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Michigan
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1662 Definitions. [M.S.A. 12.418(2) ]
Sec. 2. As used in this act:
(a) “Engage in an equine activity”
means riding, training, driving, breeding, being a passenger
upon, or providing or assisting in veterinary treatment
of an equine, whether mounted or unmounted. Engage in an
equine activity includes visiting, touring, or utilizing
an equine facility as part of an organized event or activity
including the breeding of equines, or assisting a participant
or show management. Engage in equine activity does not include
spectating at an equine activity, unless the spectator places
himself or herself in an unauthorized area and in immediate
proximity to the equine activity.
(b) “Equine” means horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(c) “Equine activity” means any of the following:
(i) An equine show, fair, competition, performance, or parade
including, but not limited to, dressage, a hunter and jumper
horse show, grand prix jumping, a 3-day event, combined
training, a rodeo, riding, driving, pulling, cutting, polo,
steeplechasing, English and western performance riding,
endurance trail riding, gymkhana games, and hunting.
(ii) Equine training or teaching activities.
(iii) Boarding equines, including their normal daily care.
(iv) Breeding equines, including the normal daily care and activities
associated with breeding equines.
(v) Riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine belonging to
another, whether or not the owner receives monetary consideration
or another thing of value for the use of the equine or is
permitting a prospective purchaser of the equine or an agent
to ride, inspect, or evaluate the equine.
(vi) A ride, trip, hunt, or other activity, however informal
or impromptu, that is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor.
(vii) Placing or replacing a horseshoe on or hoof trimming of
an equine.
(d) “Equine activity sponsor” means an individual,
group, club, partnership, or corporation, whether or not
operating for profit, that sponsors, organizes, or provides
the facilities for an equine activity, including, but not
limited to, a pony club; 4-H club; hunt club; riding club;
school- or college-sponsored class, program, or activity;
therapeutic riding program; stable or farm owner; and operator,
instructor, or promoter of an equine facility including,
but not limited to, a stable, clubhouse, ponyride string,
fair, or arena at which the equine activity is held.
(e) “Equine professional” means a person engaged in
any of the following for compensation: (i) Instructing a
participant in an equine activity.
(ii) Renting an equine, equipment, or tack to a participant.
(iii) Providing daily care of horses boarded at an equine facility.
(iv) Training an equine.
(v) Breeding of equines for resale or stock replenishment.
(f) “Inherent risk of an equine activity” means a
danger or condition that is an integral part of an equine
activity, including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(i) An equine's propensity to behave in ways that may result
in injury, harm, or death to a person on or around it.
(ii) The unpredictability of an equine's reaction to things such
as sounds, sudden movement, and people, other animals, or
unfamiliar objects.
(iii) A hazard such as a surface or subsurface condition.
(iv) Colliding with another equine or object.
(g) “Participant” means an individual, whether amateur
or professional, engaged in an equine activity, whether
or not a fee is paid to participate.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995 .
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1663 Injury, death, or property damage; liability. [M.S.A. 12.418(3)]
Sec. 3. Except as otherwise provided in section 5, an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional, or another person
is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant
or property damage resulting from an inherent risk of an
equine activity. Except as otherwise provided in section
5, a participant or participant's representative shall not
make a claim for, or recover, civil damages from an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional, or another person
for injury to or the death of the participant or property
damage resulting from an inherent risk of an equine activity.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1664 Liability; exception; waiver. [M.S.A. 12.418(4) ]
Sec. 4.
(1) This act does not apply to a horse race meeting that
is regulated by the racing law of 1980, Act No. 327 of the
Public Acts of 1980, being sections 431.61 to 431.88 of
the Michigan Compiled Laws.
(2) Two persons may agree in writing to a waiver of liability
beyond the provisions of this act and such waiver shall
be valid and binding by its terms.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1665 Liability not prevented or limited; conditions.
[M.S.A. 12.418(5) ]
Sec. 5. Section 3 does not prevent or limit the liability of
an equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or another
person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or other person does any of the following:
(a) Provides
equipment or tack and knows or should know that the equipment
or tack is faulty, and the equipment or tack is faulty to
the extent that it is a proximate cause of the injury, death,
or damage.
(b) Provides an equine and fails to make reasonable and prudent
efforts to determine the ability of the participant to engage
safely in the equine activity and to determine the ability
of the participant to safely manage the particular equine.
A person shall not rely upon a participant's representations
of his or her ability unless these representations are supported
by reasonably sufficient detail.
(c) Owns, leases, rents, has authorized use of, or otherwise
is in lawful possession and control of land or facilities
on which the participant sustained injury because of a dangerous
latent condition of the land or facilities that is known
to the equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or
other person and for which warning signs are not conspicuously
posted.
(d) Commits a negligent act or omission that constitutes a proximate
cause of the injury, death, or damage.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995 .
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1666 Notice; posting and maintenance of signs; contract; contents
of notice. [M.S.A. 12.418(6) ]
Sec. 6.
(1) An equine professional shall post and maintain signs
that contain the warning notice set forth in subsection
(3). The signs shall be placed in a clearly visible location
in close proximity to the equine activity. The warning notice
shall appear on the sign in conspicuous letters no less
than 1 inch in height.
(2) A written contract entered into by an equine professional
for providing professional services, instruction, or rental
of equipment, tack, or an equine to a participant, whether
or not the contract involves an equine activity on or off
the location or site of the equine professional's business,
shall contain in clearly readable print the warning notice
set forth in subsection (3).
(3) A sign or contract described in this section shall contain
substantially the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under the Michigan equine activity liability act, an equine professional
is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant
in an equine activity resulting from an inherent risk of
the equine activity.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995 .
EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 351 of 1994
691.1667 Applicability of act. [M.S.A. 12.418(7) ]
Sec. 7. This act applies only to a cause of action filed on or
after the effective date of this act.
History: 1994, Act 351, Eff. Mar. 30, 1995
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