Release of Liability Owner Rider - Horse Equine Forms
Texas Equine Activity Statutes
§ 87.001
Definitions
In this chapter:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, handling, training,
driving, assisting in the medical treatment of, being a passenger on, or
assisting a participant or sponsor with an equine animal. The term includes
management of a show involving equine animals. The term does not include
being a spectator at an equine activity unless the spectator is in an unauthorized
area and in immediate proximity to the equine activity.
(2) "Equine animal" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(3) "Equine activity" means:
(A) an equine animal show, fair, competition, performance,
or parade that involves any breed of equine animal and any equine discipline,
including dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix jumping,
three-day events, combined training, driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing,
English and Western performance riding, endurance trail riding and Western
games, and hunting;
(D) riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine animal belonging
to another, without regard to whether the owner receives monetary consideration
or other thing of value for the use of the equine animal or permits a prospective
purchaser of the equine animal to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine
animal;
(E) informal equine activity, including a ride, trip, or hunt that
is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
(G) without regard to whether the participants are compensated,
rodeos and single event competitions, including team roping, calf roping,
and single steer roping.
(4) "Equine activity sponsor" means:
(A) a person or group who sponsors, organizes, or provides
the facilities for an equine activity, including equine facilities for
a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club, therapeutic riding program,
or high school or college class, program, or activity, without regard to
whether the person operates for profit; or
(B) an operator of, instructor at, or promoter for equine facilities,
including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride string, fair, or arena at which
an equine activity is held.
(5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for compensation:
(A) to instruct a participant or rent to a participant
an equine animal for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger
on the equine animal; or
(6) "Participant" means a person who engages in an equine activity,
without regard to whether the person is an amateur or professional or whether
the person pays for the activity or participates in the activity for free.
§ 87.002
Applicability of Chapter
This chapter does not apply to an activity regulated by the Texas
Racing Commission.
§ 87.003
Limitation on Liability
Except as provided by Section 87.004, any person, including an equine
activity sponsor or an equine professional, is not liable for property
damage or damages arising from the personal injury or death of a participant
if the property damage, injury, or death results from the dangers or conditions
that are an inherent risk of equine activity, including:
(1) the propensity of an equine animal to behave in ways that may
result in personal injury or death to a person on or around it;
(2) the unpredictability of an equine animal's reaction to sound,
a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object, person, or other animal;
(3) certain land conditions and hazards, including surface and subsurface
conditions;
(5) the potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner
that may contribute to injury to the participant or another, including
failing to maintain control over the equine animal or not acting within
the participant's ability.
§ 87.004
Exceptions to Limitation on Liability
A person, including an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional,
is liable for property damage or damages arising from the personal injury
or death caused by a participant in an equine activity if:
(1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment or tack used
in the equine activity, the person provided the equipment or tack, and
the person knew or should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty;
(2) the person provided the equine animal and the person did not
make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine the ability of the participant
to engage safely in the equine activity and determine the ability of the
participant to safely manage the equine animal, taking into account the
participant's representations of ability;
(3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous latent condition
of land for which warning signs, written notices, or verbal warnings were
not conspicuously posted or provided to the participant, and the land was
owned, leased, or otherwise under the control of the person at the time
of the injury or death and the person knew of the dangerous latent condition;
(4) the person committed an act or omission with wilful or wanton
disregard for the safety of the participant and that act or omission caused
the injury; or
§ 87.005
Warning Notice
(a) An equine professional shall post and maintain a sign that contains
the warning contained in Subsection (c) if the professional manages or
controls a stable, corral, or arena where the professional conducts an
equine activity. The professional must post the sign in a clearly visible
location on or near the stable, corral, or arena.
(b) An equine professional shall include the warning contained in
Subsection (c) in every written contract that the professional enters into
with a participant for professional services, instruction, or the rental
of equipment or tack or an equine animal. The warning must be included
without regard to whether the contract involves equine activities on or
off the location or site of the business of the equine professional. The
warning must be clearly readable.
(c) The warning must be as follows:
UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE),
AN EQUINE PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF A
PARTICIPANT IN EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF EQUINE
ACTIVITIES.
