Legal
Aspects of Horse Management
By
Rachel Kosmal McCart
Copyright©2004
Lesson
One
What
creates liability for equine professionals?
In
today’s “I got hurt so it must be someone else’s fault” society, it seems like there
are no limits on lawsuits. Grandmothers sue fast food chains over the
temperature of their coffee. Parents sue
video game manufacturers when their teenagers act out a violent game in real
life. It’s enough to make you avoid
business altogether, especially a business centered around
large, unpredictable animals. However,
there ARE limits to lawsuits – nearly anyone can sue for anything, but winning
is another matter!
Sooner or later, as part of your horse business, accidents will happen.
However, if you understand what causes liability, you can help limit it. In this lesson, we will explore common
situations where equine professionals are held responsible for injuries and
damages.
What
is “Negligence?”
There are many different types of negligence, but in this course, we
will only discuss what is commonly referred to as “ordinary negligence.” Black’s Law Dictionary defines “negligence”
as “the omission to do something which a reasonable man, guided by those
ordinary considerations which ordinarily regulate human affairs, would do, or
the doing of something which a reasonable and prudent man would not do.” In plain English, you are negligent if you
aren’t as careful as society would expect a reasonable person to be in the same
circumstances. If you are found to be
negligent AND your negligence causes injury or harm to another person, you will
likely be held liable. This is a key
point, as there are circumstances where you may be found negligent as an equine
professional, but your negligence didn’t cause the harm. For example, you might forget to tighten your
lesson horse’s girth before your student mounted up, but unless the loose girth
caused the injury, you would not be held liable.
There are several common fact patterns where courts find equine
professionals are negligent:
Easily Preventable Equipment Failure:
Example #1: You run a lesson program at Pricey Ponies where you provide
the ponies and the tack. The bridle on
Old Reliable, your quietest school pony, gives way, and Old Reliable runs off
bucking, dumping and injuring I. B. Whiny, his rider. Upon examination, the bridle remnants reveal
that the bridle gave way because the leather had worn through. You will likely be held liable for I. B. Whiny’s injuries.
Example #2: You run Hooves on Wheels, a cross-country hauling
business. Near
Horses with Dangerous Habits:
Example #1: You run Pay to Play,
a dude ranch. You buy Sitting Bull, a
nice, quiet Paint, for your trail string.
You originally thought that “Bully” got his name from his Native
American heritage, but over time, you notice that Bully has a habit of pulling
back occasionally when tied, but you keep him because he is so solid on the
trails. Bully is a favorite with your
customers, and on a busy summer weekend, you allow Wanna
Bee, one of your customers, to go and get Bully from his stall. She brings Bully over to the saddling area
and ties him up. Something startles
Bully and he sits down, breaking the leadrope, which
flicks into Wanna’s eye, causing blindness. You will likely be held liable for Wanna’s injury because you were aware of Bully’s dangerous
habit of pulling back when tied, that behavior caused Wanna’s
injury and you did not warn Wanna about that behavior
in advance.
Example #2: You are Next Big Thang, a trainer.
One of your clients, Eve R. Hopeful, brings you On Target, a horse with
a kicking problem, and asks you to solve that problem. When Target arrives, you put him in an empty
stall. Unfortunately for you, Target
doesn’t like Impressively Expensive, another client’s show mare who is in the
stall next door. During the night, Target kicks through the stall wall,
injuring Impressively Expensive. You
will likely be held liable for Impressively Expensive’s
injuries because you were aware of Target’s dangerous habit and did not take
adequate steps to isolate him from other horses.
Bad or No Advice/Instruction:
Example #1: You own Gosh, I Can’t
Believe It’s So Expensive, a local tack shop.
Milton Megabucks, a brand-new horse owner, strolls into Gosh. He tells you all about Count Fire, the
Arabian stallion he has just purchased. Milty also tells you that he has been having trouble
controlling Fire, and you tell him that you think he needs to show Fire who’s boss. To that
end, you sell Milty some lovely Garcia spurs with
huge rowels (and a huge markup!). Milty loves the spurs – they look great, and oh, that cowboy jingle!
One poke of the spurs later, Milty is flat on
his back in the arena dust with a concussion.
You will likely be held liable for Milty’s
injuries because you gave Milty poor advice in your
capacity as an equine professional, and that poor advice resulted in Milty’s injuries.
Example #2: You operate Birthday
Buddies, an event company that provides ponies for children’s birthday
parties. Your program includes “Helmets
Now,” a safety video that you received as a bonus for purchasing 25 safety
helmets from Safe-T-Now. Unfortunately
for you, “Helmets Now,” while it extols the virtues of a good safety helmet,
especially the type made by Safe-T-Now, doesn’t cover how to stop a runaway
pony. Your birthday celebrants are
wearing their helmets, they have boots on and you’ve told them to keep their
heels down. Suddenly, Almost Bombproof,
one of the ponies, spooks at the dancer popping out of a cake at a more mature
celebration nearby. Immediately, you
realize that you didn’t tell your young riders how to stop a runaway pony. Before you know it, Almost
has squished his rider’s leg against the arena fence. You will probably be held liable if the
rider’s attorney can show that proper instruction would have prevented the
injury.
What
is “Willful Misconduct?”
Black’s Law Dictionary defines “willful misconduct” as “conduct which is
committed with an intentional or reckless disregard for the safety of
others.” In plain English, you have
committed willful misconduct if you do something that hurts someone else and
you either do it on purpose or do it without using your head.
Example: After the Bully incident
at Pay to Play, your insurance premiums go through the roof. To offset the cost increase, Mark E. Teer, your advertising consultant, suggests that you target
celebrities in your next marketing campaign.
Your campaign works, and the first crop of celebrities arrives with an
astonishing amount of luggage. Marshall Artz, an action film star, fancies himself quite the
cowboy. However, you can tell just by
the way he’s holding the lead rope that he’s a rank greenhorn. After trying to find bunk space for the
celebrities’ personal chefs, masseurs and other entourage members, you’ve had
about enough of enormous egos, and you assign Marshall Risky Business, a horse
that you normally ride. Risky hasn’t
been out in a week, and he’s feeling frisky.
For a little extra entertainment, you make sure the rear cinch is nice
and snug. After your staff hoots “Cowboy
Up!”
Legal
Duties of Equine Professionals
As
part of their jobs, equine professionals form relationships that create a duty
to others. If they breach that duty,
they may be held liable for any resulting harm.
Here are some examples.
Professionals with care, custody and control of horses:
Equine service providers who take custody of their clients’ horses, such
as breeders, trainers, pet sitters and haulers, have a duty to provide a
certain level of care for those horses.
Example: Next Big Thang, who has dropped the “Next” and is now a big-time
trainer, leaves town for the Quarter Horse Congress. While he is gone, his staff forgets to check
the automatic waterers. Impressively Expensive, who has recovered and
is at Thang’s barn for training, happens to be in a
stall where the waterer breaks. She becomes dehydrated, colics
and requires $12,000 for colic surgery.
If the veterinary hospital finds that dehydration caused the colic, Thang will likely be held liable for her vet bill. (We will cover employer liability in a future
lesson.)
Professionals performing services on horses:
Equine service providers, such as breeders, trainers, farriers, veterinarians, chiropractors and saddle fitters,
all have a duty to perform their particular service correctly and without
causing harm.
Example: You run Studly Acres, a stallion station where you perform
collection and insemination services.
Impressively Expensive’s owners decide to
breed her to Signed, Sealed and Delivered, an imported warmblood
stallion standing at Studly Acres. While preparing Expensive for insemination,
you wrap her tail too tightly, cutting off the circulation. Poor Expensive loses her tail! You will likely be held liable for this
injury.
Professionals providing products or services to horse people:
Equine service providers who sell advice as part of their business, such
as trainers, veterinarians and tack shops, have a duty to provide their clients
with advice that is reasonable and in their clients’ best interest.
Example: As Big Thang, you now have a lot of clients who want you to sell
their horses for them. Your clients make
money and you make a 25% commission, so everyone is happy. One of your new training clients, Milty Megabucks, confesses to you that he’s been afraid to
go near Fire since the spur incident, and asks you to sell Fire for him. You quickly accept, knowing that Fire’s
pedigree alone makes him worth six figures.
Another one of your clients, Clara Clueless, an Arabian breeder, has
hired you to find a stallion for her breeding program. You know that Clara has never owned a
stallion before and needs a stallion that is well-mannered. Fire’s disposition, always unpredictable, has
not improved since he has been in Milty’s care and
he’s now downright nasty. However, you
talk yourself into showing Fire to Clara – after all, he has the conformation
and bloodlines that she wants. And heck,
the commission would be nice! Clara
falls in love with Fire – he IS gorgeous – and doesn’t seem to notice that he
tries to bite Thang’s staff members. You convince her that Fire would be perfect
for her and you don’t say a word about your 25% commission from Milty. Two days
later, Clara calls you from her hospital room to tell you that Fire dislocated
her shoulder. You will likely be held
liable for Clara’s injuries (and you should count yourself lucky that her worst
injury is a dislocated shoulder!).
In
a future lesson, we will cover contracts that create legal duties, and how
breach of contract can create liability.