PRINTER'S NO. 357
No. 344 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY MAITLAND, NICKOL, S. MILLER, HERSHEY, EGOLF,
FLICK, HUTCHINSON, MASLAND, STERN, E. Z. TAYLOR AND TRUE,
FEBRUARY 8, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND RURAL AFFAIRS,
FEBRUARY 8, 1999
AN ACT
1 Providing for civil liability relating to equine activities, for
2 exceptions thereto and for the posting and furnishing of
3 certain notices.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Equine
8 Activity Liability Law.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Engages in an equine activity." The term includes riding,
14 training, assisting in veterinary treatment of, driving or being
15 a passenger upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted,
16 visiting or touring or utilizing an equine facility as part of
17 an organized event or activity, or any person assisting a
1 participant or show management. The term does not include being
2 a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where the
3 spectator places himself or a minor or causes another to be
4 placed in an unauthorized area or in immediate proximity to the
5 equine activity.
6 "Equine." A horse, pony, mule or donkey.
7 "Equine activity."
8 (1) Equine shows, fairs, competitions, performances or
9 parades that involve any or all breeds of equines and any of
10 the equine disciplines, including, but not limited to,
11 dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, Grand Prix jumping,
12 three-day events, combined training, rodeos, riding, driving,
13 pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and western
14 performance riding, endurance trail riding, gymkhana games
15 and hunting.
16 (2) Equine training or teaching activities, or both.
17 (3) Boarding equines, including normal daily care
18 thereof.
19 (4) Riding, inspecting or evaluating by a purchaser or
20 an agent an equine belonging to another whether or not the
21 owner has received some monetary consideration or other
22 things of value for the use of the equine or is permitting a
23 prospective purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect or
24 evaluate the equine.
25 (5) Rides, trips, hunts or other equine activities of
26 any type, however informal or impromptu, that are sponsored
27 by an equine activity sponsor.
28 (6) Placing or replacing horseshoes or hoof trimming on
29 an equine.
30 (7) Providing or assisting in veterinary treatment.
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1 "Equine activity sponsor." An individual, group, club,
2 partnership or corporation, whether or not the sponsor is
3 operating for profit or not for profit, which sponsors,
4 organizes or provides the facilities for an equine activity,
5 including, but not limited to, pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt
6 clubs, riding clubs, school-sponsored and college-sponsored
7 classes, programs and activities, therapeutic riding programs,
8 stable and farm owners and operators, instructors and promoters
9 or equine facilities, including, but not limited to, farms,
10 stables, clubhouses, pony ride strings, fairs and arenas at
11 which the activity is held.
12 "Equine professional." A person engaged for compensation in
13 any of the following:
14 (1) Instructing a participant or renting to a
15 participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving or
16 being a passenger upon the equine.
17 (2) Renting equipment or tack to a participant.
18 (3) Providing daily care of horses boarded at an equine
19 facility.
20 (4) Training an equine.
21 "Harm." Injury, injury resulting in death or death.
22 "Minor." Any individual under the age of 15 years.
23 "Participant." Any person, whether amateur or professional,
24 who engages in an equine activity whether or not a fee is paid
25 to participate in the equine activity.
26 Section 3. Liability standard.
27 (a) General rule.--An equine activities sponsor, an equine
28 professional or other person, which shall include a corporation
29 or partnership, shall not be liable for harm to a participant
30 resulting from an equine activity unless the conduct of the
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1 person falls substantially below the standards generally
2 practiced and accepted in like circumstances by similar persons
3 rendering such services and unless it is shown that the person
4 did an act or omitted the doing of an act which the person was
5 under a recognized duty to another to do, knowing or having
6 reason to know that the act or omission created a substantial
7 risk of actual harm to the person or property of another. It
8 shall be insufficient to impose liability to establish only that
9 the conduct of the person fell below ordinary standards of care.
10 (b) Exceptions.--
11 (1) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
12 affecting or modifying any existing legal basis for
13 determining the liability or any defense thereto of any
14 person not covered by the standard of negligence established
15 by this section.
16 (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
17 affecting or modifying the doctrine of assumption of risk or
18 contributory fault on the part of the participant.
19 (3) Nothing in this section shall be construed as
20 affecting or modifying the volunteer-in-public-service
21 negligence standard found in 42 Pa.C.S. § 8332.4 (relating to
22 volunteer-in-public-service negligence standard).
23 (4) The negligence standard created by this section
24 shall not be deemed to abrogate or lessen any immunity or
25 other protection against liability granted by statute or
26 court decision.
27 (5) Nothing in this section shall prevent or limit the
28 liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine
29 professional or any other person if the participant who was
30 harmed was a minor and the equine activity sponsor, equine
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1 professional or other person:
2 (i) provided the equipment or tack and knew or
3 should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty,
4 and such equipment or tack was faulty to the extent that
5 it did cause the injury; or
6 (ii) provided the equine and failed to make
7 reasonable and prudent efforts to determine the ability
8 of the participant to engage safely in the equine
9 activity and determine the ability of the participant to
10 safely manage the particular equine based on
11 representations of the participant's ability by the
12 participant or an adult accompanying the participant.
13 (6) Nothing in this section shall prevent or limit the
14 liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine
15 professional or any other person if the equine activity
16 sponsor, equine professional or other person owns, leases,
17 rents, has authorized use of or is otherwise in lawful
18 possession and control of the land or facilities upon which
19 the participant sustained injuries because of a dangerous
20 latent condition which was known or should have been known to
21 the equine activity sponsor, equine professional or person
22 and for which warning signs were not conspicuously posted.
23 Section 4. Posting and notification.
24 (a) Posting requirements.--Every equine professional shall
25 post and maintain signs which contain the warning notice
26 specified in subsection (b). An equine professional who fails to
27 post and maintain signs as required by this section forfeits any
28 of the benefits of this act. The signs shall be placed in a
29 clearly visible location in the proximity of the equine
30 activity. The warning notice specified in subsection (b) shall
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1 appear on the sign in black letters, with each letter to be a
2 minimum of one inch in height. Every written contract entered
3 into by an equine professional for the providing of professional
4 services, instruction or the rental of equipment or tack or an
5 equine to a participant, whether or not the contract involves
6 equine activities on or off the location or site of the equine
7 professional's business, shall contain in clearly readable print
8 the warning notice specified in subsection (b). An equine
9 professional may not benefit from this act's heightened
10 liability standard for activities covered by a written contract
11 which does not include the warning notice specified in
12 subsection (b).
13 (b) Content of notice.--The signs and contracts described in
14 subsection (a) shall contain the following warning notice:
15 WARNING: Equines (horses, ponies, mules or donkeys) are
16 potentially dangerous animals, and there are inherent
17 risks relating to activities involving them. You may be
18 bitten, kicked, stepped upon, thrown or subjected to
19 other actions resulting in injuries. Pennsylvania's
20 Equine Activity Liability Law assumes that individuals
21 over 14 years of age are aware of those risks and will
22 act in such a way as to minimize those risks.
23 Section 5. Effective date.
24 This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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