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Nebraska
25-21,249
Equine activities; legislative intent.
The Legislature recognizes that persons who participate in equine
activities may incur injuries as a result of the risks involved
in such activities. The Legislature also finds that the state
and its citizens derive numerous economic and personal benefits
from such activities. It is, therefor, the intent of the Legislature
to encourage equine activities by providing reasonable standards
for those involved in such activities.
Source:
Laws 1997, LB 153, § 1.
§ 25-21, 250. Equine activities; terms, defined.
For purposes of this act:
(1) Engages in an equine activity means riding, training,
assisting in medical treatment of, driving, or being a passenger
upon an equine, whether mounted or unmounted, or being a passenger
upon an equine-drawn vehicle, or any person assisting a participant
or assisting show management. Engages in an equine activity
does not include being a spectator at an equine activity except
in cases when the spectator places himself or herself in an
unauthorized area;
(2) Equine means a horse, pony, donkey, mule, hinny, or llama;
(3) Equine activity means:
(a) 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, driving, pulling, cutting, polo,
steeplechasing, English and western performance riding, endurance
trail riding, western games, and hunting;
(b) Equine training or teaching activities or both;
(c) Boarding equines;
(d) Riding, inspecting, or evaluating 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;
(e) Rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any
type however informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an
equine activity sponsor; and
(f) Placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine;
(4) Equine activity sponsor means an individual, group, club,
partnership, limited liability company, 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, and
operators, instructors, and promoters of equine facilities,
including, but not limited to, stables, clubhouses, ponyride
strings, fairs, and arenas at which the equine activity is
held;
(5) 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
upon the equine; or
(b) In renting equipment or tack to a participant;
(6) Inherent risks of equine activities means those dangers
or conditions which 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 injury, harm, or death to persons on or around them;
(b) The unpredictability of an equine's reaction to such things
as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons,
or other animals;
(c) Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
(d) Collisions with other equines or objects; and
(e) 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 equine or not
acting within his or her ability; and
(7) Participant means any person, whether amateur or professional,
who engages in an equine activity whether or not a fee is
paid to participate in the equine activity.
25-21,251
Equine activities; liability and claims; limitations.
Except as provided in section 25-21,252,
(1) an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or
any other person, which includes a corporation, limited liability
company, 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
(2) 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.
Source:
Laws 1997, LB 153, § 3.
25-21,252
Equine activities; applicability of other laws; liability
enumerated.
(1) Sections 25-21,249 to 25-21,253 shall not apply to the horseracing
industry as regulated in sections 2-1201 to 2-1229.
(2) Nothing in section 25-21,251 prevents or limits the liability
of an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or
any other person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or person:
(a) Provided the equipment or tack and the equipment or tack
caused the injury because the equine activity sponsor or professional
failed to reasonably and prudently inspect or maintain the
equipment or tack;
(b) 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 or
her ability;
(c) Owns, leases, rents, or otherwise is in lawful possession
and control of the land or facilities upon which the participant
sustained injuries or death because of a dangerous latent
condition which was known or should have been known to the
equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or person and
for which warning signs were not conspicuously posted;
(d) Commits an act or omission which a reasonable, prudent
person would not have done or omitted under the same or similar
circumstances or which constitutes willful or wanton disregard
for the safety of the participant and that act or omission
was a proximate cause of the injury; or
(e) Intentionally injures the participant.
(
3) Nothing in section 25-21,251 prevents or limits the liability
of an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional under
product liability laws.
Source:
Laws 1997, LB 153, § 4.
25-21,253
Equine activities; signs and contracts; requirements.
Every equine professional shall post and maintain signs which contain
the warning notice specified in this section. The signs shall
be placed in a clearly visible location on or near stables,
corrals, or arenas where the equine professional conducts
equine activities if such stables, corrals, or arenas are
owned, leased, rented, managed, or controlled by the equine
professional. The placement of warning signs shall be such
that they may be readily seen by participants in equine activities.
The warning notice specified in this section shall appear
on the sign in black letters with each letter a minimum of
three inches in height. Every written contract entered into
by an equine professional for providing professional services,
instruction, or 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 this section. The signs and contracts
shall contain the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under Nebraska 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 sections 25-21,249 to 25-21,253.
Source:
Laws 1997, LB 153, § 5.
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