this at £15 per hour. Loose Reins reserves the right to deduct this payment from a security deposit (if paid) or to send an invoice following your stay.

General Safety / Responsibility for Children & Dogs

You will be staying at a farm with animals and potentially dangerous farm equipment, amongst other hazards. Also, please be aware that some of the guest equipment, including the campfire bowls and wood-burning stoves, may be dangerous if misused. Loose Reins is not responsible for accidents (to the greatest extent permitted by law). Children must be supervised at all times. We recommend that you take out travel insurance that includes cover for accidents and for your stay being terminated early.

Children must be supervised at all times near any animals at Loose Reins. For the safety of guests and the Loose Reins animals, please never enter the barn unless accompanied by a member of the Loose Reins team. It is our policy to never hand feed our horses so they do not become pushy or aggressive around people. In addition, they are all on carefully managed diets and it is not uncommon for chunks of food to cause choking which can be fatal. We appreciate your co-operation by never offering the horses or other livestock food during your stay.

Please keep your campfires within the designated areas and at a minimum of 4 meters from your accommodation.

You will be sharing Loose Reins with a variety of animals. Our livestock are gentle and kept in secure paddocks but it’s important for their wellbeing to respect their quiet space and all animals can be unpredictable, particularly if startled. For your safety and the wellbeing of all the animals, never enter any paddocks or pens unless invited by a member of the Loose Reins team. Please note that everyday animal husbandry will be going on around you at various times of the day.

We aim for your visit to be peaceful and your privacy is important to us. We always do our best to carry out maintenance activities on change over days but in exceptional circumstances we reserve the right to carry out maintenance work during your stay without you being entitled to any compensation.

Whilst we are in a safe and peaceful area, please never leave valuables unattended including in your lodge or cabin. Please ensure that your home or holiday insurance covers any belongings you bring with you on holiday.

Please make sure that your dog is kept on a lead at all times whilst on the site and under no circumstances be allowed to chase the horses or other animals or intrude on other guests. We ask that you don’t leave your dog unattended at any point, either at your accommodation or in your vehicle. Please make sure that any muddy paws are washed before allowing your dog into your cabin or lodge and we ask that dogs stay off the furniture, especially the beds. Please scoop the poop after your dog and dispose of it in the general waste bin provided at the back of your accommodation. We charge a £25 supplement per dog, and supply a bed, towel, bowls and other goodies to help ensure they have a wonderful holiday, too.

You are able to explore the beautiful forest next to Loose Reins. Please be aware that it is owned by the Forestry Commission and is not maintained by us. It is steep in parts and there may be trip hazards such as undergrowth or badger holes. We hope you will make the most of discovering this wonderful environment but please be aware that you do so at your own risk and take every care.

Our Riding Establishment Licence Number is RE0018, proprietor Marc Gibbs.

Day Visitors

Day visitors are welcome in small numbers. Please let us know in advance so that we know who to expect and in case of an emergency on site. Please ask your visitors to park in the guest car park and leave by 10pm.

Use of the facilities at Loose Reins, such as the social areas and nature trails, is the responsibility of each guest and is done so at their own risk. Loose Reins accepts no liability for theft, loss or damage that may arise from or during a stay at Loose Reins. Please note that whilst the cabins are lockable the lodges are canvas and therefore cannot be locked.

Whilst we are in a safe and peaceful area, please never leave valuables unattended including in your lodge or cabin.