Riding without hats - yard liability?

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Flicker

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Just wondering how far yard liability extends with regard to people riding without hats. Our YO has made anyone who rides without a hat sign a disclaimer that says it is against yard policy and they won't hold the yard responsible if they fall on their heads, but I also wonder at what the possible yard insurance implications would be in the event of an accident involving a rider who is not wearing a hat.

I personally don't care if people ride with or without hats, body protectors, boots, tack (draw the line at clothes :)) etc. But I would be worried if this behaviour jeopardised the yard's viability in the long run.

Has anyone had any experience of this, can you offer any advice or information??
 
Personally I would thought if the YO has a rule that all must wear hats, then everyone on the yard should abide by that rule. I can't think that by signing a disclaimer to say that you won't hold the yard responsible will stand up in court if a serious injury occurred and the rider was hatless. But hey, I am no legal expert!
 
Personally think you are absolutely bonkers if you ride without a hat. Yes, the yard has every right to make everyone sign a disclaimer if people are stupid enough to ignore common sense.

Cannot remember which one - but one of the top dressage yards has banned all people from riding without hats following on from a couple of very serious incidents and hospitalisation following riding without hats.

I always wear and hat but do not always wear a body protector.
 
If the yard has stated that as their policy and have even made everyone sign a disclaimer, then no I can't see that they would have any liability at all in the event of injury.

Why do you think it would affect the yards long term viability?
 
We have a policy "NO HAT" "NO RIDE" simple enough and there are no exceptions this goes for myself if I am teaching in the school I wear a hat at all times it's stupid not to these are animals and can be through no fault of there own scared or spooked and you could get hurt. I like my head where it is anyway lol
 
Anonnymouse said:
If the yard has stated that as their policy and have even made everyone sign a disclaimer, then no I can't see that they would have any liability at all in the event of injury.

Why do you think it would affect the yards long term viability?
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Anonnymouse - I was thinking of whether it would affect future insurance premiums for the yard if there had been a serious accident on the yard involving a rider who did not have a hat (and therefore engaging in riskier behaviour).
 
Flicker said:
Anonnymouse - I was thinking of whether it would affect future insurance premiums for the yard if there had been a serious accident on the yard involving a rider who did not have a hat (and therefore engaging in riskier behaviour).
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If the yard wasn't found liable for the accident then I can't see why the premiums would be affected :confused:.
I'd have thought that a yard with this sort of policy and disclaimer in place would be in a much better position that one without. But the law is a funny sort of thing sometimes..............
 
Anonnymouse said:
If the yard wasn't found liable for the accident then I can't see why the premiums would be affected :confused:.
I'd have thought that a yard with this sort of policy and disclaimer in place would be in a much better position that one without. But the law is a funny sort of thing sometimes..............
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It so is!!
My car insurance premiums went up when I was hit by another car. I was totally blameless and the other driver accepted full liability, but my premiums were still affected. I was just wondering whether the same would apply in the case of yard insurance.

But hey, not a lot I can do about it, other than hope that these idiots and their horses don't part company unexpectedly!
 
Not sure about this, i think they should take legal advice. I remember a few years ago a livery yard was found liable when a girl was (severely injured or even killed, sorry I don't remember exactly) when she went into a field to catch her own horse and was trampled. Livery yard apparantly should have had a policy that she should have been wearing a hat as that could have saved her.

Disclaimers like this may not be worth much, even with signatures as it seems the YO is accepting that in order to do everything in her reasonable care to ensure riders stay safe they should be weraing a hat when riding, but it's ok if they don't want to, if that makes sense?

Law is fickle and if somebody is seriously injured or killed because of not wearing a hat believe me them or their family will not rest until it at least gets to court.

For my insurance people don't need to wear hats, I don't give them an option though, I just accost them with hat in hand as it where!
 
Disclaimers are pointless unless they have been written by a solicitor! Then witnessed in triplicate and rubber stamped etc etc!

They would have to be written by a solicitor and then you would have a few pages of the laws etc!

A simple 'I am thick and daft already hence not wearing a hat and I won't hold anyone responsible' won't hold up in front of a good barrister!

Looking away from the legal point why should others on the yard have to deal with the situation of someones stupidity and having their brains mashed on the yard or arena????

Who then clears up that mess? Calls ambulance? Sorts out the chaos? Puts ned away? Then deal with the rumours and speculation?

Sorry I agree with others NO HAT NO RIDE!
 
Yup, I agree with post above. My boy was on working livery at a BHS training yard and you had to sign (among other things) that you would at all times when on the yard as well as leading/riding, that "suitable protective equipment" i.e. hard had, gloves and heeled ankle boots, would be worn. That extended to cover for example, grooming inside the stable. The horse had to be secured and hard hat worn.

If you didn't like it you could go up the road.

As a YO myself now, I'd say that anyone not wearing a hat could take themselves somewhere else. I wouldn't want the hassle of them injuring themselves and suing. You have to be very careful with "disclaimers", often they're not worth the paper they're written on. I teach exercise & dance and we have strict rules about stuff like footwear, health & safety etc., and when I used to teach for the Local Authority we were told that it was NOT acceptable to have people signing disclaimers. For example, I had one lady who insisted that she wanted to wear socks and exercise on a slippery polished floor, and said that she didn't see why she couldn't if she signed a disclaimer!!! (unbelievable, but true!). She was told that if she didn't like what the tutor (me!) was asking in respect of health & safety, then a disclaimer was not acceptable and she was asked to leave the class.

So personally I'd be very cagey about disclaimers, you might be leaving yourself wide open. If they can't hack a simple safety rule of the yard, then send 'em up the road IMO.
 
The owners of the livery yard could be subject to a claim for damages unless they can demonstrate that there is a clearly enforced policy stating that everyone must wear a hat to the correct specifications whilst riding, lunging or leading a horse. This was clearly demonstrated as a result of the tragic accident last year where a child was killed as a result of an accident in a field which weas part of a riding school/livery yard. In addition the Health and Safety Executive could also take action against the owners of the yard subjecting them to a large fine.
 
One of the problems is you cannot exclude liability for personal injury or death arising out of negligence. As a YO, in a position of trust, would you be negligent if you allowed someone to ride on your property without a hat - quite possibly.

Owlie, I'm not sure the case you mentioned wouldn't stand on its facts as it involved a child and so the YO would likely have a greater duty of care as the child couldn't be expected to take responsibility for itself.

As a YO, I'm not prepared to take the risk and so anyone on our yard on a horse is required to wear a hat. What clients do outside our gates is up to them.
 
I was told that you should be wearing protection on the yard at all times, meaning boots, hard hat (body protectors was not mentioned as they are now ).
I would think that a yard with a disclaimer from rider would still be a % worth of blame for any accident, best rule as stated NO HAT-NO RIDE.
 
If I had that rule on my yard then I would have no clients :(

I do not see why a YO should be held responsible for clients decisions whether to wear safety gear or not. If someone told me that I couldn't ride my own horse without wearing this, that or the other, then I'd be leaving, regardless of whether I happened to agree with it or not)

If it was my choice not to wear a hat, and I fell off then bad luck, my fault. The paragraph "Yard takes no responsibility for injury blah, blah, blah to horse/rider/guest due to blah, blah, blah" in contracts is in effect a waiver, and if you have signed that, then you have signed a waiver as far as I am concerned (and my Lawyer)
 
The issue being that a yard owner would not wish to be found to be liable for an accident that occured on their yard and then having a large sum of money awarded against them.
Yard owners need to take measures to protect themselves against litigation so it is absolutely essential that you ensure that those on your yard always wear correct protective hats, boots etc and that you are seen to enforce this.
Also bear in mind that if you employ anyone be they directly in your employment or self-employed (for instance a groom) then you are even resposible for them when they are not on your premises (for instance riding a clients/liveries horse out of the yard) - this includes freelance grooms that are directly working for one of your liveries. In this case you need to ensure that they are also wearing Hi-Viz to the correct PPE standard.
There is nothing worse than an accident occuring and then having to defend oneself from subsequent legal action. The experience is both time-consuming and traumatic.
 
My last yard had a general disclaimer to the effect that clients used the premises at their own risk, ie, if a horse jumps on your car in the carpark or you get kicked etc. YO's wife did insist on everyone wearing hats at all times, even to sit on a horse, which made me smile at the irony of the fact that she hacked out without hi viz.
I don't think signing a waiver would make much difference to making an insurance claim, except perhaps where damages were sought against the YO, it might make a diference to the level of compensation if it was proved that the YO had actively tried to enforce a policy of hat wearing on the yard.
Personally, I prefer to take responsiblity for myself and as yet there is no law making hat wearing manditory. However signing a disclaimer wouldn't bother me too much unless the YO was an anxious control freak with a H&S fetish, then I'd be out of there pretty sharp anyway.
 
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