HF 1445

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to civil actions; limiting liability for 
  1.3             personal injury or death caused by equine activities; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 604A.12, 
  1.5             subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in 
  1.6             Minnesota Statutes, chapter 604A. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 604A.12, 
  1.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.10     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] (a) For purposes of this 
  1.11  section, the following terms have the meanings given them. 
  1.12     (b) "Inherent risks of livestock activities" means dangers 
  1.13  or conditions that are an integral part of livestock activities, 
  1.14  including: 
  1.15     (1) the propensity of livestock to behave in ways that may 
  1.16  result in death or injury to persons on or around them, such as 
  1.17  kicking, biting, or bucking; 
  1.18     (2) the unpredictability of livestock's reaction to things 
  1.19  like sound, sudden movement, unfamiliar objects, persons, or 
  1.20  other animals; 
  1.21     (3) natural hazards such as surface or subsurface 
  1.22  conditions; or 
  1.23     (4) collisions with other livestock or objects. 
  1.24     (c) "Livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, horses, ponies, 
  1.25  donkeys, mules, hinnies, goats, buffalo, llamas, or poultry. 
  1.26     (d) "Livestock activity" means an activity involving the 
  2.1   maintenance or use of livestock, regardless of whether the 
  2.2   activity is open to the general public, provided the activity is 
  2.3   not performed for profit.  Livestock activity includes: 
  2.4      (1) livestock production; 
  2.5      (2) loading, unloading, or transporting livestock; 
  2.6      (3) livestock shows, fairs, competitions, performances, 
  2.7   races, rodeos, or parades; 
  2.8      (4) livestock training or teaching activities; 
  2.9      (5) boarding, shoeing, or grooming livestock; or 
  2.10     (6) riding or inspecting livestock or livestock equipment. 
  2.11     (e) "Livestock activity sponsor" means a person who 
  2.12  sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for a livestock 
  2.13  activity that is open to the general public. 
  2.14     (f) "Participant" means a person who directly and 
  2.15  intentionally engages in a livestock activity.  Participant does 
  2.16  not include a spectator who is in an authorized area. 
  2.17     Sec. 2.  [604A.121] [EQUINE ACTIVITIES; IMMUNITY FROM 
  2.18  LIABILITY.] 
  2.19     Subdivision 1.  [DEFINITIONS.] For purposes of this 
  2.20  section, the following terms have the meanings given them. 
  2.21     (a) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, training, 
  2.22  assisting in medical treatment of, driving, or being a passenger 
  2.23  upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted, or any person 
  2.24  assisting a participant or show management.  The term "engages 
  2.25  in an equine activity" does not include being a spectator at an 
  2.26  equine activity, except in cases where the spectator occupies an 
  2.27  unauthorized area in immediate proximity to the equine activity. 
  2.28     (b) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny. 
  2.29     (c) "Equine activity" means: 
  2.30     (1) equine shows, fairs, competitions, performances, or 
  2.31  parades that involve any or all breeds of equines and any of the 
  2.32  equine disciplines, including, but not limited to, dressage, 
  2.33  hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix jumping, three-day 
  2.34  events, combined training, rodeos, driving, pulling, cutting, 
  2.35  polo, steeplechasing, English and western performance riding, 
  2.36  endurance trail riding and western games, and hunting; 
  3.1      (2) equine training or teaching activities or both; 
  3.2      (3) boarding equines; 
  3.3      (4) riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine belonging 
  3.4   to another, whether or not the owner has received money or other 
  3.5   thing of value for the use of the equine or is permitting a 
  3.6   prospective purchaser of the equine to ride, inspect, or 
  3.7   evaluate the equine; 
  3.8      (5) rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any 
  3.9   type, however informal, that are sponsored by an equine activity 
  3.10  sponsor; or 
  3.11     (6) placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine. 
  3.12     (d) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual, group, 
  3.13  club, partnership, or corporation, whether or not the sponsor is 
  3.14  operating for profit or not for profit, which sponsors, 
  3.15  organizes, or provides the facilities for, an equine activity, 
  3.16  including but not limited to: 
  3.17     (1) pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding clubs, school 
  3.18  and college-sponsored classes, programs and activities, 
  3.19  therapeutic riding programs; and 
  3.20     (2) operators, instructors, and promoters of equine 
  3.21  facilities, including but not limited to stables, clubhouses, 
  3.22  ponyride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the activity is 
  3.23  held. 
  3.24     (e) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for 
  3.25  compensation in: 
  3.26     (1) instructing a participant or renting to a participant 
  3.27  an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a 
  3.28  passenger upon the equine; or 
  3.29     (2) renting equipment or tack to a participant. 
  3.30     (f) "Inherent risks of equine activities" means those 
  3.31  dangers or conditions which are an integral part of equine 
  3.32  activities, including but not limited to: 
  3.33     (1) the propensity of an equine to behave in ways that may 
  3.34  result in injury, harm, or death to persons on or around them; 
  3.35     (2) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such 
  3.36  things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, 
  4.1   persons, or other animals; 
  4.2      (3) certain hazards such as surface and subsurface 
  4.3   conditions; 
  4.4      (4) collisions with other equines or objects; 
  4.5      (5) the potential of a participant to act in a negligent 
  4.6   manner that may contribute to injury to the participant or 
  4.7   others, such as failing to maintain control over the animal or 
  4.8   not acting within the participant's ability. 
  4.9      (g) "Participant" means any individual, whether amateur or 
  4.10  professional, who engages in an equine activity, whether or not 
  4.11  a fee is paid to participate in the equine activity. 
  4.12     Subd. 2.  [IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY.] Except as provided in 
  4.13  subdivision 4, an equine activity sponsor, an equine 
  4.14  professional, or any other person, is not liable for an injury 
  4.15  to or the death of a participant resulting from the inherent 
  4.16  risks of equine activities. 
  4.17     Subd. 3.  [EXCEPTIONS.] This section does not relieve an 
  4.18  equine professional or any other person of liability if the 
  4.19  equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or person: 
  4.20     (1) provided the equipment or tack, and knew or should have 
  4.21  known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and the equipment 
  4.22  or tack was faulty to the extent that it caused the injury or 
  4.23  death; 
  4.24     (2) provided the equine and failed to make reasonable 
  4.25  efforts to determine the ability of the participant to engage 
  4.26  safely in the equine activity, or to safely manage the 
  4.27  particular equine based on the participant's representations of 
  4.28  the participant's ability; 
  4.29     (3) owns, leases, rents, or otherwise is in lawful 
  4.30  possession and control of the land or facilities upon which the 
  4.31  participant sustained injuries because of a human-made, 
  4.32  dangerous, latent condition which was known to the equine 
  4.33  activity sponsor, equine professional, or person and for which 
  4.34  warning signs have not been conspicuously posted; 
  4.35     (4) commits an act or omission that constitutes willful or 
  4.36  wanton disregard for the safety of the participant, and that act 
  5.1   or omission caused the injury; or 
  5.2      (5) intentionally injures the participant. 
  5.3      Subd. 4.  [POSTING NOTICE.] An equine professional shall 
  5.4   post and maintain signs that contain the warning notice in this 
  5.5   subdivision.  The signs shall be placed in a clearly visible 
  5.6   location on or near stables, corrals, or arenas where the equine 
  5.7   professional conducts equine activities if the stables, corrals, 
  5.8   or arenas are owned, managed, or controlled by the equine 
  5.9   professional.  The warning notice specified in this subdivision 
  5.10  shall appear on the sign in black letters, with each letter at 
  5.11  least one inch in height.  Every written contract entered into 
  5.12  by an equine professional for providing professional services, 
  5.13  instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an equine to 
  5.14  a participant, whether or not the contract involves equine 
  5.15  activities on or off the location or site of the equine 
  5.16  professional's business, shall contain in clearly readable print 
  5.17  the warning notice specified in this subdivision: 
  5.18                             "WARNING
  5.19     Under Minnesota Law, an equine professional is not liable 
  5.20     for an injury to or the death of a participant in equine 
  5.21     activities resulting from the inherent risks of equine 
  5.22     activities, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 
  5.23     604A.121." 
  5.24     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE; APPLICATION.] 
  5.25     Sections 1 and 2 are effective August 1, 1999, and apply to 
  5.26  actions filed on or after that date.