H 3867 Session 110 (1993-1994)
H 3867 General Bill, By M. McLeod, G. Brown and J. Hines
Similar(S 599)
A Bill to amend the Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, by adding Article 7
to Chapter 9, Title 47 so as to establish immunity from liability for injuries
or death to a person engaged in an equine activity caused by an inherent risk
of equine activity.
04/07/93 House Introduced and read first time HJ-10
04/07/93 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-10
A BILL
TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976,
BY ADDING ARTICLE 7 TO CHAPTER 9, TITLE 47 SO AS TO
ESTABLISH IMMUNITY FROM LIABILITY FOR INJURIES OR
DEATH TO A PERSON ENGAGED IN AN EQUINE ACTIVITY
CAUSED BY AN INHERENT RISK OF EQUINE ACTIVITY.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Chapter 9, Title 47 of the 1976 Code is amended by
adding:
"Article 7
Equine Liability Immunity
Section 47-9-710. As used in this chapter:
(1) `Engages in an equine activity' means riding, training, providing,
or assisting in providing medical treatment of, driving, or being a
passenger upon an equine, mounted or unmounted, or a person assisting
a participant or show management. It does not include being a spectator
at an equine activity, except in cases where the spectator places himself
in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity to the equine
activity.
(2) `Equine' means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.
(3) `Equine activity' means:
(a) an equine show, fair, competition, performance, or parade that
involves a breed of equine and an equine discipline 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 the owner has received monetary consideration or
another 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) a ride, trip, hunt, or other equine activity, however informal
or impromptu, that is sponsored by an equine activity sponsor;
(f) placing or replacing a horseshoe on an equine;
(g) examining or administering medical treatment to an equine by
a veterinarian.
(4) `Equine activity sponsor' means an individual, a group, a club,
a partnership, or a corporation, whether the sponsor is operating for
profit or nonprofit, which sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities
for an equine activity including, but not limited to, a pony club, 4-H
club, hunt club, riding club, school and college-sponsored class,
program, and activity, therapeutic riding program, and an operator,
instructor, and promoter of an equine facility including, but not limited
to, a stable, clubhouse, ponyride string, fair, and an arena at which the
activity is held.
(5) `Equine professional' means a person engaged for compensation
in:
(a) instructing a participant or renting to a participant an equine
for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon the equine;
(b) renting equipment or tack to a participant; or
(c) examining or administering medical treatment to an equine as
a veterinarian.
(6) `Inherent risk of equine activity' means those dangers or
conditions which are an integral part of equine activities including, but
not limited to:
(a) the propensity of an equine to behave in ways that may result
in injury, harm, or death to a person on or around the equine;
(b) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to sound, sudden
movement, an unfamiliar object, a person, or another animal;
(c) certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
(d) collisions with other equines or objects; and
(e) the potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner that
may contribute to injury to the participant or others, as failing to
maintain control over the animal or not acting within the participant's
ability.
(7) `Participant' means a person, amateur or professional, who
engages in an equine activity, whether a fee is paid to participate in the
equine activity.
Section 47-9-720. (A) Except as provided in subsection (B), an
equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or another person, which
includes a corporation or partnership, is not liable for an injury to or the
death of a participant resulting from an inherent risk of equine activity,
and no participant or participant's representative may make a claim
against, maintain an action against, or recover from an equine activity
sponsor, an equine professional, or another person for injury, loss,
damage, or death of the participant resulting from an inherent risk of
equine activity.
(B) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability of an
equine activity sponsor, an equine professional, or another person if the
equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or person:
(1) (a) provided the equipment or tack and knew or should have
known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and the equipment or tack
was faulty to the extent that it caused the injury; or
(b) 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 to manage safely the particular equine
based on the participant's representations of his ability;
(2) 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 or
should have been known to the equine activity sponsor, equine
professional, or person and for which warning signs have not been
conspicuously posted;
(3) committed an act or omission that constitutes wilful or wanton
disregard for the safety of the participant and that act or omission caused
the injury; or
(4) intentionally injured the participant.
(C) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability of an
equine activity sponsor or an equine professional under liability
provisions as set forth in the products liability laws.
Section 47-9-730. (A) An equine professional and an equine
activity sponsor shall post and maintain signs which contain the warning
notice specified in subsection (B). These signs must be placed in a
clearly visible location on or near stables, corrals, or arenas where the
equine professional or the equine activity sponsor conducts equine
activities. The warning notice specified in subsection (B) must appear
on the sign in black letters with each letter a minimum of one inch in
height. A written contract entered into by an equine professional or by
an equine activity sponsor to provide professional services, instruction,
or rental of equipment, tack, or an equine to a participant, whether or not
the contract involves equine activities on or off the location or site of the
business of the equine professional or the equine activity sponsor, must
contain in clearly readable print the warning notice specified in
subsection (B).
(B) A sign and contract described in subsection (A) must contain the
following warning notice:
WARNING
Under South Carolina law, an equine activity sponsor or equine
professional is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant
in an equine activity resulting from an inherent risk of equine activity,
pursuant to Article 7, Chapter 9 of Title 47, Code of Laws of South
Carolina, 1976.
(C) Failure to comply with the requirements concerning warning
signs and notices provided in this section prevents an equine activity
sponsor or equine professional from invoking the privileges of immunity
provided by this article."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 1993, and applies only to
causes of action arising on or after this act's effective date.
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