1-1 By: Swinford, et al. (Senate Sponsor - Patterson) H.B. No. 280
1-2 (In the Senate - Received from the House April 21, 1995;
1-3 April 24, 1995, read first time and referred to Committee on
1-4 Economic Development; May 5, 1995, rereferred to Committee on
1-5 Natural Resources; May 10, 1995, reported adversely, with favorable
1-6 Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 8, Nays 1;
1-7 May 10, 1995, sent to printer.)
1-8 COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 280 By: Sims
1-9 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-10 AN ACT
1-11 relating to limiting the liability of certain persons for equine
1-12 activities.
1-13 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-14 SECTION 1. Title 4, Civil Practices and Remedies Code, is
1-15 amended by adding Chapter 87 to read as follows:
1-16 CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY FOR EQUINE ACTIVITIES
1-17 SEC. 87.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-18 (1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding,
1-19 handling, training, driving, assisting in the medical treatment of,
1-20 being a passenger on, or assisting a participant or sponsor with an
1-21 equine animal. The term includes management of a show involving
1-22 equine animals. The term does not include being a spectator at an
1-23 equine activity unless the spectator is in an unauthorized area and
1-24 in immediate proximity to the equine activity.
1-25 (2) "Equine animal" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey,
1-26 or hinny.
1-27 (3) "Equine activity" means:
1-28 (A) an equine animal show, fair, competition,
1-29 performance, or parade that involves any breed of equine animal and
1-30 any equine discipline, including dressage, hunter and jumper horse
1-31 shows, grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined training,
1-32 driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and
1-33 Western performance riding, endurance trail riding and Western
1-34 games, and hunting;
1-35 (B) equine training or teaching activities;
1-36 (C) boarding equine animals;
1-37 (D) riding inspecting, or evaluating an equine
1-38 animal belonging to another, without regard to whether the owner
1-39 receives monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use
1-40 of the equine animal or permits a prospective purchaser of the
1-41 equine animal to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine animal;
1-42 (E) informal equine activity, including a ride,
1-43 trip, or hunt that is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
1-44 (F) placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine
1-45 animal; or
1-46 (G) without regard to whether the participants
1-47 are compensated, rodeos and single event competitions, including
1-48 team roping, calf roping, and single steer roping.
1-49 (4) "Equine activity sponsor" means:
1-50 (A) a person or group who sponsors, organizes,
1-51 or provides the facilities for an equine activity, including equine
1-52 facilities for a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club,
1-53 therapeutic riding program, or a high school or college class,
1-54 program, or activity, without regard to whether the person operates
1-55 for profit; or
1-56 (B) an operator of, instructor at, or promoter
1-57 for equine facilities, including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride
1-58 string, fair, or arena at which an equine activity is held.
1-59 (5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for
1-60 compensation:
1-61 (A) to instruct a participant or rent to a
1-62 participant an equine animal for the purpose of riding, driving, or
1-63 being a passenger on the equine animal; or
1-64 (B) to rent equipment or tack to a participant.
1-65 (6) "Participant" means a person who engages in an
1-66 equine activity, without regard to whether the person is an amateur
1-67 or professional or whether the person pays for the activity or
1-68 participates in the activity for free.
2-1 Sec. 87.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does
2-2 not apply to an activity regulated by the Texas Racing Commission.
2-3 Sec. 87.003. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. Except as provided by
2-4 Section 87.004, any person, including an equine activity sponsor or
2-5 an equine professional, is not liable for property damage or
2-6 damages arising from the personal injury or death of a participant
2-7 if the property damage, injury, or death results from the dangers
2-8 or conditions that are an inherent risk of equine activity,
2-9 including:
2-10 (1) the propensity of an equine animal to behave in
2-11 ways that may result in personal injury or death to a person on or
2-12 around it;
2-13 (2) the unpredictability of an equine animal's
2-14 reaction to sound, a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object,
2-15 person, or other animal;
2-16 (3) certain land conditions and hazards, including
2-17 surface and subsurface conditions;
2-18 (4) a collision with another animal or an object; or
2-19 (5) the potential or a participant to act in a
2-20 negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant
2-21 or another, including failing to maintain control over the equine
2-22 animal or not acting within the participant's ability.
2-23 Sec. 87.004. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A
2-24 person, including an equine activity sponsor or an equine
2-25 professional, is liable for property damage or damages arising
2-26 from the personal injury or death caused by a participant in an
2-27 equine activity if:
2-28 (1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment
2-29 or tack used in the equine activity, the person provided the
2-30 equipment or tack, and the person knew or should have known that
2-31 the equipment or tack was faulty;
2-32 (2) the person provided the equine animal and the
2-33 person did not make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine
2-34 the ability of the participant to engage safely in the equine
2-35 activity and determine the ability of the participant to safely
2-36 manage the equine animal, taking into account the participant's
2-37 representations of ability;
2-38 (3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous
2-39 latent condition of land for which warning signs, written notices,
2-40 or verbal warnings were not conspicuously posted or provided to the
2-41 participant, and the land was owned, leased, or otherwise under the
2-42 control of the person at the time of the injury or death and the
2-43 person knew of the dangerous latent condition;
2-44 (4) the person committed an act or omission with
2-45 wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and
2-46 that act or omission caused the injury; or
2-47 (5) the person intentionally caused the injury or
2-48 death.
2-49 Sec. 87.005. WARNING NOTICE. (a) An equine professional
2-50 shall post and maintain a sign that contains the warning contained
2-51 in Subsection (c) if the professional manages or controls a stable,
2-52 corral, or arena where the professional conducts an equine
2-53 activity. The professional must post the sign in a clearly visible
2-54 location on or near the stable, corral, or arena.
2-55 (b) An equine professional shall include the warning
2-56 contained in Subsection (c) in every written contract that the
2-57 professional enters into with a participant for professional
2-58 services, instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an
2-59 equine animal. The warning must be included without regard to
2-60 whether the contract involves equine activities on or off the
2-61 location or site of the business of the equine professional. The
2-62 warning must be clearly readable.
2-63 (c) The warning must be as follows:
2-64 WARNING
2-65 UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE), AN
2-66 EQUINE PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE DEATH OF
2-67 A PARTICIPANT IN EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE INHERENT
2-68 RISKS OF EQUINE ACTIVITIES.
2-69 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1995, and
2-70 applies only to a cause of action accruing on or after that date.
3-1 A cause of action accruing before the effective date of this Act is
3-2 governed by the law in effect at the time the action accrued, and
3-3 that law is continued for that purpose.
3-4 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-9 * * * * *