Release of Liability Owner Rider - Horse Equine Forms
Iowa Equine Activity
Statutes
673.1
Definitions.
1. "Claim" means a claim, counterclaim, cross-claim,
complaint, or cause of action recognized by the Iowa rules of civil procedure
and brought in court on account of damage to or loss of property or on
account of personal injury or death.
2. "Domesticated animal" means an animal commonly referred
to as a bovine, swine, sheep, goat, domesticated deer, llama, poultry,
rabbit, horse, pony, mule, jenny, donkey, or hinny.
3. "Domesticated animal activity" means any of the
following:
a. Riding or driving a domesticated animal.
b. Riding as a passenger on a vehicle powered by a
domesticated animal.
c. Teaching or training a person to ride or drive a
domesticated animal or a vehicle powered by a domesticated animal.
d. Participating in an activity sponsored by a domesticated
animal activity sponsor.
e. Participating or assisting a participant in a domesticated
animal event.
f. Managing or assisting in managing a domesticated
animal in a domesticated animal event.
g. Inspecting or assisting an inspection of a domesticated
animal for the purpose of purchase.
h. Providing hoof care including, but not limited to,
horseshoeing.
i. Providing or assisting in providing veterinary care
to a domesticated animal.
j. Boarding or keeping a domesticated animal, by the
owner of the domesticated animal or on behalf of another person.
k. Loading, hauling, or transporting a domesticated
animal.
l. Breeding domesticated animals.
m. Participating in racing.
n. Showing or displaying a domesticated animal.
4. "Domesticated animal activity sponsor" means a person
who owns, organizes, manages, or provides facilities for a domesticated
animal activity, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
a. Clubs involved in riding, hunting, competing,
or performing.
b. Youth clubs, including 4-H clubs.
c. Educational institutions.
d. Owners, operators, instructors, and promoters of
a domesticated animal event or domesticated animal facility, including,
but not limited to, stables, boarding facilities, clubhouses, rides, fairs,
and arenas.
e. Breeding farms.
f. Training farms.
5. "Domesticated animal event" means an event in which
a domesticated animal activity occurs, including, but not limited to, any
of the following:
a. A fair.
b. A rodeo.
c. An exposition.
d. A show.
e. A competition.
f. A 4-H event.
g. A sporting event.
h. An event involving driving, pulling, or cutting.
i. Hunting.
j. An equine event or discipline including, but not
limited to, dressage, a hunter or jumper show, polo, steeplechasing, English
or western performance riding, a western game, or trail riding.
6. "Domesticated animal professional" means a person who
receives compensation for engaging in a domesticated animal activity by
doing one of the following:
a. Instructing a participant.
b. Renting the use of a domesticated animal to a participant
for the purposes of riding, driving, or being a passenger on a domesticated
animal or a vehicle powered by a domesticated animal.
c. Renting equipment or tack to a participant.
7. "Inherent risks of a domesticated animal activity"
means a danger or condition which is an integral part of a domesticated
animal activity, including, but not limited to, the following:
a. The propensity of a domesticated animal
to behave in a manner that is reasonably foreseeable to result in damages
to property, or injury or death to a person.
b. Risks generally associated with an activity which
may include injuries caused by bucking, biting, stumbling, rearing, trampling,
scratching, pecking, falling, kicking, or butting.
c. The unpredictable reaction by a domesticated animal
to unfamiliar conditions, including, but not limited to, a sudden movement;
loud noise; an unfamiliar environment; or the introduction of unfamiliar
persons, animals, or objects.
d. A collision by the domesticated animal with an object
or animal.
e. The failure of a participant to exercise reasonable
care, take adequate precautions, or use adequate control when engaging
in the activity, including failing to maintain reasonable control or failing
to act in a manner consistent with the person's abilities.
8. "Participant" means a person who engages in a domesticated
animal activity, regardless of whether the person receives compensation.
9. "Spectator" means a person who is in the vicinity
of a domesticated animal activity, but who is not a participant.
673.2
Liability.
A person, including a domesticated animal professional, domesticated
animal activity sponsor, the owner of the domesticated animal, or a person
exhibiting the domesticated animal, is not liable for the damages, injury,
or death suffered by a participant or spectator resulting from the inherent
risks of a domesticated animal activity. This section shall not apply to
the extent that the claim for damages, injury, or death is caused by any
of the following:
1. An act committed intentionally, recklessly, or while under
the influence of an alcoholic beverage or other drug or a combination of
such substances which causes damages, injury, or death.
2. The use of equipment or tack used in the domesticated animal
activity which the defendant provided to a participant, if the defendant
knew or reasonably should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty
or defective.
3. The failure to notify a participant of a dangerous latent
condition on real property in which the defendant holds an interest, which
is known or should have been known. The notice may be made by posting a
clearly visible warning sign on the property.
4. A domesticated animal activity which occurs in a place
designated or intended by an animal activity sponsor as a place for persons
who are not participants to be present.
5. A domesticated animal activity which causes damages, injury,
or death to a spectator who is in a place where a reasonable person who
is alert to inherent risks of domesticated animal activities would not
expect a domesticated animal activity to occur.
673.3
Notice required.
A domesticated animal professional shall post and maintain a sign
on real property in which the professional holds an interest, if the professional
conducts domesticated animal activities on the property. The location of
the sign may be near or on a stable, corral, or arena owned or controlled
by the domesticated animal professional. The sign must be clearly visible
to a participant. This section does not require a sign to be posted on
a domesticated animal or a vehicle powered by a domesticated animal. The
notice shall appear in black letters a minimum of one inch high and in
the following form:
WARNING
UNDER IOWA LAW, A DOMESTICATED ANIMAL PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE
FOR DAMAGES SUFFERED BY, AN INJURY TO, OR THE DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT RESULTING
FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF DOMESTICATED ANIMAL ACTIVITIES, PURSUANT TO
IOWA CODE CHAPTER 673. YOU ARE ASSUMING INHERENT RISKS OF PARTICIPATING
IN THIS DOMESTICATED ANIMAL ACTIVITY.
If a written contract is executed between a domesticated animal
professional and a participant involving domesticated animal activities,
the contract shall contain the same notice in clearly readable print. In
addition, the contract shall include the following disclaimer:
A number of inherent risks are associated with a domesticated animal
activity. A domesticated animal may behave in a manner that results in
damages to property or an injury or death to a person. Risks associated
with the activity may include injuries caused by bucking, biting, stumbling,
rearing, trampling, scratching, pecking, falling, or butting.
The domesticated animal may react unpredictably to conditions, including,
but not limited to, a sudden movement, loud noise, an unfamiliar environment,
or the introduction of unfamiliar persons, animals, or objects.
The domesticated animal may also react in a dangerous manner when
a condition or treatment is considered hazardous to the welfare of the
animal; a collision occurs with an object or animal; or a participant fails
to exercise reasonable care, take adequate precautions, or use adequate
control when engaging in a domesticated animal activity, including failing
to maintain reasonable control of the animal or failing to act in a manner
consistent with the person's abilities.
