Will Your Liability Release Protect You?

Many horse-related businesses require riders to sign liability releases, but many of those releases won’t actually protect the business from liability. Whether your release will protect you from liability is a matter of facts and circumstances. For example, regardless of what your release says, it usually will not protect you in the event that you or your employees are negligent. In addition, courts tend to construe the text of the release against you, interpreting any ambiguities in a manner that favors the person suing you. The best way to protect your business with a liability release is to have an attorney draft a release customized for you and your business.

A few reasons why it’s risky to download a generic release form from the Internet or borrow someone else’s release form:

  • The person who drafted the release form may not know anything about horses, may not be a very good attorney or may not even be an attorney at all!

  • The release form was probably originally drafted for someone else’s business and therefore may not be appropriate for your business. For example, the form may have been designed for a different kind of business or designed to conform to another state’s laws.

  • The release form may have been drafted a long time ago, and as a result, it may not incorporate current legal developments.

Here are some examples where horse business owners have been found liable even though the plaintiff had signed a release. Each one of these defects could have been prevented by having a well-drafted release.

  • Release form was not clear enough to be enforceable because it didn’t specify what risks were inherent in horseback riding.

  • Release form listed the stable’s owner, but not the business entity operating the stable.

  • Release form listed the stable, but not the trainer giving the lesson.

  • Release form didn’t specify that it released the stable for liability due to defects in the stable premises.

Equine Legal Solutions offers customized liability releases at a fixed, affordable price, and liability release clauses are part of each sale, lease, boarding and training agreement we create.

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