Equine Law Blog

Liability

When you take in even one boarder for income, you are considered a business in the eyes of the law. As a business, the law looks at you differently.

What if, for example, a boarder slips and falls on the property and blames you for having hazardous conditions? The legal burdens on boarding stables are far more rigorous than back yard horse facilities. Homeowners are typically required to warn visitors of unsafe conditions of which they are aware. Businesses, by comparison, are typically required to make reasonable inspections to check for unsafe conditions and then to warn visitors (or remove the hazard). With the different liability standards come greater liability risks for businesses.

Insurance

Before undertaking a boarding arrangement, contact a knowledgeable insurance agent and reassess your coverage. Owners of non-commercial horse facilities are typically insured through a policy of homeowner’s or farmowner’s liability insurance. These policies are rarely designed to cover business activities and often have a “business pursuits” exclusion that prevents coverage for claims arising from business operations.

In a case from Indiana last year, a homeowner leased out her property for a horse boarding stable but nobody purchased commercial liability insurance coverage. While boarding activities took place on the property, only a basic homeowner’s liability insurance policy was in place. When a customer was injured on the premises and sued, the homeowner’s insurance company asked the court to declare that its policy provided no coverage because of its “business pursuits” exclusion. The insurer won, and an appellate court agreed. This left a well-intentioned homeowner with no insurance coverage for a serious personal injury case.

Zoning

Your local zoning regulations and ordinances might prevent you from operating a boarding facility on the property, even a small one.

If you have any questions about starting or operating a boarding facility, please let me know.