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South Carolina
CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA ANNOTATED
TITLE 47 ANIMALS, LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY
CHAPTER 9 Livestock Generally
ARTICLE 7 Equine Liability Immunity
S.C. Code Ann. § 47-9-710 (1993)
§ 47-9-710. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding,
training, providing, or assisting in providing medical treatment
of, driving, or being a passenger upon an equine, mounted
or unmounted, or a person assisting a participant or show
management. It does not include being a spectator at an equine
activity, except in cases where the spectator places himself
in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity to the
equine activity.
(2) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey,
or hinny.
(3) "Equine activity" means:
(a) an equine show, fair, competition, performance, or parade
that involves a breed of equine and an equine discipline,
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
and 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 the owner has received monetary consideration
or another 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) a ride, trip, hunt, or other equine activity, however
informal or impromptu, that is sponsored by an equine activity
sponsor;
(f) placing or replacing a horseshoe on an equine;
(g) examining or administering medical treatment to an equine
by a veterinarian.
(4) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual,
a group, a club, a partnership, or a corporation, whether
the sponsor is operating for profit or nonprofit, which 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 and college- sponsored class, program,
and activity, therapeutic riding program, and an operator,
instructor, and promoter of an equine facility, including,
but not limited to, a stable, clubhouse, ponyride string,
fair, and an arena at which the activity is held.
(5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged
for compensation in:
(a) instructing a participant or renting to a participant
an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger
upon the equine;
(b) renting equipment or tack to a participant; or
(c) examining or administering medical treatment to an equine
as a veterinarian.
(6) "Inherent risk of equine activity" 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 a person on or around
the equine;
(b) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to sound,
sudden movement, an unfamiliar object, a person, or another
animal;
(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,
as failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting
within the participant's ability.
(7) "Participant" means a person, amateur or professional,
who engages in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is
paid to participate in the equine activity.
§ 47-9-720. Equine liability immunity; exceptions to
grant of immunity.
(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), an equine activity
sponsor or an equine professional is not liable for an injury
to or the death of a participant resulting from an inherent
risk of equine activity, and no participant or participant's
representative may make a claim against, maintain an action
against, or recover from an equine activity sponsor, or an
equine professional, for injury, loss, damage, or death of
the participant resulting from an inherent risk of equine
activity.
(B) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability
of an equine activity sponsor, or an equine professional,
if the equine activity sponsor, or equine professional:
(1) (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 caused
the injury; or
(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 to manage safely
the particular equine based on the participant's representations
of his ability; (2) 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 which was known or should have been known
to the equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or person
and for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted;
(3) committed an act or omission that constitutes willful
or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and
that act or omission caused the injury; or
(4) intentionally injured the participant.
(C) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability
of an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional under
liability provisions as set forth in the products liability
laws.
(D) The provisions of this article shall not cover or apply
to any liability arising from the ownership, maintenance,
or use of any motor vehicle.
§ 47-9-730. Warning signs; contract to contain warning
notice; immunity revoked for failure to comply.
(A) An equine professional and an equine activity sponsor
shall post and maintain signs which contain the warning notice
specified in subsection (B). These signs must be placed in
a clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals, or
arenas where the equine professional or the equine activity
sponsor conducts equine activities. The warning notice specified
in subsection (B) must appear on the sign in black letters
with each letter a minimum of one inch in height. A written
contract entered into by an equine professional or by an equine
activity sponsor to provide professional services, instruction,
or rental of equipment, tack, or an equine to a participant,
whether or not the contract involves equine activities on
or off the location or site of the business of the equine
professional or the equine activity sponsor, must contain
in clearly readable print the warning notice specified in
subsection (B).
(B) A sign and contract described in subsection (A) must contain
the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under South Carolina law, an equine activity sponsor or 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 equine activity, pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 9
of Title 47, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976.
(C) Failure to comply with the requirements concerning warning
signs and notices provided in this section prevents an equine
activity sponsor or equine professional from invoking the
privileges of immunity provided by this article.
1993 Act No. 182, § 1, eff July 1, 1993, and applies
only to causes of action arising on or after this act's effective
date.
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