Equine Law Blog Banner

Equine Law Blog

Surprise! You're an Equine Professional
Posted by:

You have a full-time job, or you're a student. But you also have a horse in the barn. Wouldn't it be nice to make money from the horse? What if you offered riding lessons on the weekends or did some "moonlighting" as an instructor to generate extra cash? You may think your part-time business activities are a mere hobby, but the law might say quite the opposite.

Equine Professionals

When you accept money in exchange for providing a service, such as giving riding lessons, the law may regard you as a "professional." For example, of the 47 states with an equine activity liability law (as of October 2015), several of them define "equine professional" to include people who receive “compensation” for giving riding lessons. Georgia's Equine Activity Liability Act, for example, defines an "equine professional" in this manner:

“Equine professional” means a person engaged for compensation in:

  • Instructing a participant or renting to a participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon the equine;
  • Renting equipment or tack to a participant; or
  • Examining or administering medical treatment to an equine as a veterinarian.

As can be seen, although Georgia’s law defines an "equine professional" to include people who engage in certain activities, such as lessons, "for compensation," the law nowhere requires that this "compensation" must come from full-time work. Consequently, instructors can review the applicable law(s), determine whether they include contract language and/or sign posting requirements, and evaluate whether those requirements must be followed.

Insurance

Part-time riding instructors might assume that they need no extra liability insurance because they only give a few riding lessons a week. This can be a serious mistake. Homeowner’s insurance policies almost always exclude coverage when someone makes a claim in connection with a “business pursuit.” Part-time business owners, such as riding instructors, can discuss with their insurance agents whether they need any of these types of coverages:

  • Commercial General Liability Insurance
  • Equine Professional Liability Insurance
  • Incidental business endorsement coverage

Contracts

All equine business operators can benefit from properly worded and signed contracts. Part-time riding instructors, for example, can require everyone of legal age who enters their premises to sign a well-worded liability release (where allowed by law). And, as noted above, determine whether an applicable state equine activity liability act impacts contract language.

This article does not constitute legal advice. When questions arise based on specific situations, direct them to a knowledgeable attorney.

Categories: Contracts

Authors

Categories

Recent Posts

Jump to Page

Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC Cookie Preference Center

Your Privacy

When you visit our website, we use cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences, or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. For more information about how we use Cookies, please see our Privacy Policy.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Always Active

Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. These cookies may only be disabled by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.

Functional Cookies

Always Active

Some functions of the site require remembering user choices, for example your cookie preference, or keyword search highlighting. These do not store any personal information.

Form Submissions

Always Active

When submitting your data, for example on a contact form or event registration, a cookie might be used to monitor the state of your submission across pages.

Performance Cookies

Performance cookies help us improve our website by collecting and reporting information on its usage. We access and process information from these cookies at an aggregate level.

Powered by Firmseek