CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY ARISING FROM EQUINE ACTIVITIES OR LIVESTOCK SHOWS
CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE
TITLE 4. LIABILITY IN TORT
CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY ARISING FROM EQUINE ACTIVITIES OR LIVESTOCK
SHOWS
Sec. 87.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, handling,
training, driving, assisting in the medical treatment of, being a
passenger on, or assisting a participant or sponsor with an
equine animal. The term includes management of a show involving
equine animals. The term does not include being a spectator at an
equine activity unless the spectator is in an unauthorized area
and in immediate proximity to the equine activity.
(2) "Equine animal" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(3) "Equine activity" means:
(A) an equine animal show, fair, competition, performance, or
parade that involves any breed of equine animal and any equine
discipline, including dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows,
grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined training, driving,
pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and Western
performance riding, endurance trail riding and Western games, and
hunting;
(B) equine training or teaching activities;
(C) boarding equine animals;
(D) riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine animal belonging
to another, without regard to whether the owner receives monetary
consideration or other thing of value for the use of the equine
animal or permits a prospective purchaser of the equine animal to
ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine animal;
(E) informal equine activity, including a ride, trip, or hunt
that is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
(F) placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine animal; or
(G) without regard to whether the participants are compensated,
rodeos and single event competitions, including team roping, calf
roping, and single steer roping.
(4) "Equine activity sponsor" means:
(A) a person or group who sponsors, organizes, or provides the
facilities for an equine activity, including equine facilities
for a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club, therapeutic
riding program, or high school or college class, program, or
activity, without regard to whether the person operates for
profit; or
(B) an operator of, instructor at, or promoter for equine
facilities, including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride string,
fair, or arena at which an equine activity is held.
(5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for
compensation:
(A) to instruct a participant or rent to a participant an equine
animal for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger
on the equine animal; or
(B) to rent equipment or tack to a participant.
(6) "Livestock animal" means:
(A) an animal raised for human consumption; or
(B) an equine animal.
(7) "Livestock show" means a nonprofit event at which more than
two species or breeds of livestock animals are gathered for
exhibition or competition.
(8) "Livestock show sponsor" means a recognized group or
association that organizes and sanctions a livestock show,
including a political subdivision or nonprofit organization that
is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a), Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt
organization in Section 501(c)(3) of that code.
(9) "Participant" means:
(A) with respect to an equine activity, a person who engages in
the activity, without regard to whether the person is an amateur
or professional or whether the person pays for the activity or
participates in the activity for free; and
(B) with respect to a livestock show, a person who registers for
and is allowed by a livestock show sponsor to compete in a
livestock show by showing an animal on a competitive basis, or a
person who assists that person.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, Sec. 2, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 87.002. APPLICABILITY OF CHAPTER. This chapter does not
apply to an activity regulated by the Texas Racing Commission.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995.
Sec. 87.003. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. Except as provided by
Section 87.004, any person, including an equine activity sponsor,
equine professional, livestock show participant, or livestock
show sponsor, is not liable for property damage or damages
arising from the personal injury or death of a participant in an
equine activity or livestock show if the property damage, injury,
or death results from the dangers or conditions that are an
inherent risk of an equine activity or the showing of an animal
on a competitive basis in a livestock show, including:
(1) the propensity of an equine or livestock animal to behave in
ways that may result in personal injury or death to a person on
or around it;
(2) the unpredictability of an equine or livestock animal's
reaction to sound, a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object,
person, or other animal;
(3) with respect to equine activities, certain land conditions
and hazards, including surface and subsurface conditions;
(4) a collision with another animal or an object; or
(5) the potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner
that may contribute to injury to the participant or another,
including failing to maintain control over the equine or
livestock animal or not acting within the participant's ability.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, Sec. 3, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 87.004. EXCEPTIONS TO LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A person,
including an equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
livestock show participant, or livestock show sponsor, is liable
for property damage or damages arising from the personal injury
or death caused by a participant in an equine activity or
livestock show if:
(1) the injury or death was caused by faulty equipment or tack
used in the equine activity or livestock show, the person
provided the equipment or tack, and the person knew or should
have known that the equipment or tack was faulty;
(2) the person provided the equine or livestock animal and the
person did not make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine
the ability of the participant to engage safely in the equine
activity or livestock show and determine the ability of the
participant to safely manage the equine or livestock animal,
taking into account the participant's representations of ability;
(3) the injury or death was caused by a dangerous latent
condition of land for which warning signs, written notices, or
verbal warnings were not conspicuously posted or provided to the
participant, and the land was owned, leased, or otherwise under
the control of the person at the time of the injury or death and
the person knew of the dangerous latent condition;
(4) the person committed an act or omission with wilful or
wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and that act
or omission caused the injury;
(5) the person intentionally caused the property damage, injury,
or death; or
(6) with respect to a livestock show, the injury or death
occurred as a result of an activity connected with the livestock
show and the person invited or otherwise allowed the injured or
deceased person to participate in the activity and the injured or
deceased person was not a participant as defined by Section
87.001(9)(B).
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, Sec. 4, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.
Sec. 87.005. WARNING NOTICE. (a) An equine professional shall
post and maintain a sign that contains the warning contained in
Subsection (c) if the professional manages or controls a stable,
corral, or arena where the professional conducts an equine
activity. The professional must post the sign in a clearly
visible location on or near the stable, corral, or arena.
(b) An equine professional shall include the warning contained
in Subsection (c) in every written contract that the professional
enters into with a participant for professional services,
instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an equine
animal. The warning must be included without regard to whether
the contract involves equine activities on or off the location or
site of the business of the equine professional. The warning must
be clearly readable.
(c) The warning posted by an equine professional under this
section must be as follows:
WARNING
UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE),
AN EQUINE PROFESSIONAL IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE
DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN EQUINE ACTIVITIES RESULTING FROM THE
INHERENT RISKS OF EQUINE ACTIVITIES.
(d) A livestock show sponsor shall post and maintain a sign that
contains the warning prescribed by Subsection (f) if the
livestock show sponsor manages or controls a stable, barn,
corral, or arena at which the livestock show sponsor conducts a
livestock show. The livestock show sponsor must post the sign in
a clearly visible location near the stable, barn, corral, or
arena.
(e) A livestock show sponsor shall include the warning
prescribed by Subsection (f) in every written contract that the
sponsor enters into with a livestock show participant. The
warning must be clearly readable.
(f) The warning posted by a livestock show sponsor under this
section must be as follows:
WARNING
UNDER TEXAS LAW (CHAPTER 87, CIVIL PRACTICE AND REMEDIES CODE), A
LIVESTOCK SHOW SPONSOR IS NOT LIABLE FOR AN INJURY TO OR THE
DEATH OF A PARTICIPANT IN A LIVESTOCK SHOW RESULTING FROM THE
INHERENT RISKS OF LIVESTOCK SHOW ACTIVITIES.
Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1,
1995. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, Sec. 5, eff.
Sept. 1, 2001.