Equine Law Blog

• If someone is injured while riding or handling the horse in a lesson, the owner is at risk of being sued.
• Even if the boarding stable and the riding instructor use releases of liability (where allowed by law), chances are good that the documents will not include language protecting the horse owner.
• Even if the stable and the riding instructor have policies of liability insurance, these policies may not protect the horse owner.

Tips for Avoiding Liability

When their privately-owned horses are used in a stable’s lesson program, horse owners can consider the following to reduce their risks of liability:

Buy Your Own Liability Insurance. 

Consider purchasing a policy of Personal Horse Owner's Liability Insurance (some insurers may call it “Private Horse Owner’s Liability Insurance”).  This insurance protects the horse owner (and possibly others the owner may designate, as well) in the event that someone else is hurt while riding or near the horse.  Of course, in the application process you would notify the insurer that the horse is being used in a stable’s lesson program.

Get Included in the Stable’s Liability Insurance. 

Consider asking the stable and equine professional to name you, the horse owner, as an “additional named insured” in their commercial and/or professional liability insurance policies.  Make sure their coverage was issued by a reputable insurance company, with policy limits acceptable to you, and that the policy will specifically cover the activities in which your horse will be used.  (Also, be careful – those listed as additional insureds under a policy usually cannot make claims of their own against the policy; discuss this with the insurance agent.)

Insist that the Stable and Equine Professional Use an Acceptable Liability Release Document (Where Allowed by Law) that Specifically Protects You. 

Ask the stable and instructor to specifically include you in the section of the release where the signer agrees not to sue certain listed people and entities.

Abandon the Arrangement. 

Horse owners who are unwilling or unable to follow any of these suggestions are taking their chances.  For them, the best option might be to decline the arrangement.