S-306                 _______________________________________________

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 5305

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                               51st Legislature                              1989 Regular Session

By Senators Madsen, Metcalf, Hansen, McDonald, Benitz, Warnke, Matson, Pullen, Amondson, West and Newhouse

Read first time 1/20/89 and referred to Committee on   Law & Justice.

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 numerous inherent risks involved in such activities.  The legislature also finds that the state and its citizens derive numerous personal and economic benefits from such activities.  To encourage owners, operators, and promoters to sponsor such equine activities, the legislature declares that it is the public policy of the state that no person engaged in equine activities shall recover from any person for injuries resulting from the inherent risks of such equine activities or pertaining to such animals.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply to sections 1 through 4 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; (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; and (f) equine racing.

          (3) "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 kick, bite, buck, and otherwise 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.

          (4) "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 conscious and reckless disregard of the probable consequences.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     Operators and promoters of equine activities or equine facilities, including but not limited to 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 or promoter.  The immunity provided by sections 1 through 5 of this act shall not be impaired by proof that no such signs were posted or were seen by the injured person.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Section 3 of this act applies only to causes of action filed on or after the effective date of this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     Sections 1 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 4.24 RCW.