Equine Law Blog
After you’ve devoted considerable time and expense to developing a good contract for your equine transaction, the last thing you can afford is for the other party to claim that your contract was somehow changed. Disputes have arisen when parties to contracts claim the contract was canceled through a verbal agreement or somehow replaced by a claimed verbal understanding.
The right contract language can help avoid disputes or reduce your expense if a dispute should arise. Details can separate marginal contracts from effective ones. Details can also help prevent legal disputes. One detail to consider is alternative ways to resolve disputes.
Resolving legal disputes through the court system can be time-consuming and costly. Alternative methods of resolving disputes, whether through arbitration or mediation, have become popular because they are generally considered quicker and cheaper than the court system. Once parties have become embroiled in a legal dispute, it is usually too late to find them agreeing on anything – much less agreeing to settle their differences through arbitration or mediation. Contracts, however, can plan ahead to protect the right to resolve certain matters through these methods.
The right contract language can help avoid disputes or reduce your expense if a dispute should arise. Details can separate marginal contracts from effective ones. Details can also help prevent legal disputes. One detail to consider in equine contracts is attention to certain laws that could impact the contract or the rights of the parties.
Examples of some contract provisions affected by state law are:
As of April 2012, 46 states (all but California, New York, Nevada, and Maryland) have passed laws that are designed to limit or control liability involving equines and equine activities. In many states, these laws have created an important fine point for horse-related contracts. Several of the laws require special language in certain equine-related contracts or releases.
The state-by-state requirements, based on equine activity liability law differences, can vary considerably. For example, Ohio’s law requires a statement of inherent risks in certain contracts:
We occasionally receive calls from horse buyers who suspect that the horse delivered to them was not the horse they thought they bought. The problem is, almost all of these buyers had no contract and no clear identification of the horse.
Everyone benefits if the contract specifies the horse involved. To help avoid disputes, an equine-related contract can specify the horse's:
