Does anyone have one I could copy from them, or know where I can get one online? I’m looking for something for when friends or friends of friends come over to ride my horses they can sign for a liability release. I live in Pennsylvania
TIA
Random internet search found https://pennstatelaw.psu.edu/_file/aglaw/EquineLiabilityLawFactSheet.pdf which says you need to have signs posted.
Maybe that department at the university would have additional advice. But the few hundred dollars you might spend talking to a lawyer to make sure you are doing all the right things will be well worth it if anything actually happens.
<Not an attorney>.
Just google “equine liability release form” for your state-- but it will be worth what you pay for it. Same goes for a waiver that you get from some stranger on the internet. You do not have the training to know whether that waiver is both valid and enforceable. The “Something’s better than nothing” theory doesn’t apply here – if your “something” is flawed, you have nothing.
Having visitors ride your horses is a setup for a devastating lawsuit. You know that riding is an inherently dangerous sport, and you understand that your “equipment” is a 1000-lb animal with its own free will, fears and emotions, combined with the speed and power capable to cause serious injury or death. But your visitor probably won’t understand all of that. They will assume that if you are offering them a horse to ride, that this horse and tack and field/riding area are all safe. And they don’t know the limits of their own knowledge – just about everyone who’s ridden on a nose-to-tail commercial trail ride will say (and believe!) they “know how to ride.”
The stakes are really quite high in this situation, so It’s worth the $500 or whatever to have an attorney licensed in your state produce a real waiver for you. And also check with your insurance agent to make sure you have coverage for that activity.
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Releases of liability are VERY specific to each state and MUST be in exactly the proper form or they will be rejected by most courts. These things are NOT favored by most judicial authorities so do it right or you will get a REAL bad surprise if you ever have to use it.
Sources can be your insurance company (they have a vested interest in getting you something that works). Your local state Horse Council. This may be of some help. http://www.americanequestrian.com/equinelaws/
Safest Bet: hire a local attorney to draft a release for you. It will cost you some money but if done correctly will save you vastly more in the event of a mishap.
Ensure that your liability coverages are up to date and adequate. A release that is “iron clad” will not save you from having to hire a lawyer and plead and prove the release if you ever get “tagged.” You still need that defense that a good policy provides.
Good luck as you go forward.
G.
Former regional VP for claims, property/casualty insurance
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also not an attorney but was regional youth director for a breed association but this is a question that should be answered by one
In many if not all states a parent cannot sign away their child’s rights regarding wrongful injury however, that is they cannot give up the child’s rights to pursue a tort claim in the event that they are injured after signing the waiver.
Also in some states if a known hazard is not disclosed it nullifies the release form regardless of age.
G’s advise is what I would follow, talk with your insurance agent and get the form that they approve
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We have those our attorney prepared for us, but they are very specific for our needs and state, not applicable to others.
Attorneys do that job for each client, would not be appropriate to give their work away even if it would fit others, which it probably would not.
If you are worried about liability, do it right and get something drawn that will fit your situation and worries makes the most sense.
If you only want a signed paper hoping no one will sue you because they signed something or other, then any internet form will work for that.
What it may not do is a real job of protecting you properly if sued.
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If you only want a signed paper hoping no one will sue you because they signed something or other,
it may not be the injured party that sues but could very well be their health insurance carrier seeking damages to recover their loss
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FWIW…in 2001, I was kicked in the jaw by a pony owned by my trainer. My mother in law (lawyer) asked me if I wanted to sue. I said No, but added that it wouldn’t matter, because I had signed a release. Her response was that they are never worth the cost of the ink to print them. Since then, other lawyers I know have said that basically they exist to make people think they can’t sue if they have signed one, but that they’re really not binding.
I’m in NY, btw.
Maybe in NY, but in TN and TX they ARE!!!
They are, however, disfavored and if they are not letter perfect then they give a judge a reason to find them defective and not binding. They don’t protect from a suit as if you get sued you have to plead and prove the release and that will require you to hire a lawyer. So you cover that risk with a proper liability policy. Your rate, however, will be lower in a state that recognizes a release than it will be in one where they don’t.
G.
