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guarantee—the cost of a legal defense
can be tremendous.
Negligence
The law generally imposes a duty on
instructors to use reasonable care to
see that their students are reasonably
safe. The one who brings a case of
negligence (the “plaintiff”) claims
that the one allegedly at fault (the
“defendant”) failed to act as a reasonably
prudent person would have
under similar circumstances. The
legal standard of negligence typically
applies in states that have no equine
activity liability statute, such as California,
Maryland, Nevada, and New
York. Under a standard of negligence,
riding instructors have, over the
years, been sued for several different
things, such as improperly supervising
the student or improperly increasing
the risks in a lesson (one
California case, as an example, raised
issues of an instructor’s liability
because she allegedly set up a jumping
course deemed hazardous).
Equine Liability Acts
Equine liability acts aim to spell out
the assumption of risk by riders and
limit the liability of stables. But stables
should be aware that accidents
and injuries during a riding lesson
could potentially generate liabilities
under these acts. Forty-six states (as
of April 2006) now have some form
of an equine activity liability act on
the books. All of the laws differ. A
careful reading of these laws will
reveal that they do not permanently
end all possible liabilities in the horse
industry. (For more information on
liabilities under these statutes, see
“Who’s at Fault,” Stable Management,
June 2006.) How or if an equine
liability act applies will depend on the
particular situation.
Insurance
Insurance is one reasonable step you
can take to protect yourself against
liability. Both the stable and the
instructor should have proper liability
insurance in place—that is, liability
insurance that includes the
teaching of lessons—when an independent
riding instructor gives lessons
on the stable’s property. In some
cases, a stable’s existing liability
insurance coverage might not extend
to riding lessons on the property. If a
claim or suit is brought against the
stable arising from a lesson, the stable
runs a serious risk of having no
coverage. Stables must make sure
they are properly, and explicitly, covered
for instructional activities.
There are a few valuable steps stables
should take for liability protection,
such as:
• Purchasing the extra insurance
coverage yourself—if available—to
cover the additional risks posed by
occasional riding lessons on the prop