Children and horses have a strong bond. Many of us developed our passion for horses when we were young children. Those who provide horse-related activities for children, such as riding instructors and camps, face unique risks because the law looks at children differently than adults.  

A boarded horse colics severely and requires emergency surgery, but the boarding stable cannot reach the owner to consent. Days earlier, the owner left for a vacation in a remote place with no phone or internet access. Despite hours of effort, the stable cannot find the horse owner. Finally, with no way of knowing whether the owner will approve costly surgery, the stable directs the veterinarian to euthanize the suffering horse.

A week later, the owner returns from vacation, only to find that her horse is gone. Then, when she submits a claim with her equine insurer, the company denies her insurance claim because the owner violated the insurance policy's condition to give the insurer timely notice of the horse's illness and death.

Although emergencies are a foreseeable part of horse ownership, the rest of this scenario could have been avoided, as this article explains.

What could go wrong? Plenty.

Equine-related contracts sometimes include a “right of first refusal” clause that restricts how a horse can be re-sold. Through these clauses, a horse buyer agrees to give the seller an opportunity to buy back the horse later under certain specified conditions. For example, these clauses sometimes provide that if the buyer (after becoming the horse owner) later receives a legitimate offer to buy the horse and is inclined to sell, the former owner must first receive the opportunity to match that purchase offer and pay within a certain time frame.

Recognizing that equine lease transactions differ, here are a few items to consider:

The answer is “no.”