2005 Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY ARISING FROM EQUINE ACTIVITIES OR LIVESTOCK SHOWS

CIVIL PRACTICE & REMEDIES CODE

CHAPTER 87. LIABILITY ARISING FROM EQUINE ACTIVITIES OR LIVESTOCK 
SHOWS


	§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 
2001.


	§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.           


	§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 
2001.


	§ 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, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, § 4, eff. Sept. 1, 
2001.


	§ 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:

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.

WARNING
	(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:

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.

WARNING

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.  
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, § 5, eff. Sept. 1, 
2001.