S-2012               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 5305

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Law & Justice (originally sponsored by Senators Madsen, Metcalf, Hansen, McDonald, Benitz, Warnke, Matson, Pullen, Amondson, West and Newhouse)

Read first time 2/24/89.

AN ACT Relating to liability for injuries or death while engaged in equine activities; and adding new sections to chapter 4.24 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature recognizes that persons who participate in equine activities may incur injuries as a result of the risks involved in such activities.  The legislature also finds that the state and its citizens derive numerous economic and personal benefits from such activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply to sections 1 through 5 of this act.

          (1) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.

          (2) "Equine activities" means:  (a) 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, endurance trail riding and western games, and hunting; (b) training and/or teaching activities; (c) boarding equines; (d) riding an equine belonging to another whether or not the owner has received some monetary consideration or other thing of equivalent value for the use of the equine or is permitting a prospective purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine except as provided in section 4 of this act; and (e) rides, trips, hunts, or other equine occasions of any type, however informal or impromptu, connected with any equine or nonequine group or club, including but not limited to pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding clubs, school and college classes and programs, and therapeutic riding programs.

          (3) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for profit in instructing participants or renting equine animals to a participant for the purpose of riding.

          (4) "Inherent risks of equine activities" means those dangers or conditions which are an integral part of equine activities, including but not limited to:  (a) The propensity of an equine animal to behave in ways that may result in injury, harm, or death to persons on or around them; (b) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons, or other animals; (c) terrain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions; (d) collisions with other equines or objects; (e) the potential of a participant in an equine activity acting 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.

          (5) "Participant" means a person, whether amateur or professional, who is engaged in an equine activity, mounted or otherwise; or any person assisting such participant or riding with such participant as a passenger.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     A person, which shall include a corporation or partnership, is not liable for personal injuries to or death of a participant resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities and no person shall make any claim against, maintain any action against, or recover from such person for injury, loss, or damage resulting from any of the inherent risks of equine activities, unless the acts or omissions of the person constitute a willful or wanton disregard of the probable consequences.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The immunity provided for in section 3 of this act shall not apply to an equine professional who has failed to make a reasonable and prudent  effort to determine the ability of a participant to engage safely in the equine activity and to determine the ability of the animal to behave safely with the participant.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Operators, instructors, and promoters of equine activities or equine facilities, including stables, clubhouses, ponyride strings, fairs, and arenas, and persons engaged in instructing or renting equine animals shall post plainly visible signs at one or more prominent locations which shall include a warning of the inherent risks of the equine activity and the limitations on liability of the operator, instructor, or promoter.  Such signs shall include but not be limited to sections 2, 3, and 4 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     Nothing in sections 3, 4, and 5 of this act shall affect the liability set forth in chapter 16.04, 16.13, or 16.16 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     Sections 1 through 5 of this act apply only to causes of action filed on or after the effective date of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.     Sections 1 through 7 of this act are each added to chapter 4.24 RCW.