There’s more to know about starting a horse farm.
Learn more about limiting your Equine Liability.
Happy Monday, my friends! I didn’t mean to leave you hanging, but let’s be honest…you have other things going on in your life besides daydreaming about your horse farm and reading stuff on the internet, don’t you? WELCOME BACK! Today, we’re going to focus solely on the liability side of horse farms, as you want to be absolutely certain that you are fully protected when faced with an unfortunate event. We covered some important coverages in part 1. Read Part 1 Here. Let’s talk about how you can limit your liability and transfer risk on your horse farm.
Equine Liability
Well, let’s be honest, you didn’t get a horse to let it sit in a stable all day without any interaction, did you…DID YOU? NO! You got your horse so you can go trail riding or to shows and competitions, and enjoy each other’s company! Guess what…even the most well-trained, well-behaved horse can cause bodily injury to others or damage their property. Is someone else training your horse? The trainer simply working with your horse opens you up to a potential loss for their own bodily injury or property damage while they are working with your horse. Do you want to find out the hard way who is ultimately responsible? Hint…as far as I know, in the history of people, horses haven’t yet gotten sued.
Equine Activity Liability Act (EALA)
EALA won’t necessarily protect you from being enjoined in a lawsuit, but it WILL make it easier to win your case if no negligence is found on your part. EALA is a statute found in the Ohio Revised Code 2305.321. What EALA states is:
An equine activity sponsor, equine activity participant, equine professional, veterinarian, farrier, or other person is not liable in damages in a tort or other civil action for harm that an equine activity participant allegedly sustains during an equine activity and that results from an inherent risk of equine activity.
EALA essentially limits your liability as associated with an equine-related activity. Better said, the equine professional is not liable if the equine participant becomes injured or dies as a direct result of the inherent risks of equine activities. Well, if that’s in the Ohio Revised Code, what do I need liability insurance for? Great question! Want to get an expensive lesson? Try using that as a defense in court when you are negligent, let me know how it works out for you! Your insurance coverage will pick up the duty to defend you, and pay your judgment up to the policy limits…why WOULDN’T you want that extra protection? Do you remember that $600,000 judgment we talked about in part 1? This stuff does happen, folks, protect yourself!
Certificates of Insurance from Independent Contractors
You want your business to be the Go-To horse farm, don’t you? What can you do to make it more desirable for your clients? You can recruit the top horse trainer to work on your farm! Although a wonderful idea to keep your clients happy, independent contractors potentially present a liability exposure to you. How do you get around this exposure? When working with an independent contractor, you should always require that they have adequate liability coverage limits at least equal to yours. They should also be willing and able to name you as an Additional Insured (AI) and provide a Certificate of Insurance to you…if they can’t or won’t do that…GET A NEW TRAINER! When the independent trainer is working on your property, you can become enjoined in a lawsuit due to negligence by that trainer, if this happens, his or her insurance should defend and protect you, and provide you with some protection if they name you as an AI.*
Hopefully I didn’t just scare you away from starting your horse farm. That wasn’t the point. The point, however, WAS to show you most of the things you need to consider when starting a business such as this one. Luckily, you don’t have to go at this all alone and spend all your time figuring out a way to make sure you’re adequately covered. All you have to do is contact Mike, “The Farm Guy,” at Richey-Barrett Insurance. We’ll help you implement the correct program for your unique needs. We’ll talk again soon!
*Subject to terms and conditions of the policy
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