Missouri Revised Statutes
Chapter 537
Torts and Actions for Damages
←537.320
Section 537.325.1
537.327→
August 28, 2015
Definitions--liability for equine activities, limitations, exceptions--signs required, contents.
537.325. 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
requires, the following words and phrases shall mean:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity", riding, training, assisting in
medical treatment of, driving or being a passenger upon an equine, whether
mounted or unmounted, or any person assisting a participant or any person
involved in show management. The term "engages in an equine activity" does
not include being a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where
the spectator places himself in an unauthorized area;
(2) "Equine", a horse, pony, mule, donkey or hinny;
(3) "Equine activity":
(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, English and western performance
riding, endurance trail riding and western games and hunting;
(b) Equine training or teaching activities or both;
(c) Boarding equines;
(d) Riding, inspecting or evaluating an equine belonging to another,
whether or not the owner has received or currently receives 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;
(e) Rides, trips, hunts or other equine activities however informal
or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity sponsor; and
(f) Placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine;
(4) "Equine activity sponsor", an individual, group, club,
partnership or corporation, whether or not operating for profit or
nonprofit, legal entity, or any employee thereof, 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, programs and activities, therapeutic riding
programs and operators, instructors and promoters of equine facilities,
including but not limited to stables, clubhouses, pony ride strings, fairs
and arenas at which the activity is held;
(5) "Equine professional", a person engaged for compensation, or an
employee of such a person engaged:
(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;
(6) "Inherent risks of equine or livestock activities", those dangers
or conditions which are an integral part of equine or livestock activities,
including but not limited to:
(a) The propensity of any equine or livestock to behave in ways that
may result in injury, harm or death to persons on or around it;
(b) The unpredictability of any equine's or livestock's reaction to
such things as sounds, sudden movement and unfamiliar objects, persons or
other animals;
(c) Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
(d) Collisions with other equines, livestock, or objects;
(e) The potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner that
may contribute to injury to the participant or others, such as failing to
maintain control over the animal or not acting within his ability;
(7) "Livestock", the same as used in section 277.020;
(8) "Livestock activity":
(a) Grazing, herding, feeding, branding, milking, or other activity
that involves the care or maintenance of livestock;
(b) A livestock show, fair, competition, or auction;
(c) A livestock training or teaching activity;
(d) Boarding livestock; and
(e) Inspecting or evaluating livestock;
(9) "Livestock activity sponsor", an individual, group, club,
partnership, or corporation, whether or not operating for profit or
nonprofit, legal entity, or any employee thereof, which sponsors,
organizes, or provides the facilities for a livestock activity;
(10) "Livestock facility", a property or facility at which a
livestock activity is held;
(11) "Livestock owner", a person who owns livestock that is involved
in livestock activity;
(12) "Participant", any person, whether amateur or professional, who
engages in an equine activity or a livestock activity, whether or not a fee
is paid to participate in the equine activity or livestock activity.
2. Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional, a livestock activity sponsor, a
livestock owner, a livestock facility, a livestock auction market, any
employee thereof, or any other person or corporation shall not be liable
for an injury to or the death of a participant resulting from the inherent
risks of equine or livestock activities and, except as provided in
subsection 4 of this section, no participant or a participant's
representative shall make any claim against, maintain an action against, or
recover from an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, a
livestock activity sponsor, a livestock owner, a livestock facility, a
livestock auction market, any employee thereof, or any other person from
injury, loss, damage or death of the participant resulting from any of the
inherent risks of equine or livestock activities.
3. This section shall not apply to the horse racing industry as
regulated in sections 313.050 to 313.720. This section shall not apply to
any employer-employee relationship governed by the provisions of, and for
which liability is established pursuant to, chapter 287.
4. The provisions of subsection 2 of this section shall not prevent
or limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine
professional, a livestock activity sponsor, a livestock owner, a livestock
facility, a livestock auction market, any employee thereof, or any other
person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional, livestock
activity sponsor, livestock owner, livestock facility, livestock auction
market, any employee thereof, or person:
(1) Provided the equipment or tack and knew or should have known that
the equipment or tack was faulty and such equipment or tack was faulty to
the extent that the equipment or tack caused the injury; or
(2) Provided the equine or livestock and failed to make reasonable
and prudent efforts to determine the ability of the participant to engage
safely in the equine activity or livestock activity and determine the
ability of the participant to safely manage the particular equine or
livestock based on the participant's age, obvious physical condition or the
participant's representations of his or her ability;
(3) 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 the
equine activity sponsor, equine professional, livestock activity sponsor,
livestock owner, livestock facility, livestock auction market, any employee
thereof, or person and for which warning signs have not been conspicuously
posted;
(4) 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;
(5) Intentionally injures the participant;
(6) Fails to use that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and
prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances.
5. The provisions of subsection 2 of this section shall not prevent
or limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine
professional, a livestock activity sponsor, a livestock owner, a livestock
facility, a livestock auction market, or any employee thereof under
liability provisions as set forth in any other section of law.
6. Every equine activity sponsor and livestock activity sponsor shall
post and maintain signs which contain the warning notice specified in this
subsection. Such signs shall be placed in a clearly visible location on or
near stables, corrals or arenas where the equine activity sponsor or
livestock activity sponsor conducts equine or livestock activities if such
stables, corrals or arenas are owned, managed or controlled by the equine
activity sponsor or livestock activity sponsor. The warning notice
specified in this subsection shall appear on the sign in black letters on a
white background with each letter to be a minimum of one inch in height.
Every written contract entered into by an equine professional, an equine
activity sponsor, a livestock activity sponsor, a livestock owner, a
livestock facility, a livestock auction market, or any employee thereof for
the providing of professional services, instruction or the rental of
equipment, tack, or an equine to a participant, whether or not the contract
involves equine or livestock activities on or off the location or site of
the equine professional's, equine activity sponsor's, or livestock activity
sponsor's business, shall contain in clearly readable print the warning
notice specified in this subsection. The signs and contracts described in
this subsection shall contain the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under Missouri law, an equine activity sponsor, an equine
professional, a livestock activity sponsor, a livestock owner, a livestock
facility, a livestock auction market, or any employee thereof is not liable
for an injury to or the death of a participant in equine or livestock
activities resulting from the inherent risks of equine or livestock
activities pursuant to the Revised Statutes of Missouri.
(L. 1994 S.B. 457, A.L. 2015 S.B. 12)
(2004) Exculpatory clause must show clear and unmistakable waiver and
shifting of risk to be enforceable, and section does not relieve
riding instructors or stable owners of duty to exercise
reasonable care. Frank v. Mathews, 136 S.W.3d 196 (Mo.App.W.D.).
1994
1994
537.325. 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise
requires, the following words and phrases shall mean:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity", * riding, training, assisting in
medical treatment of, driving or being a passenger upon an equine, whether
mounted or unmounted, or any person assisting a participant or any person
involved in show management. The term "engages in an equine activity" does
not include being a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where the
spectator places himself in an unauthorized area;
(2) "Equine", * a horse, pony, mule, donkey or hinny;
(3) "Equine activity" *:
(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, English and western performance riding,
endurance trail riding and western games and hunting;
(b) Equine training or teaching activities or both;
(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;
(e) Rides, trips, hunts or other equine activities of any type however
informal or impromptu that are sponsored by an equine activity sponsor; and
(f) Placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine;
(4) "Equine activity sponsor", * an individual, group, club, partnership
or corporation, whether or not operating for profit or nonprofit, or any
employee thereof, 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, programs and
activities, therapeutic riding programs and operators, instructors and
promoters of equine facilities, including but not limited to stables,
clubhouses, pony ride strings, fairs and arenas at which the activity is held;
(5) "Equine professional", * a person engaged for compensation, or an
employee of such a person engaged:
(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;
(6) "Inherent risks of equine activities", * those dangers or conditions
which are an integral part of equine activities, including but not limited to:
(a) The propensity of any equine to behave in ways that may result in
injury, harm or death to persons on or around it**;
(b) The unpredictability of any equine's reaction to such things as
sounds, sudden movement and unfamiliar objects, persons or other animals;
(c) Certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
(d) Collisions with other equines or objects;
(e) The potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner that may
contribute to injury to the participant or others, such as failing to maintain
control over the animal or not acting within his ability;
(7) "Participant", * any person, whether amateur or professional, who
engages in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in
the equine activity.
2. Except as provided in subsection 4 of this section, an equine
activity sponsor, an equine professional or any other person or corporation
shall not be liable for an injury to or the death of a participant resulting
from the inherent risks of equine activities and, except as provided in
subsection 4 of this section, no participant or a participant's representative
shall make any claim against, maintain an action against, or recover from an
equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or any other person from
injury, loss, damage or death of the participant resulting from any of the
inherent risks of equine activities.
3. This section shall not apply to the horse racing industry as
regulated in sections 313.050 to 313.720. This section shall not apply to any
employer-employee relationship governed by the provisions of, and for which
liability is established pursuant to, chapter 287.
4. The provisions of subsection 2 of this section shall not prevent or
limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor, an equine professional or
any other person if the equine activity sponsor, equine professional or
person:
(1) Provided the equipment or tack and knew or should have known that
the equipment or tack was faulty and such equipment or tack was faulty to the
extent that it did cause the injury; or
(2) 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 and determine the ability of the participant to safely manage
the particular equine based on the participant's age, obvious physical
condition or the participant's representations of his ability;
(3) 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 the equine activity
sponsor, equine professional or person and for which warning signs have not
been conspicuously posted;
(4) 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;
(5) Intentionally injures the participant;
(6) Fails to use that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and
prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances.
5. The provisions of subsection 2 of this section shall not prevent or
limit the liability of an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional
under liability provisions as set forth in any other section of law.
6. Every equine activity sponsor shall post and maintain signs which
contain the warning notice specified in this subsection. Such signs shall be
placed in a clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals or arenas
where the equine professional conducts equine activities if such stables,
corrals or arenas are owned, managed or controlled by the equine professional.
The warning notice specified in this subsection shall appear on the sign in
black letters on a white background with each letter to be a minimum of one
inch in height. Every written contract entered into by an equine professional
and equine activity sponsor for the providing of professional services,
instruction or the rental of equipment or tack or an equine to a participant,
whether or not the contract involves equine activities on or off the location
or site of the equine professional's or equine activity sponsor's business,
shall contain in clearly readable print the warning notice specified in this
subsection. The signs and contracts described in this subsection shall
contain the following warning notice:
WARNING
Under Missouri law, an equine professional is
not liable for an injury to or the death of a
participant in equine activities resulting from
the inherent risks of equine activities pursuant
to the Revised Statutes of Missouri.
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