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Washington
RCW 4.24.530
Limitations on liability for equine activities -- Definitions.
Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, the definitions
in this section apply to RCW 4.24.530, 4.24.540, and section
3, chapter 292, Laws of 1989.
(1) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(2) "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,
endurance trail riding and western games, and hunting; (b)
equine training and/or teaching activities; (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;
and (e) rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities
of any type however informal or impromptu that are sponsored
by an equine activity sponsor.
(3) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual,
group or 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 and programs, 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 activity is held.
(4) "Participant" means any 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.
(5) "Engages in an equine activity" means a person
who rides, trains, drives, or is a passenger upon an equine,
whether mounted or unmounted, and does not mean a spectator
at an equine activity or a person who participates in the
equine activity but does not ride, train, drive, or ride
as a passenger upon an equine.
(6) "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.
[1989 c 292 § 1.]
NOTES:
Application -- 1989 c 292 §§ 1 and 2: "Sections
1 and 2 of this act apply only to causes of action filed
on or after July 23, 1989." [1989 c 292 § 3.]
RCW 4.24.540
Limitations on liability for equine activities -- Exceptions.
(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section,
an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional shall
not be liable for an injury to or the death of a participant
engaged in an equine activity, and, except as provided in
subsection (2) of this section, no participant nor participant's
representative may maintain an action against or recover
from an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional
for an injury to or the death of a participant engaged in
an equine activity.
(2)(a) RCW 4.24.530 and 4.24.540 do not apply to the horse
racing industry as regulated in chapter 67.16 RCW.
(b) Nothing in subsection (1) of this section shall prevent
or limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor or
an equine professional:
(i) If the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional:
(A) Provided the equipment or tack and the equipment or
tack 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, determine the ability
of the equine to behave safely with the participant, and
determine the ability of the participant to safely manage
the particular equine;
(ii) If the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional
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 to or should have been known to the equine
activity sponsor or the equine professional and for which
warning signs have not been conspicuously posted;
(iii) If the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional
commits an act or omission that constitutes willful or wanton
disregard for the safety of the participant and that act
or omission caused the injury;
(iv) If the equine activity sponsor or the equine professional
intentionally injures the participant;
(v) Under liability provisions as set forth in the products
liability laws; or
(vi) Under liability provisions in chapter 16.04, *16.13,
or *16.16 RCW.
[1989 c 292 § 2.]
NOTES:
*Reviser's note: Chapters 16.13 and 16.16 RCW were each
recodified and/or repealed in their entirety by 1989 c 286.
For disposition of chapters 16.13 and 16.16 RCW, see Table
of Disposition of Former RCW Sections, Volume 0.
Application -- 1989 c 292 §§ 1 and 2: See note following RCW
4.24.530.
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