What would you do?

JellyBeanSkittle

JellyBeanSkittle

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Hypothetically speaking....

Say you were injured involving a known persons horse which resulted in life changing injuries and had to take time off...

what would you do about it?

Write it off as an accident? Look into a claim?

The horse in question would have some temperament issues.
 
I personally have had such a life changing accident on a friends horse and have long term health problems as a result. I had to take a considerable amount of time off work with absolutely no sick pay and we struggled financially. At NO time did I consider a claim, even after I found out the horse had some history. I chose to ride the horse, no one forced me to get on the horse and I have 36yrs experience under my belt. I'm sorry but claiming off someone for such an accident is in my mind ridiculous, it's the blame culture we now live in. Horses ARE unpredictable at the best of times and I have to live with my resulting health problems but I got on the horse myself so I am responsible, no one else.
 
I think it depends on the circumstances, if you were told of the issues the horse had before interacting with it or riding it then imo you accepted the risk.
If you werent and you were just subject to its behaviour, i think it depends on whether youre a professional or amateur,a professional would be expected to be able to work with and handle a horse with some issues, an amateur possibly not.
Is it possible the person wanst aware of the horses behaviour issues ?
 
I absolutely agree. We all choose this sport and we go into things with ours eyes open. But there is also another side to everything.

I am just asking to see everyone's point of view on the topic. Wouldn't have any other details as it's hypothetical :)
 
I wasn't informed of any issues with the horse beforehand, before the accident changed my life but I still wouldn't claim. You chose to ride any horse, you accept the responsibility, this modern attitude to claiming for everything is ridiculous.
 
If no more details are forthcoming, then I will sit on the fence. You haven't even said if the person was injured when riding the horse.

It could have kicked them when being brought in from the field as a favour, for example.

A friend accepted reasonable damages when they had their leg smashed by another competitor's horse when showing in hand. The other person was negligent and the offending horse was known to kick, so absolutely fair do's.
 
If the horse was running loose in the road and I had tried to catch it to prevent an accident, incurring the injuries in the process then I would look to the horses owner for compensation. If I was taking a footpath through the horses field and it had approached me resulting in the injuries then again I would look to the horses owner for compensation. If I had chosen to interact with the horse for leisure purposes then I would consider it an unfortunate accident, unless it later came out that the horses owner had deliberately lied to me about the nature of the horse in which case I would consider them negligent and look for compensation. If I was involved with the horse in a professional capacity I would have my own insurance for such eventualities. I think that about covers everything :)
 
If it was known to have 'quirks', and you got on it and had an accident, I would say it was your judgement to ride the animal and so it's merely a case of bad luck.

Had the horse been described as well natured etc etc, and you came off and injured yourself through dangerous behaviour (ie not just a typical horse spook, little excitable buck etc) then that would be a different story.
 
amymay said:
It depends entirely on the situatuon.
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This , the other thought is if there were reasons to consider a claim it is not the owner who will be paying out but their insurance company, it is why we have insurance to cover us in case of the unexpected, we would claim for injuries to our horses, damage to our cars so if the owner is responsible in some way the insurance should pay out, that said I do think some people are too quick to look at blaming someone else for their own errors of judgement.
 
My OH used to work in the claim industry (motor vehicle accidents mostly). His former employer enquired with a barrister who specialises in animal related accidents when I had my accident (nice of him!) and the response was no possibility of a claim, not that I would have anyway, it wasn't a life changing injury unless you count the sheer wuss that I have now become around horses. This was based on the fact that I had voluntarily gone to get the horse and I knew she could be a bit of a cow.

So if the IP chooses to ride/handle/intervene, then it's tough, for the most part. There are of course exceptions and I guess if it's a life changing injury, a claim might be looked on more favourably.
 
I think there was a sad case relatively recently where a lady was sharing a horse, had a nasty accident and died. I believe in that case the court pointed out that anyone and everyone knows riding is a risk sport and animals are unpredictable so to make a successful claim I'd have to be 110% sure the person I was claiming from had done something blindingly obviously negligent.
TBH I can't think of many example that would fall into that category - maybe starting a firework display next to the school without telling me when or something like that but it would be pretty extreme.
 
Looking at it another way (just to be devil's advocate) why should the tax payer fund treatment, care and benefits for someone with a disabling injury when there is insurance (the public liability insurance of the owner) that would pay out?
 
Kat said:
Looking at it another way (just to be devil's advocate) why should the tax payer fund treatment, care and benefits for someone with a disabling injury when there is insurance (the public liability insurance of the owner) that would pay out?
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Because it's still all of us that would end up paying as the more claims there are the more insurance premiums go up and insurance companies will raise premiums across all public liability customers if they have to (ie anyone who owns a shop, rides a bike, visits peoples homes etc etc. so it won't just be the other horse riders paying the higher premiums) We have to pay either way so it doesn't make any difference.
 
Ok, so for arguments sake - this wouldn't be Jo Bloggs making a claim for the sake of it. He would be looking at the possibility because of loss of earnings, an injury which has lasting effects and complications and also he has to look at the possibility that the temperament of the horse in question is perhaps not as described so therefore does he risk himself or any others for that matter, in the future? Not riding related for simplicity :)
 
Polos Mum said:
Because it's still all of us that would end up paying as the more claims there are the more insurance premiums go up and insurance companies will raise premiums across all public liability customers if they have to (ie anyone who owns a shop, rides a bike, visits peoples homes etc etc. so it won't just be the other horse riders paying the higher premiums) We have to pay either way so it doesn't make any difference.
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Also true :)
 
I don't think the court would care whether you were riding or handling - horses are unpredictable.

The best of horses can have a bad day, a friend of mine was having her horse clipped by her friend/ instructor when a branch fell on the roof of the stable, the horse spooked and kicked out broke the femer of the lady clipping, she screamed and he kicked again a handful of times, she was in a wheelchair for a very very long time and now competes in para dressage because of her injuries. This horse had no 'history' temperament wise
 
My thoughts are much the same, they are unpredictable and everything can influence their split second decisions. An accident is just that. An accident.

Our friends were debating the same subject and it just proved to have a lot of different views which is why it piqued an interest. Love a debate! :D
 
Princess Rosie said:
I personally have had such a life changing accident on a friends horse and have long term health problems as a result. I had to take a considerable amount of time off work with absolutely no sick pay and we struggled financially. At NO time did I consider a claim, even after I found out the horse had some history. I chose to ride the horse, no one forced me to get on the horse and I have 36yrs experience under my belt. I'm sorry but claiming off someone for such an accident is in my mind ridiculous, it's the blame culture we now live in. Horses ARE unpredictable at the best of times and I have to live with my resulting health problems but I got on the horse myself so I am responsible, no one else.
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How refreshing! This is my view totally. I don't ride anyone else's horses now as that is my choice,however, in the past, every time I have chosen to place my foot into a stirrup, I have accepted complete and total responsibility for what may happen next!
 
I did have a life changing accident trying a horse.
In that case and I don't want to go into the details several things meanlt that when my OH took advice it was clear I would have had a case .
I however decided I did not want to do this .
However we where lucky , my accident would have been a financial disaster if MrGS has not had the job he did my accident cost and continues to cost money.
If I had been in a less comfortable situation I might have looked at it differently .
My understanding is the law looks at it this way is there negligence on behalf of the owner and did the injured person assume the risk .
If you got onto a horse or where injured by a horse that you knew was difficult it's very difficult to win a judgement .
 
Personally I probably wouldn't claim but I do have Accident, Sickness and Unemployment (ASU) insurance to replace my salary if I was off work. However, there is a clause in my policy that allows my insurers to investigate and possibly recover their costs from anybody that was negligent. If your horse injured me badly enough that I had claimed my on my insurance it would be out of my hands if they decided to go after you. How likely that is to happen I don't know but it is a possibility.

The same clause is in my motor insurance and was in a previous Accident only policy I had through work.
 
I think like others have said it depend on the circumstances and if you had asked the person if the horse had any issues before you got on

I would say it was the responsibility of the rider to ask if the horse has anything issue which could affect his behaviour and to inform the owner of their riding ability too. If then the owner then says actually this is a quite difficult horse and can buck and the rider then says that they have ridden for a long time but is not used to bucking then both of you have then have an opportunity to assess the risks and decide the best course of action.

Obviously if the owner deliberately mislead the rider then that is an issue as it the rider misleading the owner about their riding ability. Then i think it is a slightly different scenario - if for example you ask the owner does this horse buck when ridden and then the owner says no I have never know it to do that and you then find the owner is aware that the horse bucks a lot when then you are in a situation where you have tried to make an informed decision to evaluate the risk and have been mislead. I think making claims should be a last resort and like others have said horses can be unpredictable and as riders we have to accept even handling or riding horses that has a history of being quiet and easy could result in an accident. However if knowing the information that was deliberately withheld when you asked the right questions and had they been open about the issues this would have meant you could honestly say you would not have got on the horse and you have know found yourself in severe financial difficultly which is going to be long term and permanent, then you may have to consider making a claim.

I remember when I was looking for a pony for myself 7 years ago I would explain what I was wanting and then specifically ask how often the pony had bucked, reared, or leapt into the air and spun around whilst being ridden. The owners of the pony I bought were very honest and said he had bucked when galloping up hill in company when he got excited. I went ahead and bought him on the basis that it was unlikely I would be galloping him up hill in company as I not the most confident of riders. A few years after I bought him I took him on a sponsored ride and felt so confident as he been so good on other sponsored rides cantering up hill in company, that I galloped him up a hill, he got excited and bucked me off! Luckily I was fine got back on and completed the ride with no other mis-happs. Which goes to show it is also easy to forget that some horses have an issue when that issue has not presented itself for many years and also only occurs in certain situations.
 
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I agree with others that horses are unpredictable, that's just the nature of riding. However, it would be different if the person KNEW the horse would respond in a certain way when put in a certain situation and put you in that situation without telling you. That's totally different and very dangerous (and very dishonest). It really depends what happened OP. I had a life changing injury happen to me many years ago as well while handling a friends horse, I never claimed.
 
Its probably not worth the hassle, even if you did win. A known bolter, that I was lied to about fractured my spine. I thought about claiming but when I looked into it it would have been a hell of a fight for an uncertain result
 
Income protection and insurance is a good idea for all of us would rather take that £40 on the chin each month than go through the stress of court and potentially creating a lot of stress for someone else for my own financial gain. It's a dangerous sport which no one forces us to do.
 
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