Whether you are considering building a barn on your property or already have a barn on your property and are considering allowing boarders to come board horses on your property, you should think very carefully before embarking on such an adventure. Boarding horses is definitely, as the title says, not for the faint of heart. There are a myriad of issues that arise, legal and non-legal, from issues related to adequacy and safety of your facilities to temperament and safety of the animals being boarded.
The obvious concerns about personal or equine injuries which might take place on your property are probably the issue most people think of first and with good reason. Horses and ponies are large animals and it does not take much in the way of a wrong, even accidental, movement to do a lot of damage to a human being or another animal. We all know of situations where a horse kicks a dog or another horse, and that can certainly get expensive to remedy, but what is more often a concern to us is injury to people. Under certain circumstances injuries to people, especially young people, can cost a stable owner a fortune even if the stable is insured.
What do I mean? Well, children are the humans we as a society consider most precious. They have their entire lives ahead of them with what often seems like unlimited potential. It is that potential that, once squelched with death or a debilitating injury, can cost a stable owner and its insurance company (assuming the stable has liability insurance) a great deal of money to remedy. A claim for injury to a 50 year old person will in all likelihood not yield the monetary compensation that a claim for injury to a 5 year old will yield. And where there are horses and ponies, there are often children. And if you add to the mix the possibility that you are going to permit children’s group riding lessons, you have magnified the potential for injury and, at the same time, magnified your potential liability for those injuries.
In addition to the risk of human injury on site for which you could be potentially held liable, there is the risk of a horse escaping your facility and causing injury in the process, whether the animal runs into traffic and causes an accident or tramples someone off site during its escape, among other things.
Another risk relates the boarders themselves for what they may perceive as damage to their horse for which they blame you, the stable owner. Many times a disgruntled boarder has believed that the stable owner was negligent in permitting an unqualified worker to handle the boarded horses and claim that this worker did something which resulted in injury to that boarder’s horse. Maybe the barn manager read the turnout chart incorrectly and put two horses who do not get along in the same paddock by accident and one or both of them is injured. Perhaps it will not be a huge financial hit if it is a $500 retired pasture horse, but it could be a sizeable problem if the injury is to a $50,000 show horse.
Being hypervigilant at all times about the condition of your fencing and the vegetation growing in the fields and paddocks is not an easy job. If someone’s horse dies from ingesting a poisonous plant that should not have been growing in the fields, you may have a problem. If someone’s horse steps in a rabbit hole and breaks its leg, someone may claim you should have inspected the fields better for these hazards. Are they correct? Maybe or maybe not. But oftentimes it does not matter if they are correct or not because the claim will probably be made – because when a person, his child or his horse is injured, that person wants someone to blame. And if you are the stable owner, you will probably be on the list of people they would like to bear some of the blame.
However, if money is no object and you really enjoy the environment of a boarding facility and are comfortable with the risks it presents, then it may make sense for you to get into the boarding business or continue the one you have. Or if you know the risk and are of average means, but you feel you are compelled to get into or continue the business because of your love for it and you are willing to assume the risks, then it may be fine for you. Or if you live in a key location where people will pay substantial amounts for boarding services at your farm, it may make financial sense for you to enter or continue a boarding operation. But if you are an average person of average means with an average farm in an average location, you have a lot to think about. Lots of insurance coverage is an obvious necessity if you ever board even one horse and a good equine insurance agent should be the first person you call before opening your barn doors to boarders. And then a good equine lawyer so that he or she can explain to you the risks of your undertaking a boarding operation. Information is always empowering, so gather as much information on the risks of housing a horse boarding operation before you undertake it so that you are making the best decision that you can make for you and your family.
If you have a situation with some connection to North Carolina (I am only licensed in NC and cannot give advice regarding any other state’s laws) and get into a bind needing legal assistance or just want to ask some general questions to avoid getting in a bind, feel free to email me at dburch@rl-law.com. I used to answer quick questions for free if I could, but I am getting so many calls for free legal advice that I am having to start charging a little something for an initial chat! A good problem to have, I guess 🙂 Starting Juy 1, 2023 I’m going to be charging $150 for a 30 minute general question session. You won’t be engaging me as your lawyer, and we will still have to run a conflicts check, but frequently I can help folks a lot in 30 minutes. Can’t guarantee it, but usually I can at least give you some direction or general thoughts about a general type of situation. If you don’t hear back from me quickly, it’s not because I don’t love you or think you have a great question or because I don’t know the answer (usually), I’m probably just really busy and haven’t had a chance to email back. You can check out our firm’s Equine Law Group at www.rl-law.com if you’re interested, and yes, in addition to providing what I hope are interesting and informative stories and information, this blog is in some small way, I guess, also an advertisement for legal services. I have to tell you that in bold, says the State Bar.
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