Release of Liability Owner Rider - Horse Equine Forms
Nebraska Equine Activity Statutes
25-21,249
Equine activities; legislative intent.
The Legislature recognizes that persons who participate in
equine activities may incur injuries as a result of the risks involved
in such activities. The Legislature also finds that the state and
its citizens derive numerous economic and personal benefits from such activities.
It is, therefor, the intent of the Legislature to encourage equine
activities by providing reasonable standards for those involved in
such activities.
25-21,250
Equine activities; terms, defined.
For purposes of sections 25-21,249 to 25-21,253:
(1) Engages in an equine activity means riding, training,
assisting in medical treatment of, driving, or being a passenger upon an
equine, whether mounted or unmounted, or being a passenger upon an equine-drawn
vehicle, or any person assisting a participant or assisting show management.
Engages in an equine activity does not include being a spectator at an
equine activity except in cases when the spectator places himself or herself
in an unauthorized area;
(2) Equine means a horse, pony, donkey, mule, hinny, or llama;
(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, driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English
and western performance riding, endurance trail riding, western games,
and hunting;
(d) Riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine belonging to another,
whether or not the owner has received some monetary consideration or other
thing of value for the use of the equine or is permitting a prospective
purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine;
(e) Rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any type
however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity
sponsor; and
(4) Equine activity sponsor means an individual, group, club, partnership,
limited liability company, 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, and operators,
instructors, and promoters of equine facilities, including, but not limited
to, stables, clubhouses, ponyride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the
equine 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; or
(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 an equine 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;
(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 equine or not acting within his or her ability;
and
(7) Participant means any person, whether amateur or professional,
who engages in an equine activity whether or not a fee is paid to participate
in the equine activity.
25-21,251
Equine activities; liability and claims; limitations.
Except as provided in section 25-21,252,
(1) an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or
any other person, which includes a corporation, limited liability
company, 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
(2) no participant nor participant's representative shall make
any claim against, maintain an action against, or recover from an equine
activity sponsor, an 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.
25-21,252
Equine activities; applicability of other laws; liability enumerated.
(1) Sections 25-21,249 to 25-21,253 shall not apply to the horseracing
industry as regulated in sections 2-1201 to 2-1229.
(2) Nothing in section 25-21,251 prevents or limits 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 the equipment or
tack caused the injury because the equine activity sponsor or professional
failed to reasonably and prudently inspect or maintain the equipment
or tack;
(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 and determine the ability of the participant to safely
manage the particular equine based on the participant's representations
of his or her ability;
(c) Owns, leases, rents, or otherwise is in lawful possession
and control of the land or facilities upon which the participant sustained
injuries or death because of a dangerous latent condition which was known
or should have been known to the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or person and for which warning signs were not conspicuously posted;
(d) Commits an act or omission which a reasonable, prudent
person would not have done or omitted under the same or similar circumstances
or which constitutes willful or wanton disregard for the safety of the
participant and that act or omission was a proximate cause of the
injury; or
(3) Nothing in section 25-21,251 prevents or limits the liability of
an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional under product liability
laws.
25-21,253
Equine activities; signs and contracts; requirements.
Every equine professional shall post and maintain signs which contain
the warning notice specified in this section. The signs shall be
placed in a clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals, or arenas
where the equine professional conducts equine activities if such stables,
corrals, or arenas are owned, leased, rented, managed, or controlled by
the equine professional. The placement of warning signs shall be
such that they may be readily seen by participants in equine activities.
The warning notice specified in this section shall appear on the sign in
black letters with each letter a minimum of three inches in height.
Every written contract entered into by an equine professional for providing
professional services, instruction, or rental of equipment or tack or an
equine to a participant, whether or not the contract involves equine activities
on or off the location or site of the equine professional's business,
shall contain in clearly readable print the warning notice specified in
this section. The signs and contracts shall contain the following
warning notice:
Under Nebraska Law, an 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, pursuant to sections 25-21,249
to 25-21,253.
