H.B. No. 280 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to limiting the liability of certain persons for equine 1-3 activities. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practice and Remedies Code, is 1-6 amended by adding Chapter 87 to read as follows: 1-7 CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY FOR EQUINE ACTIVITIES 1-8 Sec. 87.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: 1-9 (1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, 1-10 handling, training, driving, assisting in the medical treatment of, 1-11 being a passenger on, or assisting a participant or sponsor with an 1-12 equine animal. The term includes management of a show involving 1-13 equine animals. The term does not include being a spectator at an 1-14 equine activity unless the spectator is in an unauthorized area and 1-15 in immediate proximity to the equine activity. 1-16 (2) "Equine animal" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, 1-17 or hinny. 1-18 (3) "Equine activity" means: 1-19 (A) an equine animal show, fair, competition, 1-20 performance, or parade that involves any breed of equine animal and 1-21 any equine discipline, including dressage, hunter and jumper horse 1-22 shows, grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined training, 1-23 driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and 1-24 Western performance riding, endurance trail riding and Western 2-1 games, and hunting; 2-2 (B) equine training or teaching activities; 2-3 (C) boarding equine animals; 2-4 (D) riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine 2-5 animal belonging to another, without regard to whether the owner 2-6 receives monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use 2-7 of the equine animal or permits a prospective purchaser of the 2-8 equine animal to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine animal; 2-9 (E) informal equine activity, including a ride, 2-10 trip, or hunt that is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor; 2-11 (F) placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine 2-12 animal; or 2-13 (G) without regard to whether the participants 2-14 are compensated, rodeos and single event competitions, including 2-15 team roping, calf roping, and single steer roping. 2-16 (4) "Equine activity sponsor" means: 2-17 (A) a person or group who sponsors, organizes, 2-18 or provides the facilities for an equine activity, including equine 2-19 facilities for a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club, 2-20 therapeutic riding program, or high school or college class, 2-21 program, or activity, without regard to whether the person operates 2-22 for profit; or 2-23 (B) an operator of, instructor at, or promoter 2-24 for equine facilities, including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride 2-25 string, fair, or arena at which an equine activity is held. 2-26 (5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for 2-27 compensation: 3-1 (A) to instruct a participant or rent to a 3-2 participant an equine animal for the purpose of riding, driving, or 3-3 being a passenger on the equine animal; or 3-4 (B) to rent equipment or tack to a participant. 3-5 (6) "Participant" means a person who engages in an 3-6 equine activity, without regard to whether the person is an amateur 3-7 or professional or whether the person pays for the activity or 3-8 participates in the activity for free. 3-9 Sec. 87.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does 3-10 not apply to an activity regulated by the Texas Racing Commission. 3-11 Sec. 87.003. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. Except as provided by 3-12 Section 87.004, any person, including an equine activity sponsor or 3-13 an equine professional, is not liable for property damage or 3-14 damages arising from the personal injury or death of a participant 3-15 if the property damage, injury, or death results from the dangers 3-16 or conditions that are an inherent risk of equine activity, 3-17 including: 3-18 (1) the propensity of an equine animal to behave in 3-19 ways that may result in personal injury or death to a person on or 3-20 around it; 3-21 (2) the unpredictability of an equine animal's 3-22 reaction to sound, a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object, 3-23 person, or other animal; 3-24 (3) certain land conditions and hazards, including 3-25 surface and subsurface conditions; 3-26 (4) a collision with another animal or an object; or 3-27 (5) the potential of a participant to act in a 4-1 negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant 4-2 or another, including failing to maintain control over the equine 4-3 animal or not acting within the participant's ability. 4-4 Sec. 87.004. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A 4-5 person, including an equine activity sponsor or an equine 4-6 professional, is liable for property damage or damages arising 4-7 from the personal injury or death caused by a participant in an 4-8 equine activity if: 4-9 (1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment 4-10 or tack used in the equine activity, the person provided the 4-11 equipment or tack, and the person knew or should have known that 4-12 the equipment or tack was faulty; 4-13 (2) the person provided the equine animal and the 4-14 person did not make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine 4-15 the ability of the participant to engage safely in the equine 4-16 activity and determine the ability of the participant to safely 4-17 manage the equine animal, taking into account the participant's 4-18 representations of ability; 4-19 (3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous 4-20 latent condition of land for which warning signs, written notices, 4-21 or verbal warnings were not conspicuously posted or provided to the 4-22 participant, and the land was owned, leased, or otherwise under the 4-23 control of the person at the time of the injury or death and the 4-24 person knew of the dangerous latent condition; 4-25 (4) the person committed an act or omission with 4-26 wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and 4-27 that act or omission caused the injury; or 5-1 (5) the person intentionally caused the injury or 5-2 death. 5-3 Sec. 87.005. WARNING NOTICE. (a) An equine professional 5-4 shall post and maintain a sign that contains the warning contained 5-5 in Subsection (c) if the professional manages or controls a stable, 5-6 corral, or arena where the professional conducts an equine 5-7 activity. The professional must post the sign in a clearly visible 5-8 location on or near the stable, corral, or arena. 5-9 (b) An equine professional shall include the warning 5-10 contained in Subsection (c) in every written contract that the 5-11 professional enters into with a participant for professional 5-12 services, instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an 5-13 equine animal. The warning must be included without regard to 5-14 whether the contract involves equine activities on or off the 5-15 location or site of the business of the equine professional. The 5-16 warning must be clearly readable. 5-17 (c) The warning must be as follows: 5-18 WARNING 5-19 UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND 5-20 REMEDIES CODE), AN EQUINE PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE 5-21 FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN 5-22 EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT RISKS OF 5-23 EQUINE ACTIVITIES. 5-24 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and 5-25 applies only to a cause of action accruing on or after that date. 5-26 A cause of action accruing before the effective date of this Act is 5-27 governed by the law in effect at the time the action accrued, and 6-1 that law is continued for that purpose. 6-2 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 6-3 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 6-4 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 6-5 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 6-6 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.