2021 Georgia Code
Title 4 - Animals
Chapter 12 - Injuries From Equine, Livestock, or Llama Activities
§ 4-12-2. Definitions

As used in this chapter, the term:

1. "Engages in a llama activity" means riding, training, assisting in providing medical treatment of, driving, or being a passenger upon a llama, whether mounted or unmounted, or any person assisting a participant or show management. The term "engages in a llama activity" does not include being a spectator at a llama activity, except in cases where the spectator places himself or herself in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity to the llama activity.
2. "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, training, assisting in providing medical treatment of, driving, or being a passenger upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted, or any person assisting a participant or show management. The term "engages in an equine activity" does not include being a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where the spectator places himself or herself in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity to the equine activity.
3. "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
4. "Equine activity" means:
   1. Equine shows, fairs, competitions, performances, or parades that involve any or all breeds of equines and any of the equine disciplines, including, but not limited to, dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined training, rodeos, driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and western performance riding, endurance trail riding and western games, and hunting;
   2. Equine training or teaching activities, or both;
   3. Boarding equines;
   4. Riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine belonging to another, whether or not the owner has received some monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use of the equine or is permitting a prospective purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine;
   5. Rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any type however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
   6. Placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine; and
   7. Examining or administering medical treatment to an equine by a veterinarian.
5. "Equine activity sponsor" means an entity which sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for an equine activity, including, but not limited to, pony clubs; 4-H clubs; hunt clubs; riding clubs; school and college sponsored classes, programs, and activities; therapeutic riding programs; and operators, instructors, and promoters of equine facilities, including, but not limited to, stables, clubhouses, ponyride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the activity is held.
6. "Equine professional" means an entity engaged for compensation in:
   1. Instructing a participant or renting to a participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon the equine;
   2. Renting equipment or tack to a participant; or
   3. Examining or administering medical treatment to an equine as a veterinarian.
7. "Inherent risks of animal activities" means those dangers or conditions which are an integral part of equine activities, livestock activities, or llama activities, as the case may be, including, but not limited to:
   1. The propensity of the animal to behave in ways that may result in injury, harm, or death to persons on or around them;
   2. The unpredictability of the animal's reaction to such things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons, or other animals;
   3. Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
   4. Collisions with other animals or objects; and
   5. The potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant or others, such as failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting within his or her ability.

   (7.1) "Livestock" means swine, cattle, sheep, and goats.

   (7.2) "Livestock activity" means any event in which participants are engaged in the grazing, herding, feeding, branding, boarding, milking, inspecting, or evaluating of livestock, or taking part in any other activity that involves the care or maintenance of livestock wherein such participants are not charged a fee for their participation, unless such fees charged are used exclusively for educational, scholarship, or training purposes for participants who are 23 years of age or younger; the care and maintenance of the equipment, tack, or livestock in use during such participation; or for facility overhead costs.

   (7.3) "Livestock activity sponsor" means an entity sponsoring, organizing, or providing facilities for a livestock activity, and includes all employees of such entity.

   (7.4) "Livestock facility" means a property or facility at which a livestock activity is held.

   (7.5) "Livestock professional" means an entity owning livestock that is involved in a livestock activity.

8. "Llama" means a South American camelid which is an animal of the genus lama, commonly referred to as a "one llama," including llamas, alpacas, guanacos, and vicunas.
9. "Llama activity" means:
   1. Llama shows, fairs, competitions, performances, packing events, or parades that involve any or all breeds of llamas;
   2. Using llamas to pull carts or to carry packs or other items;
   3. Using llamas to pull travois-type carriers during rescue or emergency situations;
   4. Llama training or teaching activities or both;
   5. Taking llamas on public relations trips or visits to schools or nursing homes;
   6. Participating in commercial packing trips in which participants pay a llama professional to be a guide on a hike leading llamas;
   7. Boarding llamas;
   8. Riding, inspecting, or evaluating a llama belonging to another, whether or not the owner has received some monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use of the llama or is permitting a prospective purchaser of the llama to ride, inspect, or evaluate the llama;
   9. Using llamas in wool production;
   10. Rides, trips, or other llama activities of any type however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by a llama activity sponsor; and
   11. Trimming the nails of a llama.
10. "Llama activity sponsor" means an entity which sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for a llama activity, including, but not limited to, llama clubs; 4-H clubs; hunt clubs; riding clubs; school and college sponsored classes, programs, and activities; therapeutic riding programs; and operators, instructors, and promoters of llama facilities, including, but not limited to, stables, clubhouses, fairs, and arenas at which the activity is held.
11. "Llama professional" means an entity engaged for compensation:
    1. In instructing a participant or renting to a participant a llama for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon the llama; or
    2. In renting equipment or tack to a participant.
12. "Participant" means any person, whether amateur or professional, who engages in an equine activity, a livestock activity, or a llama activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in such activity.

(Code 1981, §4-12-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1991, p. 680, § 1; Ga. L. 1995, p. 335, § 2; Ga. L. 2013, p. 141, § 4/HB 79; Ga. L. 2017, p. 134, § 1/HB 50.)

The 2013 amendment, effective April 24, 2013, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in paragraph (10).

The 2017 amendment, effective July 1, 2017, in paragraphs (5) and (10), near the beginning, substituted "entity" for "individual, group, club, partnership, or corporation, whether or not the sponsor is operating for profit or nonprofit,"; in introductory paragraphs (6) and (11), substituted "an entity" for "a person"; in introductory paragraph (7), substituted "'Inherent risks of animal activities'" for "'Inherent risks of equine activities' or 'inherent risks of llama activities'", near the beginning, and inserted ", livestock activities," near the end; added paragraphs (7.1) through (7.5); in paragraph (10), twice inserted a comma following "but not limited to" and removed the hyphen from "college-sponsored"; and, in paragraph (12), substituted "activity, a livestock activity, or" for "activity or who engages in". See Editor's notes for applicability.

- Ga. L. 2017, p. 134, § 2/HB 50, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that the amendment of this Code section by that Act shall not apply to any cause of action arising prior to July 1, 2017.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

No dangerous latent condition.

- Rider's injuries, sustained when a portion of a hitching rail to which a horse was tied became detached and fell on the rider after the horse became spooked, resulted from the "inherent risks of equine activities," as provided in O.C.G.A. § 4-12-2(7), and thus were in the scope of the Injuries From Equine or Llama Activities Act. While the rider's mother attempted to show that the hitching rail was defectively constructed and thus amounted to a dangerous latent condition, the mother failed to provide such proof; the ranch's evidence showed that neither the owner or the maintenance worker knew anything about the hitching rail at issue, that the hitching rails were inspected prior to the start of each summer camp, and that the rail had not shown any indication of instability. Mays v. Valley View Ranch, Inc., 317 Ga. App. 143, 730 S.E.2d 592 (2012), cert. denied, No. S12C1980, 2012 Ga. LEXIS 980 (Ga. 2012).

- In a case involving immunity provided by Georgia's Injuries From Equine or Llama Activities Act, O.C.G.A. § 4-12-1 et seq., the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the defendant, the individual who provided the horses, because the plaintiff camp counselor's injuries resulted from the inherent risks of equine activities; the defendant provided the horse to the camp, not the plaintiff, and the supervisor of the camp's equestrian program, not the defendant, assigned the plaintiff to ride the particular horse on the day the plaintiff was injured; and the defendant did not willfully or wantonly disregard the plaintiff's safety as there was no evidence of previous issues or incidents with the horse, and the plaintiff had undisputed riding experience. Gadd v. Warwick, 339 Ga. App. 802, 792 S.E.2d 773 (2016).

Cited in Muller v. English, 221 Ga. App. 672, 472 S.E.2d 448 (1996); Young v. Brandt, 225 Ga. App. 889, 485 S.E.2d 519 (1997).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Validity, construction, and application of statutory exemptions from liability for persons injured by equine or equestrian activities, 79 A.L.R.6th 487.