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:
WARNING
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.
(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:
WARNING
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.
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.
