Legal Aspects of Horse Management

 

Lesson Two Quiz

 

 

  1. In which of the following situations is the equine professional most likely to be held liable?

 

a)     Big Thang takes horses on consignment for sale.  A trainer brings Big a show hunter and tells him that she needs to sell the horse quickly because he has “some soundness issues.”  Big doesn’t want to know the details because it will make the horse harder for him to sell.  One of Big’s training clients, who has hired him to find a horse for him, falls in love with the horse, who isn’t obviously lame.  Big collects a commission from the client and from the trainer, and everyone is happy (especially Big!).  That is, they are happy until two weeks later when the horse turns up dead lame with navicular.

 

b)     At your saddlery, Gosh I Can’t Believe It’s So Expensive, you sell a custom-made roping saddle to Milton Megabucks.  Milty has the worst luck – the first time he rides in the saddle, the rigging gives way and once again, he lands in the dust.  Upon close inspection, the rigging is found to be defective and the defect would not have been obvious.

 

c)      Pricey Ponies is located in a state with an equine activity statute and has complied with all notice and signage requirements.  I.B. Whiney’s cousin, Lotta Whiney, is taking a lesson on Metronome, Pricey’s most reliable pony.  While unsaddling, Metronome steps on Lotta’s foot, breaking it in two places.

 

d)     After a series of unfortunate settlements, Pay to Play has hired an equine attorney to draft a custom liability release, and it has put procedures in place to make sure that every customer signs a release. Pay to Play has permission from a neighboring ranch to ride on its land.  The land is unoccupied.  However, one August morning, the wranglers leading a ride discover that the Burning Woman Festival has moved onto the land, complete with fireworks.  One of the customer’s horses spooks at the fireworks, throwing the customer. 

 

  1. Describe what steps you will take as an equine professional to separate your business from your personal assets:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

  1. Which of the following would create liability for an equine professional boarding horses on his property?

 

a)     Pasture partially fenced in barbed wire

b)     Turnouts fenced with T-posts

c)      Stalls with rotted boards

d)     Tractor parts stored in the pasture

e)     Grain storage that would be freely accessible to a loose horse

f)       Hay improperly stored in the barn loft above the horses

g)      Dogs with a history of chasing horses

h)    Hay fed directly on the ground to horses in sand corrals

i)       All of the above

 

 

 

Please e-mail answers to: mailto:rachel@equinelegalsolutions.com