Independent Contractor Agreement (Trainers & Instructors)

This Independent Contractor Agreement ("Agreement") is entered into as of [DATE] between [FACILITY NAME], located at [FACILITY ADDRESS] ("Facility"), and [CONTRACTOR NAME], of [CONTRACTOR ADDRESS] ("Contractor"), a horse trainer or riding instructor. The Facility and the Contractor agree that the Contractor will provide training and instruction services as an independent contractor, not as an employee, on the terms below.

1. Services

The Contractor will provide the following services at the Facility: [DESCRIBE SERVICES — for example, riding lessons, horse training, clinics, and coaching] for the Contractor's own clients and students. The Contractor determines the content and methods of the Contractor's instruction and training. The Facility does not direct how the Contractor performs the services and engages the Contractor only for the results the Contractor provides to the Contractor's own clients.

2. Independent Contractor Status

The parties intend and agree that the Contractor is an independent contractor and not an employee of the Facility. The parties acknowledge that the following facts, among others, reflect this status:

• The Contractor controls the Contractor's own schedule and decides when and how often to teach or train at the Facility.
• The Contractor sets the Contractor's own rates and collects payment directly from the Contractor's students and clients; the Facility does not set the Contractor's fees or collect them.
• The Contractor provides services to multiple clients and may work at other facilities; the Facility is not the Contractor's sole source of income.
• The Contractor supplies the Contractor's own instruction methods and professional expertise, and uses the Contractor's own or the students' horses and tack except as separately agreed.
• The Contractor carries the Contractor's own commercial equine liability insurance and holds the Contractor's own professional certifications and licenses.

The parties understand that a written agreement alone does not establish independent-contractor status and that the actual working relationship controls under IRS and state-law tests. Each party will conduct itself consistently with the independent-contractor relationship described here.

________ (initials) Contractor acknowledges independent-contractor status and that the facts recited above reflect the actual relationship.

3. No Employment Relationship

Because the Contractor is not an employee, the Facility will not withhold or pay income tax, Social Security, Medicare, or unemployment tax on the Contractor's earnings, and will not provide workers' compensation, health insurance, retirement, paid leave, or any other employee benefit to the Contractor. The Contractor is solely responsible for reporting and paying all federal, state, and local taxes on the Contractor's income, including self-employment tax, and for the Contractor's own benefits, licenses, and business expenses. The Facility will issue a Form 1099 as required by law. The Contractor is responsible for the Contractor's own workers' compensation coverage for any helper the Contractor engages.

4. Facility Fee

In exchange for use of the Facility to conduct the Contractor's services, the Contractor will pay the Facility [AMOUNT] per [session / month] or [PERCENT]% of fees the Contractor collects for sessions at the Facility, payable [PAYMENT TERMS] by [PAYMENT METHOD]. The Contractor bills and collects lesson and training fees directly from students and clients; the Facility neither collects those fees nor guarantees the Contractor any minimum income.