Facility Release Agreement - Show Or Clinic - Horse Equine Forms
Washington Equine Activity Statutes
4.24.530
Limitations on liability for equine activities -- Definitions.
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the definitions
in this section apply to RCW 4.24.530, 4.24.540, and section 3, chapter
292, Laws of 1989.
(1) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(2) "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, endurance trail riding
and 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; and
(e) rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any type
however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity
sponsor.
(3) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual, group or 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 and programs, 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 activity is held.
(4) "Participant" means any person, whether amateur or professional,
who directly engages in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid
to participate in the equine activity.
(5) "Engages in an equine activity" means a person who rides, trains,
drives, or is a passenger upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted,
and does not mean a spectator at an equine activity or a person who participates
in the equine activity but does not ride, train, drive, or ride as a passenger
upon an equine.
(6) "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, (b) in renting equipment or tack to a participant.
4.24.540
Limitations on liability for equine activities -- Exceptions.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an equine
activity sponsor or an equine professional shall not be liable for an injury
to or the death of a participant engaged in an equine activity, and, except
as provided in subsection (2) of this section, no participant nor participant's
representative may maintain an action against or recover from an equine
activity sponsor or an equine professional for an injury to or the death
of a participant engaged in an equine activity.
(2) (a) RCW 4.24.530 and 4.24.540 do not apply to the horse racing
industry as regulated in chapter 67.16 RCW.
(b) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall prevent or limit
the liability of an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional:
(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, determine the ability of the equine to behave safely
with the participant, and determine the ability of the participant to safely
manage the particular equine;
(ii) If the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional owns,
leases, rents, or otherwise is in lawful possession and control of the
land or facilities upon which the participant sustained injuries because
of a dangerous latent condition which was known to or should have been
known to the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional and for
which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted;
