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Maine
Title 7: AGRICULTURE AND ANIMALS
Part 9: ANIMAL WELFARE (HEADING: PL 1987, c. 383, @3 (new))
http://janus.state.me.us/legis/statutes/7/title7ch743sec0.html
§ 4101. Definitions
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates,
the following terms have the following meanings.
1 through 3 were repealed in 1999.
4. Equine. "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule,
donkey or hinny. [1999, c. 498, §2 (amd).]
5. Equine activity. "Equine activity" includes
but is not limited to the following:
A. Riding or driving an equine or riding as a passenger
on or in a vehicle powered by an equine; [1999, c. 498,
§2 (amd).]
B. Equine training, teaching or testing activities; [1999,
c. 498, §2 (amd).]
C. Boarding or keeping an equine, including, but not limited
to, normal daily care of an equine; [1999, c. 498, §2
(amd).]
D. Riding, inspecting or evaluating an equine belonging
to another person, whether or not the owner has received
some monetary consideration or other thing of value for
the use of the equine or is permitting a prospective purchaser
of the equine to ride, inspect or evaluate the equine; [1999,
c. 498, §2 (amd).]
E. Rides, trips, hunts or other equine activities of any
type, however informal or impromptu, that are sponsored
by an equine activity sponsor; [1999, c. 498, §2 (amd).]
F. Providing or assisting in the provision of hoof care,
including, but not limited to, horseshoeing; [1999, c. 498,
§2 (new).]
G. Trailering, loading, unloading or transporting an equine;
[1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
H. Providing or assisting in the provision of veterinary
treatment or maintenance care for an equine; [1999, c. 498,
§2 (new).]
I. Conducting or assisting in the conducting of procedures
necessary to breed an equine by means of artificial insemination
or otherwise; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
J. Participating in an equine activity sponsored by an equine
activity sponsor; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
K. Participating or assisting a participant in an equine
activity at an equine event; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
L. Managing or assisting in the managing of an equine in
an equine event; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
M. Showing or displaying an equine; [1999, c. 498, §2
(new).]
N. Operating or assisting in the operation of an equine
event; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
O. Providing or assisting in the provision of equine dental
care; and [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
P. Participating in racing. [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
[1999, c. 498, §2 (amd).]
6. Equine activity sponsor. "Equine activity sponsor"
means an individual, group, club, partnership, corporation
or other entity, whether operating for profit or nonprofit,
that sponsors, organizes or provides the facilities for
an equine activity, including, but not limited to: pony
clubs; 4-H clubs; field trial clubs; hunt clubs; riding
clubs; classes or programs sponsored by a school or college;
therapeutic riding programs; and operators, instructors
and promoters of equine facilities at which equine activities
are held, including, but not limited to, stables, clubhouses,
ponyride strings, fairs and arenas. [1999, c. 498, §2
(amd).]
6-A. Equine event. "Equine event" means an event
in which an equine activity occurs, including, but not limited
to, fairs, competitions, performances or parades that involve
any breed of equine and any of the equine disciplines, including,
but not limited to, dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows,
grand prix jumping, 3-day events, combined training, 4-H
events, Pony Club events, rodeos, driving, pulling, cutting,
reining, team penning, barrel racing, polo, steeplechasing,
endurance or nonendurance trail riding, English and western
performance riding, games, packing, recreational riding
and hunting. [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
7. Equine professional. "Equine professional"
means a person engaged for compensation:
A. In instructing a participant or renting to a participant
an equine for the purpose of riding, driving or being a
passenger on the equine; [1999, c. 498, §2 (amd).]
B. In renting equipment or tack to a participant; [1999,
c. 498, §2 (amd).]
C. In providing daily care of equines boarded at an equine
facility; or [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
D. In training an equine. [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
[1999, c. 498, §2 (amd).]
7-A. Inherent risks of equine activities. "Inherent
risks of equine activities" means those dangers and
conditions that are an integral part of equine activities,
including, but not limited to:
A. The propensity of an equine to behave in ways that may
result in damages to property or injury, harm or death to
persons on or around the equine. Such equine behavior includes,
but is not limited to, bucking, shying, kicking, running,
biting, stumbling, rearing, falling and stepping on; [1999,
c. 498, §2 (new).]
B. The unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such
things as sounds, sudden movements and unfamiliar objects,
persons or other animals; [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
C. Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
[1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
D. Collisions with other equines or objects; and [1999,
c. 498, §2 (new).]
E. Unpredictable or erratic actions by others relating to
equine behavior. [1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
[1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
8. Participant. "Participant" means a person,
whether amateur or professional, who directly engages in
an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate
in the equine activity. [1991, c. 779, §41 (new); §60
(aff).]
9. Spectator. "Spectator" means a person who is
in the vicinity of an equine activity but who is not a participant.
[1999, c. 498, §2 (new).]
The Revisor's Office cannot provide legal advice or interpretation
of Maine law to the public. If you need legal advice, please
consult a qualified attorney.
Office of the Revisor of Statutes
7 State House Station
State House Room 108
Augusta, Maine 04333-0007
§ 4102 Boarding stables and commercial riding facilities;
equine activities [repealed in 1999]
§ 4103 Liability for equine activities [repealed in
1999]
§ 4103-A. Liability for equine activities
1. Liability. Except as provided in subsection 2, an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional or any other person
engaged in an equine activity is not liable for any property
damage or damages arising from the personal injury or death
of a participant or spectator resulting from the inherent
risks of equine activities. Except as provided in subsection
2, a person may not make any claim or recover from any person
for any property damage or damages for personal injury or
death resulting from the inherent risks of equine activities.
Each participant and spectator in an equine activity expressly
assumes the risk and legal responsibility for any property
damage or damages arising from personal injury or death
that results from the inherent risk of equine activities.
Each participant has the sole responsibility for knowing
the range of that person's ability to manage, care for and
control a particular equine or perform a particular equine
activity, It is the duty of each participant to act within
the limits of the participant's own ability, to maintain
reasonable control of the particular equine at all times
while participating in an equine activity, to heed all warnings
and to refrain from acting in a manner that may cause or
contribute to the injury of any person or damage to property.
2. Exceptions; participants. Nothing in subsection 1 prevents
or limits the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an
equine professional or any other person engaged in an equine
activity, if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional
or person:
A. Provided the equipment or tack, and knew or should have
known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and the equipment
or tack was faulty to the extent that it did cause the injury;
B. Owns, leases, rents or otherwise is in lawful possession
and control of the land or facilities upon which the participant
sustained injuries because of a dangerous latent condition
that was known or should have been known to the equine activity
sponsor, equine professional or person;
C. Commits an act or omission that constitutes reckless
disregard for the safety of others and that act or omission
caused the injury. For the purposes of this section, "reckless"
has the same meaning as "recklessly," defined
in Title 17-A, section 35, subsection 3, paragraph A;
D. Intentionally injures the participant.
3. Assumption of risk. In a personal injury action against
an equine professional, a defense or immunity described
in subsection 1 may be asserted only if the person injured
in the course of an equine activity:
A. Had actual knowledge of the inherent risks of equine
activities;
B. Had professed to have sufficient knowledge or experience
to be on notice of the inherent risks; or
C. Had been notified of the inherent risks and the limitations
of liability.
For the purposes of this subsection, notice of the inherent
risks of equine activity may be satisfied either by a statement
signed by the person injured or by a sign or signs prominently
displayed at the place where the equine activity was initiated.
The statement or sign must contain at least the following
information.
"WARNING
Under Maine law, an equine professional has limited liability
for an injury or death resulting from the inherent risks
of equine activities."
The message on a sign must be in black letters at least
one inch in height and the sign or signs must be placed
in a clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals
or arenas where the equine professional conducts equine
activities.
4. Exceptions; persons who are not participants. Nothing
in subsection 1 prevents or limits the liability of an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional or any other person
engaged in an equine activity, if that equine activity:
A. Causes injury or death to a person who is not a participant
and who is in a place where a reasonable person would not
expect an equine activity to occur; or
B. Causes injury or death to a spectator and that spectator
was in a place designated or intended by an activity sponsor
as a place for spectators.
Enacted in 1991, amended in 1993 and 1999.
Reviewed by AAHS in April 2001.
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