Overview
Sometimes an event can't go ahead — bad weather, a venue falling through, or too few entries. Horsify gives you two different actions for that. They sit side by side in the Cancel or delete this event panel at the foot of the event's edit page, and they do very different things:
- Cancel event and tell entrants keeps the event on Horsify marked as Cancelled, takes it off the public listings, stops entries, and tells everyone who has entered by email and in-app notification. This is the right choice for a published event people have entered.
- Delete event removes the event — and every entry, payment record and document attached to it — and tells nobody. Use it for a draft nobody has seen, or a duplicate.
The most important thing to know: neither action refunds anyone. If people have paid, you refund them yourself, one registration at a time — and the cancellation email tells riders that any applicable refunds will be processed within 5–7 business days, so do it promptly. This guide walks through cancelling and the steps around it.
For help deciding whether to cancel at all — versus postponing the event by editing its date — see the Event Cancellation Guide.
Who Can Cancel or Delete an Event
- Organiser Admin and Organiser Contributor — for the organisation that owns the event.
- Horsify admins — any event.
You need to be signed in with an organiser role for the organisation that owns the event. Events that came into Horsify as external listings (a club calendar feed, the flyer scanner, or Import from Nominate) can only be cancelled or deleted by Horsify support.
Before You Cancel: Refund and Check Your Entrant List
Horsify tells your entrants the event is off, but it does not move any money, so plan these two steps yourself:
- Refund paid entrants. There is no bulk "refund everyone" action tied to cancelling. Open each paid registration and issue the refund from there. Do it before you cancel, or straight after — the email riders receive says refunds will follow within 5–7 business days.
- Check who will hear. The cancellation email goes to confirmed entries, and the in-app notification to every entrant with a Horsify account. Riders you entered by hand without an email address, and anyone who has only watched the event, hear nothing — contact them yourself.
The event, its entries and its payment records all stay after you cancel, so you can still see who paid what.
How to Cancel an Event
- Sign in and open the event's page, then choose Edit event (or open the event from your Organiser Dashboard).
- Scroll to the foot of the edit page, to the Cancel or delete this event panel. It offers Cancel event and tell entrants only while the event is published; a draft nobody has entered offers Delete event alone.
- Choose Cancel event and tell entrants.
- A Cancel this event? dialog explains that the event will be marked as cancelled, that everyone who has entered will be emailed and notified, and that refunds are not automatic. Choose Cancel the event to go ahead, or Keep the event to back out.
Once you confirm, the banner at the top of the edit page turns amber and reads Cancelled, a confirmation says entrants have been told, and the emails and notifications go out in the background.
What Cancelling Does — and Doesn't Do
It does:
- Mark the event Cancelled, take it off the public event listings and club-site pages, and stop new entries. Anyone who opens an old link to the event page sees that it has been cancelled by the organiser.
- Email every confirmed entrant — the message is headed Event Cancelled with your event's name, says their registration has been cancelled, and says any applicable refunds will be processed within 5–7 business days.
- Send an in-app notification to every entrant with a Horsify account.
- Keep the event on your dashboard and edit page, with its entries and payment records, for your records and for processing refunds.
It does not:
- Refund anyone. All refunds are manual, per registration.
- Tell riders who are only watching the event, or entrants whose entry has no email address.
- Delete anything.
Deleting an Event Instead
Delete event is for events that should never have existed — a duplicate, a test, a draft you have abandoned. The Delete this event? dialog names the event and warns that every entry, payment record and document attached to it will be removed and that nobody is notified. On a published event it adds a warning to cancel instead, so entrants are told and can be refunded first. Choose Keep event to back out or Delete event to go ahead; afterwards you are returned to your Organiser Dashboard.
Deleting cannot be undone from within Horsify.
Issuing Refunds
Refunds are made per registration:
- Go to your event's registrations and open a registration that has paid.
- Use the refund option on that registration to return the amount to the entrant's original payment method.
- Repeat for each paid entrant.
Refunds go back to the card or account the entrant used and typically take a few business days to appear on their statement.
After You've Cancelled
- Follow up with anyone Horsify couldn't reach — watchers, and entrants with no email on their entry — so everyone knows the event is off and their refund is on the way.
- Send your own message through Communications if you want to explain why, or what happens next. Horsify's email only says the event is cancelled.
- Update your own channels — remove the event from social media and any external listings, and let sponsors know if relevant.
- Keep your records. Your payment and refund history remains available for your accounting.
Choosing a Refund Amount
Cancelling doesn't set a refund policy for you — you decide how much to return and process it manually. As a guide:
- Full refund is the norm when you cancel an event for reasons outside your entrants' control (weather, venue, too few entries, an organiser emergency).
- Partial refund may be appropriate where your terms and conditions allow you to retain costs already incurred — but be clear and fair.
Under Australian Consumer Law, if you cancel an event that entrants paid for, they are generally entitled to a refund. Make sure your event's terms and conditions set out your cancellation and refund policy up front, and keep records of the refunds you issue (including any GST component) for your accounting.
Common Issues
I don't see the Cancel event button
- It only appears while the event is published. A draft nobody has entered offers Delete event alone.
- Make sure you're signed in with an organiser account for this organisation. If you still can't see the panel, ask your organisation admin.
An entrant says they haven't received their refund
- Refunds are processed by you, per registration — check that you completed the refund for that entrant.
- Once issued, refunds can take a few business days to reach the entrant's account. Ask them to check with their bank if it's been longer.
I cancelled by mistake
- The edit page still offers Publish event on a cancelled event. Publishing makes it live again and sends every confirmed entrant a notice to check the date, venue and details.
- Cancelling does not remove entries, so riders you have already refunded will still be on the entry list. Sort that out with them directly, or contact support.
Related Features
- Event Cancellation Guide — cancel, delete or postpone, and what happens to your data
- Edit Events — change the date or details instead of cancelling
- View Registrations — see who's entered and issue refunds
- Payment Dashboard — track payments and refunds
Support
Need help with a cancellation? Email support@horsify.com.au or use the in-app chat. For an urgent, same-day cancellation, get in touch with support so they can help.\n\n---\n\nSource: wiki/features/CANCEL_EVENTS.md \nLast synced: 2026-09-07 11:46:30 UTC