Release of Liability Owner Rider - Horse Equine Forms
773.01
Definitions.
(1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding,
training, assisting in veterinary treatment of, driving, or
being a passenger upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted, visiting
or touring or utilizing an equine facility as part of an organized event
or activity, or any person assisting a participant or show management.
The term "engages in an equine activity" does not include being a spectator
at an equine activity, except in cases where a spectator places himself
or herself in an unauthorized area.
(2) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, or donkey.
(3) "Equine activity" means:
(a) Equine shows, fairs, competitions,
performances, or parades that involve any or all breeds of equines and
any of the equine disciplines including, but not limited to, dressage,
hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined
training, rodeos, riding, driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing,
English and western performance riding, endurance trail riding, gymkhana
games, and hunting.
(b) Equine training or teaching activities or
both.
(c) Boarding, including normal daily care of an
equine.
(d) Riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine
belonging to another by a purchaser or an agent, whether or not the owner
has received monetary consideration or other thing of value
for the use of the equine or is permitting a prospective purchaser to ride,
inspect, or evaluate it.
(e) Rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities
of any type, no matter how informal or impromptu, that are sponsored by
an equine activity sponsor.
(f) Placing or replacing horseshoes or hoof trimming
on an equine.
(g) Providing or assisting in veterinary treatment.
(4) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual,
group, club, partnership, or corporation, whether or
not the sponsor is operating for profit or nonprofit, which
sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for an equine activity,
including, but not limited to: pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding
clubs, school and college-sponsored classes, programs, and activities,
therapeutic riding programs, stable and farm owners and operators, instructors,
and promoters of equine facilities, including, but not limited to, farms,
stables, clubhouses, pony ride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the
activity is held.
(5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged
for compensation:
(a) In instructing a participant or renting
to a participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being
a passenger upon the equine;
(b) In renting equipment or tack to a participant;
(c) To provide daily care of horses boarded at
an equine facility; or
(d) To train an equine.
(6) "Inherent risks of equine activities" means
those dangers or conditions which are an integral part of equine activities,
including, but not limited to:
(a) The propensity of equines to behave
in ways that may result in injury, harm, or death to persons on or
around them.
(b) The unpredictability of an equine's reaction
to such things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar
objects, persons, or other animals.
(c) Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface
conditions.
(d) Collisions with other equines or objects.
(e) The potential of a participant to act in a
negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant or others,
such as failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting
within his or her ability.
(7) "Participant" means any person, whether amateur
or professional, who engages in or any equine that participates
in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in the
equine activity.
773.02
General provisions.
Except as provided in s. 773.03, an equine activity sponsor, an
equine professional, or any other person, which shall include a corporation
or partnership, shall not be liable for an injury to or the death of a
participant resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities and,
except as provided in s. 773.03, no participant nor any participant's representative
shall have any claim against or recover from any equine activity sponsor,
equine professional, or any other person for injury, loss, damage or death
of the participant resulting from any of the inherent risks of equine activities.
773.03
Limitation on liability for equine activity; exceptions.
(1) This section applies to the horseracing industry
as defined in chapter 550.
(2) Nothing in s. 773.02 shall prevent or limit
the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or
any other person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or person:
(a) Provided the equipment or tack, and
knew or should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and it
was so faulty as to be totally or partially responsible for the injury;
(b) Provided the equine and failed to make reasonable
and prudent efforts to determine the ability of the participant to engage
safely in the equine activity, or to determine the ability of the participant
to safely manage the particular equine based on the participant's representation
of his or her ability;
(c) Owns, leases, rents, has authorized use of,
or is otherwise in lawful possession and control of the land or facilities
upon which the participant was injured, and the injury was due totally
or in part, to a dangerous latent condition which was known to the equine
activity sponsor, equine professional, or person and failed to post warning
signs;
(d) Commits an act or omission that a reasonably
prudent person would not have done or omitted under the same or similar
circumstances or that constitutes willful or wanton disregard for the safety
of the participant, which act or omission was a proximate cause of the
injury; or
(e) Intentionally injures the participant.
773.04
Posting and notification.
(1) Every equine activity sponsor and equine professional
shall:
(a) Post and maintain one or more signs
which contain the warning notice specified in subsection (2). These signs
shall be placed in a clearly visible location near to where the equine
activity begins. The warning notice specified in subsection (2) shall appear
on the sign in black letters, with each letter to be a minimum of 1 inch
in height, with sufficient color contrast to be clearly distinguishable.
(b) Give the participant a written document which
the participant shall sign with the warning notice specified in subsection
(2) clearly printed on it. Said written document may be used in lieu of
posting the warning on the site of the equine activity sponsor's or equine
professional's facility, and shall be given to any participant in an equine
event not on the location of the equine activity sponsor's or equine professional's
facility.
(2) The signs and document described in subsection
(1) shall contain the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under Florida law, an equine activity sponsor or equine professional
is not liable for an injury to, or the death of, a participant in equine
activities resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities.
73.05
Limitation on liability of persons making land available to public
for recreational purposes.
Nothing in ss. 773.01-773.05 shall be construed to limit in any
way the limitation of liability granted to private citizens who allow the
public to use their land for recreational purposes, as provided in
s. 375.251.
