Can you successfully sue someone if you take a fall from their horse?

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Sunny08

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As title says really. An individual was invited to ride another individuals 4 yr old sports horse. Nice horse but known to be a bit a of a handful. Horse played up, put in a few bucks, individual 1 fell off. Individual 1 broke collar bone and is self employed. Now is threatening to sue individual 2 for putting her on a 'dangerous horse' and loss of income. Is this even possible - surely if you ride another persons horse you accept the liability?
 
Well i would assume aslong as the person was aware of what they were getting on and agreed to get on the horse then no because everyone knows horses are unpredictable .... I have never heard of anybody try to sue someone though ...
 
Oh dear what is this world coming too?....presumabily the rider knew what they were doing and knew of horse?....so really it's a bit of you get you on the understanding so to sue someone else cos you fell off....daft in my eyes.
 
Everytime you get on a horse you take a risk. She is freelance so you assume not an incompetant rider and therefore must take it on the chin IMO.

Also as a freelance she should have insurance for injury loss of income etc etc.

Personally I don't think she'd get far in any claim but I hate these people who sue at the drop of a hat so maybe i'm biased.
 
Sadly it is true :( A girl at my yard had someone come to view her horse - the horse is 20+ and a schoolmistress. As the woman was mounting she kicked the horse on the rump, the horse moved sideways, not in a dramatic fashion, but she moved. The woman sat BEHIND the saddle and the horse did a couple of tiny bucks and said woman fell off. After saying, at the scene and awaiting the ambulance that it was just an accident and she was cool with it, she has proceeded to sue my friend. Luckily her insurers, NFU, are dealing with it and they have said that they prob won't contest it and just simply pay out!!!!
 
I have never heard of it either - buit equally when I had a sharer for my youngster it was something I was worried about - who has liability?/ responsibility - and if it is possible surely loaning and sharing is a potential mine field!
 
I can't see it happening, although who knows in this mad world?
I would imagine you can only sue if you were employed to ride? Rather than getting on the horse of your own free will as a recreational pursuit.
She wasn't forced to get on the horse was she?
 
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Sadly yes - and they will very probably win. That is why our insurance premiums are so high.

There is strict liability with horses. So even if the injury was entirely the human's fault, even if they had no permission to ride the horse (neither the case here I recognise) then the injured party can still sue and win. In this case the fact that the horse was known to be a handful might act to reduce the amount of damages payable - a doctrine called "volenti non fit injuria" it will not affect the fact that the rider will probably win.

The owner needs to get in contact with the insurer ASAP. They will take the matter on.

The lesson here - never be without 3rd party liability insurance!
 
Sunny08 said:
Now is threatening to sue individual 2 for putting her on a 'dangerous horse' and loss of income. Is this even possible - surely if you ride another persons horse you accept the liability?
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Yes - and No! It depends very much on the circumstances. Was the owner of the horse more knowledgeable than the the person she invited to ride? If so, it could be argued that she should have known her horse was too much for the other rider. That would be negligence. If the injured rider was just as experienced as the owner - and knew the horse was 'difficult' but still got on - then it could be argued she accepted the risk.

But as things stand at present - due to a recent High Court judgement - the owner of ANY horse can be found to have full liability for any injury or damage it causes, because - the Court found - a horse is a potentially dangerous and unpredictable animal and the owner should KNOW that. So even if there is no 'fault' on the part of the owner, the owner may still be found liable. That's why insurance is so important.
 
Weezy said:
Sadly it is true :( A girl at my yard had someone come to view her horse - the horse is 20+ and a schoolmistress. As the woman was mounting she kicked the horse on the rump, the horse moved sideways, not in a dramatic fashion, but she moved. The woman sat BEHIND the saddle and the horse did a couple of tiny bucks and said woman fell off. After saying, at the scene and awaiting the ambulance that it was just an accident and she was cool with it, she has proceeded to sue my friend. Luckily her insurers, NFU, are dealing with it and they have said that they prob won't contest it and just simply pay out!!!!
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No way!!!! I'm shocked that NFU are even considering paying.

Should have thought about riders insurance in my humble opinion.

Now I've read this, the next person to ride my horse I'm going to make them sign a sheet of paper saying anything that happens is thier responsibility. Or at the very least ask if they are insured. I mean you can be insured from BHS for 50 quid.
 
I wouldnt think so as they had the choice and decided to ride it.

Maybe if the horse was known as a total dangerous nutter and the owner didnt say anything, but a 4 year old who is a bit of a handful isnt that.
 
"But as things stand at present - due to a recent High Court judgement - the owner of ANY horse can be found to have full liability for any injury or damage it causes, because - the Court found - a horse is a potentially dangerous and unpredictable animal and the owner should KNOW that. So even if there is no 'fault' on the part of the owner, the owner may still be found liable. That's why insurance is so important. " (forgot to push quote button)

Does this mean riding schools will now be liable for every buck & fall???

Oh well that's that then for the whole of equestrianism.
 
tallyho! said:
Does this mean riding schools will now be liable for every buck & fall???

Oh well that's that then for the whole of equestrianism.
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Potentially, yes! But this judgement is about 2 years old - and we're still surviving!:D There IS talk of legal clarification at some stage - because it IS a bit silly. And not every judge will follow in their Lordships' footsteps for every case (although if a Judge threw a claim out, it could still be appealed.)
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tallyho! said:
Now I've read this, the next person to ride my horse I'm going to make them sign a sheet of paper saying anything that happens is thier responsibility. Or at the very least ask if they are insured. I mean you can be insured from BHS for 50 quid.
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Wouldn't waste your time, its not worth the paper its written on. You are still liable. You need the insurance - not them.
 
Yet the irony is (and I checked when thinking of sharers for my mare) - they need their own riders insurance to be covered when riding my horse YET my own liability would cover them anyway?

Made me think though - will be putting my boy up for sale at some point - better check the insurance - hes very straightforward but still a horse!
 
What about if you had an injury at work backing a young horse you didn't think was ready but you felt pressured into doing? Not forced, but a lot of pressure.
The result being a very nasty fall and broken back.

Could you sue for that?
 
and yet someone I know was badly kicked through no fault of her own (passing horse, she stood to the side on bridleway, horse kicked her), severely injuring her leg ... she sued for loss of earnings for while she was in hospital (6 weeks) and lost because "horses will be horses".
 
I ride other peoples horses all of the time and wouldn't dream of suing... ride at your own risk especially if you know the horse has a few quirks.
 
Yes but it does depend upon circumstances!

Friend had similar happen but owners did lie about what the horse had done for the 3 days previous like just stood in stable!

So insurers just paid out!
 
Twizzel said:
I ride other peoples horses all of the time and wouldn't dream of suing... ride at your own risk especially if you know the horse has a few quirks.
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So you are saying that if you had a really nasty injury, lost your job, spent ages in hospital, couldn't afford to keep your horse anymore, let alone yourself you wouldn't want to sue for loss of earnings?
 
kirstie said:
So you are saying that if you had a really nasty injury, lost your job, spent ages in hospital, couldn't afford to keep your horse anymore, let alone yourself you wouldn't want to sue for loss of earnings?
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Why should you be able to, frankly?
You make the choice whether to put your foot in the stirrup or not, unless someone had your arm up your back:confused:
 
I have a clause in the loan agreement I gave to the current people (nice ones) who loan my old pony.
It roughly says that THEY take all liability whist she in in their care, this includes being ridden. Whilst I also included that 'nobody else should ride the pony except the loan family' and 'this agreement could be immediately terminated if the loan family break any clauses', I accept that kids will do daft things & swap ponies when they are out of parents/adult supervision - and they will hop on bareback too to come in from fields etc. (Havent' we all?).
I made mum aware of this & insisted she took out BHS membership to cover in the event of accident.

Sadly, as Janet George mentions earlier - Insurance IS an absolute must.
 
When I was a sharer I had full riders insurance which covered me for loss of earnings as well as public liability, tack and injury to the horse. If I was sharing my boy I would insist on this cover not just public liability from a sharer for this exact reason.
 
dieseldog said:
Wouldn't waste your time, its not worth the paper its written on. You are still liable. You need the insurance - not them.
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tallyho! said:
No way!!!! I'm shocked that NFU are even considering paying.

Should have thought about riders insurance in my humble opinion.

Now I've read this, the next person to ride my horse I'm going to make them sign a sheet of paper saying anything that happens is thier responsibility. Or at the very least ask if they are insured. I mean you can be insured from BHS for 50 quid.
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So do you think the BHS would not cover you should this happen and someone tried to sue? Only this is my only 3rd party insurance, I joined specifically for this reason. The rest of my insurance is covered by NFU. Would this cover me for both paid riders/friends to ride/train my horse?

Slightly off topic, but what happened if your horse did this to you? I'm recovering from a broken back, horses are horses and my bum was not as secure as it should have been. Does anyone do insurance for loss of earnings? I've looked but got lost in insurance waffle and in hindsight in might have helped my current poverty!
 
As others have said it really depends on the circumstances.

First of all, the rider appears to have agreed to ride a young horse that she knew was lively and therefore, if negligence on part of the owner can be established, the rider contributed to the negligence by accepting the risk. If the rider didn't know the horse was lively and was unaware of any potential behavioural problems, then the rider didn't contribute to the negligence.

Secondly, check the insurance very carefully - some insurance policies will have a clause about other riders and you may find that insurance cover is not offered for horses under the age of 7 (this is true for horses in a riding school).

Also depends on what the rider was riding for - was it to school the horse, exercise it or what? And did the rider accept payment for riding the horse? Was the rider insured for riding other people's horses.

I think your friend needs to seek proper legal advice - are they a member of BHS - their legal helpline can help you.
 
the simple answer is yes, a friend of mine is currently being sued after another friend rode a pony at a local show and fell off in the warm up, the pony did nothing wrong, she just fell off after a small jump.
Now suing and asking for over 30k in damages and lost earnings.

The sad thing is she also told a few porkies to her solicitor about the pony and the owner which were untrue, I doubt it will end up in court as my friend has witnesses and the other girl has none to back her story up.
It's a sad world we live in now........
 
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