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Horses and Accident Liability

 

Personal injury is a general branch of law which relates to cases where someone suffers a physical injury or trauma which is the fault of a third party. If you have been involved in a riding accident and you were injured as a result then you may have a personal injury claim for compensation against the owner of the horse.

Negligence is one of the most common legal grounds for bringing a personal injury claim. Under the law of negligence, where it is foreseeable that a person or a class of persons could be affected, either directly or indirectly, by your actions then you have a duty to take reasonable steps to ensure that these people are not injured as a result of your acts or omissions. If you fail to do this, then you are guilty of negligence.

Personal injury claims which arise from horse related accidents are governed by the generally applicable law of negligence, and the majority of equine personal injury claims result from accidents involving horses which are hired out for riding. Horse riding can be a dangerous activity, and this much should be apparent to anyone who operates a riding stable or rents out horses. The owner of a horse which is offered out for riding will need to take a number of precautions to reduce the risk of accidents and to ensure that he is not acting negligently. Often these precautions will include:

• Ensuring that all horses offered out for riding have the appropriate experience, training and temperament. Where a horse has shown itself to be aggressive or has demonstrated a tendency to throw riders in the past, the owner should take account of this and should not continue to offer the horse out until the issue is addressed;
• Ensuring that all riders are provided with adequate safety equipment and are instructed on how to handle the horse;
• Ensuring that riders receive a health and safety briefing and are made aware of potential dangers, and what they can do personally to reduce the risk that an accident will occur;
• Ensuring that there is a plan in place for dealing with accidents and providing first aid where someone is injured by one of the horses.

Many people who attend riding stables will have no prior experience with horses, and will be unaware of the limits of their own skill and competence. The operator of the riding stable should take this into consideration and should not allow inexperienced riders to be paired with wilful or difficult to manage horses. If the operator allows such a pairing and the rider loses control of the horse, then it is likely that a court will hold the operator to have acted negligently. Because of his special knowledge and skill, inexperienced riders will reasonably look to the operator of the stables for guidance on the suitability of horses for riding.

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