This Privacy Policy explains how Menden Ridge Equestrian LLC ("Menden Equestrian," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and protects information from visitors and customers of mendenequestrian.com, including the Safe Horse Initiative ("SHI") subscription service.

This policy applies to all visitors, subscribers, sponsors, and inquiry contacts.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

When you interact with our services, we collect information you give us directly, including:

Account information: name, email address, billing address (when subscribing or sponsoring)
Subscription information: tier selected, billing cycle, payment status
Sponsorship information: name or organization, contact details, sponsorship preferences, optional logo
Inquiry information: messages sent through our contact forms, including subject and content
Communications: emails, phone calls, or other correspondence with us

1.2 Payment Information

When you subscribe or sponsor, you provide payment information (credit card or bank details) that is processed by Intuit Inc. through QuickBooks Payments. We do not store your full payment card numbers on our servers. We retain only:

Your QuickBooks customer ID (a reference to your record in QuickBooks)
Last four digits of the card on file (for your reference)
Card expiration date
Billing address

Full card data is held by QuickBooks Payments, which is PCI-DSS certified.

1.3 Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our website, we automatically collect:

Usage data: pages visited, time on site, referring URL, navigation paths
Device information: browser type, operating system, screen resolution, IP address
Cookies and similar technologies: session cookies for authentication, analytics cookies (Google Analytics), preference cookies

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site. Google Analytics may set cookies and collect additional data subject to Google's privacy practices.

1.4 Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from:

QuickBooks: payment status, invoice history, transaction records
Email service providers: delivery status, bounce notifications, unsubscribe events
Authentication systems: login activity for security monitoring

2. How We Use Information

We use information collected to:

Provide subscription and sponsorship services
Process payments and manage subscriptions
Authenticate you and protect against unauthorized access
Send you transactional emails (magic links, payment receipts, subscription notifications)
Send you optional communications (program updates, content notifications) that you can unsubscribe from
Personalize your experience based on subscription tier
Respond to inquiries and provide customer support
Monitor service usage and improve performance
Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service
Protect the rights, property, and safety of Menden Equestrian, our subscribers, and others

We do not sell your personal information.

3. How We Share Information

We share information only as described below.

3.1 Service Providers

We share information with third-party service providers who help us operate the service:

Intuit (QuickBooks Payments): payment processing
Resend: transactional and notification email delivery
Vercel: website and application hosting
Neon: database hosting (Postgres)
Google (Workspace, Analytics): email infrastructure, website analytics
YouTube (Google): video content delivery

These providers have access to information only as needed to perform their services and are obligated to protect it.

3.2 Legal Requirements

We may disclose information if required by law, subpoena, court order, or government request, or if we believe disclosure is necessary to:

Comply with legal obligations
Protect our rights, property, or safety, or that of others
Investigate or prevent fraud, security issues, or unlawful activity
Enforce our Terms of Service

3.3 Business Transfers

If Menden Equestrian is involved in a merger, acquisition, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, customer information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify affected customers if such a transfer occurs.

3.4 With Your Consent

We may share information for purposes you specifically authorize.

4. Subscriber Content and Recognition

4.1 Sponsor Recognition

If you sponsor a horse, your name (or organization name) will be displayed publicly on the relevant horse's profile and in associated content as part of the sponsorship recognition. You can request modification or removal of this recognition by emailing info@mendenequestrian.com.

4.2 Subscriber Anonymity

Subscriber identities (those who pay for content access) are not publicly displayed. Internal admin can see subscriber lists, but subscriber identities are not shared publicly.

4.3 Communications and Comments

If you submit feedback, testimonials, or other content to us, we may use that content in marketing materials with your name or initials. We will obtain your consent before using identifiable content in public marketing.

5. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide the service and comply with legal obligations:

Active subscribers: information retained throughout subscription
Cancelled subscribers: account information retained for 7 years to support legal, tax, and accounting requirements
Sponsorship records: retained indefinitely for historical record of horse sponsorships
Inquiry records: retained for 2 years
Anonymized analytics: retained indefinitely

You may request deletion of your account information at any time (see Section 7).

6. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information:

Encryption in transit (HTTPS) for all web traffic
Authentication via passwordless magic links (no passwords stored)
Access controls limiting who on our team can see customer data
Vetted third-party providers with security certifications
Database hosted with Neon (encrypted at rest)
Regular security reviews of our application code

No system is perfectly secure. We cannot guarantee that your information will never be accessed by unauthorized parties. If a security incident occurs that affects your information, we will notify affected users in accordance with applicable law.

You are responsible for protecting your email account, since SHI uses email-based authentication.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights regarding your personal information:

Access: request a copy of information we hold about you
Correction: request correction of inaccurate information
Deletion: request deletion of your account and associated information
Portability: request a copy of your information in a structured format
Objection: object to certain processing of your information
Withdrawal of consent: withdraw consent for optional communications

To exercise any of these rights, email info@mendenequestrian.com. We will respond within 30 days. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

Some information may need to be retained even after a deletion request, to comply with legal, tax, or accounting obligations.

8. California, Virginia, and Other State-Specific Rights

Some U.S. states (California, Virginia, Connecticut, Colorado, Utah, and others) provide additional rights regarding personal information. If you are a resident of such a state, you may have additional rights including the right to opt out of "sales" or "sharing" of personal information.

We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Our use of Google Analytics may be considered "sharing" under some interpretations. To opt out, you can install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on, or email info@mendenequestrian.com to request your data not be processed by analytics tools.

9. International Visitors

SHI services are operated from the United States. If you access our services from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. By using SHI, you consent to this transfer.

We do not specifically target users outside the U.S. and have not built compliance with non-U.S. privacy frameworks (GDPR, etc.) into our service. International visitors should consider this before subscribing.

10. Children's Privacy

SHI is not intended for and does not knowingly collect information from children under 18. Subscribers must be at least 18 years old. If we learn that we have collected information from a child under 18, we will delete it promptly.

11. Cookies

We use cookies for the following purposes:

Essential cookies: authentication session, security tokens (cannot be disabled if you want to use the service)
Analytics cookies: Google Analytics tracking
Preference cookies: remembering your choices on the site

You can manage cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies will prevent you from signing in or using subscriber features.

12. Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party sites (YouTube, social media, payment processors). This Privacy Policy does not apply to those sites. Please review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we will notify subscribers by email.

Continued use of SHI after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

14. Contact Us

For questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your information:

Menden Ridge Equestrian LLC 707 Paddock Club Pkwy Aiken, SC 29803 info@mendenequestrian.com

For subscription-specific or billing inquiries: subscribe@mendenequestrian.com