PRINTER'S NO. 195
No. 200 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY ARMSTRONG, JANUARY 25, 1999
REFERRED TO JUDICIARY, JANUARY 25, 1999
AN ACT
1 Providing for civil liability relating to equine activities, for
2 exceptions thereto and for the posting and furnishing of
3 certain notices.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Equine
8 Activity Liability Law.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Engages in an equine activity." The term includes riding,
14 training, assisting in veterinary treatment of, driving or being
15 a passenger upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted,
16 visiting or touring or utilizing an equine facility as part of
17 an organized event or activity, or any person assisting a
18 participant or show management. The term does not include being
1 a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where the
2 spectator places himself in an unauthorized area or in immediate
3 proximity to the equine activity.
4 "Equine." A horse, pony, mule or donkey.
5 "Equine activity."
6 (1) Equine shows, fairs, competitions, performances or
7 parades that involve any or all breeds of equines and any of
8 the equine disciplines, including, but not limited to,
9 dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, Grand Prix jumping,
10 three-day events, combined training, rodeos, riding, driving,
11 pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and western
12 performance riding, endurance trail riding, gymkhana games,
13 and hunting.
14 (2) Equine training or teaching activities, or both.
15 (3) Boarding equines, including normal daily care
16 thereof.
17 (4) Riding, inspecting or evaluating by a purchaser or
18 an agent, an equine belonging to another, whether or not the
19 owner has received some monetary consideration or other
20 things of value for the use of the equine or is permitting a
21 prospective purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect or
22 evaluate the equine.
23 (5) Rides, trips, hunts or other equine activities of
24 any type, however informal or impromptu, that are sponsored
25 by an equine activity sponsor.
26 (6) Placing or replacing horseshoes or hoof trimming on
27 an equine.
28 (7) Providing or assisting in veterinary treatment.
29 "Equine activity sponsor." An individual, group, club,
30 partnership or corporation, whether or not the sponsor is
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1 operating for profit or nonprofit, which sponsors, organizes or
2 provides the facilities for an equine activity, including, but
3 not limited to, pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding clubs,
4 school-sponsored and college-sponsored classes, programs and
5 activities, therapeutic riding programs, stable and farm owners
6 and operators, instructors and promoters or equine facilities,
7 including, but not limited to, farms, stables, clubhouses, pony
8 ride strings, fairs and arenas at which the activity is held.
9 "Equine professional." A person engaged for compensation in
10 any of the following:
11 (1) In instructing a participant or renting to a
12 participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving or
13 being a passenger upon the equine.
14 (2) In renting equipment or tack to a participant.
15 (3) In providing daily care of horses boarded at an
16 equine facility.
17 (4) To train an equine.
18 "Inherent risks of equine activities." Those dangers or
19 conditions which are an integral part of equine activities,
20 including, but not limited to:
21 (1) The propensity of equines to behave in ways that may
22 result in injury, harm or death to persons on or around them.
23 (2) The unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such
24 things as sounds, sudden movements and unfamiliar objects,
25 persons or other animals.
26 (3) Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface
27 conditions.
28 (4) Collisions with other equines or objects.
29 (5) The potential of a participant to act in a negligent
30 manner that may contribute to injury to the participant or
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1 others, such as failing to maintain control over the animal
2 or not acting within his ability.
3 "Participant." Any person, whether amateur or professional,
4 who engages in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid
5 to participate in the equine activity.
6 Section 3. General provisions.
7 Except as provided in section 4, an equine activity sponsor,
8 an equine professional or any other person, which shall include
9 a corporation or partnership, shall not be liable for an injury
10 to or the death of a participant resulting from the inherent
11 risks of equine activities and, except as provided in section 4,
12 no participant nor participant's representative shall make any
13 claim against, maintain an action against or recover from an
14 equine activity sponsor, an equine professional or any other
15 person for injury, loss, damage or death of the participant
16 resulting from any of the inherent risks of equine activities.
17 Section 4. Exceptions.
18 (a) General rule.--Nothing in section 3 shall prevent or
19 limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine
20 professional or any other person if the equine activity sponsor,
21 equine professional or person:
22 (1) (i) provided the equipment or tack and knew or
23 should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty,
24 and such equipment or tack was faulty to the extent that
25 it did cause the injury; or
26 (ii) provided the equine and failed to make
27 reasonable and prudent efforts to determine the ability
28 of the participant to engage safely in the equine
29 activity and determine the ability of the participant to
30 safely manage the particular equine based on the
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1 participant's representations of his ability.
2 (2) Owns, leases, rents, has authorized use of or is
3 otherwise in lawful possession and control of the land or
4 facilities upon which the participants sustained injuries
5 because of a dangerous latent condition which was known to
6 the equine activity sponsor, equine professional or person
7 and for which warning signs, under section 5, have not been
8 conspicuously posted.
9 (3) Commits an act of omission that constitutes willful
10 or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and
11 that act of omission caused the injury.
12 (4) Intentionally injures the participant.
13 (b) Horse race meeting.--This section shall not apply to a
14 horse race meeting as described in the act of December 17, 1981
15 (P.L.435, No.135), known as the Race Horse Industry Reform Act.
16 Section 5. Posting and notification.
17 (a) Posting requirements.--Every equine professional shall
18 post and maintain signs which contain the warning notice
19 specified in subsection (b). The signs shall be placed in a
20 clearly visible location in the proximity of the equine
21 activity. The warning notice specified in subsection (b) shall
22 appear on the sign in black letters, with each letter to be a
23 minimum of one inch in height. Every written contract entered
24 into by an equine professional for the providing of professional
25 services, instruction or the rental of equipment or tack or an
26 equine to a participant, whether or not the contract involves
27 equine activities on or off the location or site of the equine
28 professional's business, shall contain in clearly readable print
29 the warning notice specified in subsection (b).
30 (b) Content of notice.--The signs and contracts described in
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1 subsection (a) shall contain the following warning notice:
2 WARNING: Under Pennsylvania law, an equine professional
3 is not liable for an injury to or the death of a
4 participant in equine activities resulting from the
5 inherent risks of equine activities under the act of
6 , (P.L. , No. ), known as the Equine
7 Activity Liability Law.
8 Section 6. Effective date.
9 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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