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Massachusetts
GENERAL
LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS
PART I.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE GOVERNMENT.
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TITLE XIX.
AGRICULTURE AND CONSERVATION.
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CHAPTER 128. AGRICULTURE.
Chapter 128: Section 2D. Liability of equine professionals and equine
activity sponsors.
Section 2D. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
words shall have the following meanings:
"Engage
in an equine activity'', riding, training, assisting in
veterinary treatment of, driving, or being a passenger upon
an equine, whether mounted or unmounted, visiting or touring
or utilizing an equine facility as part of an organized
event or activity, or assisting a participant or show management.
The term "engage in an equine activity'' shall
not include being a spectator at an equine activity, except
in cases where the spectator places himself in an unauthorized
area or in immediate proximity to the equine activity.
"Equine'', a horse, pony, mule, or donkey.
"Equine
activity''
(1) 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, riding,
driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English
and western performance riding, endurance trail riding,
gymkhana games, and hunting;
(2) equine training or teaching
activities or both;
(3) boarding equines; including normal
daily care thereof;
(4) riding, inspecting, or evaluating
by a purchaser or an agent an equine belonging to another,
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;
(5) rides, trips, hunts
or other equine activities of any type however informal
or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
(6) placing or replacing horseshoes or hoof trimming on
an equine; and
(7) providing or assisting in veterinary
treatment.
"Equine
activity sponsor'', an individual, group, club, partnership,
or corporation, whether or not the sponsor is operating
for profit or nonprofit, which sponsors, organizes, or provides
the facilities for, an equine activity, including but not
limited to: pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding clubs,
school and college-sponsored classes, programs and activities,
therapeutic riding programs, stable and farm owners and
operators, instructors, and promoters of equine facilities,
including but not limited to farms, stables, clubhouses,
pony ride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the activity
is held.
"Equine
professional'', a person engaged for compensation:
(1) in instructing a participant or renting to a participant
an equine for the purpose of riding, driving or being a
passenger upon the equine;
(2) in renting equipment or tack
to a participant;
(3) to provide daily care of horses boarded
at an equine facility; or
(4) to train an equine.
"Inherent risks of equine activities'', dangers or conditions which
are an integral part of equine activities, including but
not limited to:
(1) The propensity of equines to behave in ways that may result
in injury, harm, or death to persons on or around them;
(2) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such
things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects,
persons, or other animals;
(3) certain hazards such as surface
and subsurface conditions;
(4) collisions with other equines
or objects;
(5) the potential of a participant to act 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 ability.
"Participant'',
any person, whether amateur or professional, who engages
in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate
in such equine activity.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (c), an equine activity
sponsor, an equine professional, or any other person, which
shall include a corporation or partnership, shall not be
liable for an injury to or the death of a participant resulting
from the inherent risks of equine activities and, except
as provided in said subsection (c), no participant nor participant's
representative shall make any claim against, maintain an
action against, or recover from an equine activity sponsor,
an equine professional, or any other person for injury,
loss, damage, or death of the participant resulting from
any of the inherent risks of equine activities.
(c) This section shall not apply to the racing meetings as defined
by section one of chapter one hundred and twenty-eight A.
Nothing in subsection (b) shall prevent or limit the liability of
an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or any
other person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or person:
(1) (i) provided the equipment or tack, and knew or should have
known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and such equipment
or tack was faulty to the extent that it did cause the injury;
or (ii) provided the equine and failed to make reasonable
and prudent efforts to determine the ability of the participant
to engage safely in the equine activity, and determine the
ability of the participant to safely manage the particular
equine based on the participant's representations of his
ability;
(2) owns, leases, rents, has authorized use of, or is otherwise
in lawful possession and control of the land, or facilities
upon which the participant sustained injuries because of
a dangerous latent condition which was known to the equine
activity sponsor, equine professional, or person and for
which warning signs, pursuant to subsection (d), have not
been conspicuously posted;
(3) commits an act of omission that constitutes willful or wanton
disregard for the safety of the participant, and that act
of omission caused the injury; or
(4) intentionally injures the participant.
(d) (1) Every equine professional shall post and maintain signs
which contain the warning notice specified in paragraph
(2). Such signs shall be placed in a clearly visible location
in the proximity of the equine activity. The warning notice
specified in said paragraph (2) shall appear on the sign
in black letters, with each letter to be a minimum of one
inch in height. Every written contract entered into by an
equine professional for the providing of professional services,
instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or an equine
to a participant, whether or not the contract involves equine
activities on or off the location or site of the equine
professional's business, shall contain in clearly readable
print the warning notice specified in said paragraph (2).
(2) The signs and contracts described in paragraph (1) shall
contain the following notice:
WARNING
Under Massachusetts law, 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,
pursuant to section 2D of chapter 128 of the General Laws.
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