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Release Form & Florida
Equine Activity Statute
Release Form Information
Our insurance requires that every person, both adult and child;
visiting the facilities must have a valid, signed Equine
Experiential SM release form before they can participate in any
activity. This includes tours, meetings, workshops, any FEEL
sessions, volunteering, etc. Please Note: a release form must
be completed and signed by every visitor regardless of their
involvement with the horses and other farm animals.
• A legal guardian must sign for all visitors under the age of
18. Any child under 18 who is not accompanied by a legal guardian
must bring a release form completed by his or her legal guardian.
• Visitors between the ages of 13 and 18 must sign with their
legal guardian.
• Each visitor must have a completed release form on file, and
must complete a new one each calendar year. Equine activities are
also governed by
Florida Statue
releasing equine activity sponsors or equine professionals from liability.
Click here for the PDF file of our
Liability Release Form which includes the Florida Statute
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Florida Equine Activity
Statute
FLORIDA STATUTES
TITLE XLV TORTS
CHAPTER 773 EQUINE ACTIVITIES
773.01 Definitions.
As used in §§ 773.01-773.05:
(1) "Engages in an equine activity" means riding, training, assisting in
veterinary treatment of, driving, or being a passenger upon an equine, whether
mounted or un-mounted, visiting or touring or utilizing an equine facility as
part of an organized event or activity, or any person assisting a participant or
show management. The term "engages in an equine activity" does not include being
a spectator at an equine activity, except in cases where a spectator places
himself in an unauthorized area.
(2) "Equine" means a horse, pony, mule, or donkey.
(3) "Equine activity" means:
(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, riding, driving, pulling, cutting,
polo, steeple chasing, English and western performance riding, endurance trail
riding, gymkhana games, and hunting.
(b) Equine training or teaching activities or both.
(c) Boarding, including normal daily care of an equine.
(d) Riding, inspecting, or evaluating an equine belonging to another by a
purchaser or an agent, whether or not the owner has received monetary
consideration or other thing of value for the use of the equine or is permitting
a prospective purchaser to ride, inspect, or evaluate it.
(e) Rides, trips, hunts, or other equine activities of any type, no matter how
informal or impromptu, that are sponsored by an equine activity sponsor.
(f) Placing or replacing horseshoes or hoof trimming on an equine.
(g) Providing or assisting in veterinary treatment.
(4) "Equine activity sponsor" means an individual, group, club, partnership, or
corporation, whether or not the sponsor is operating for profit or nonprofit,
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, stable and farm owners and operators, instructors, and
promoters of equine facilities, including, but not limited to, farms, stables,
clubhouses, pony ride strings, fairs, and arenas at which the activity is held.
(5) "Equine professional" means a person engaged for compensation:
(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;
(b) In renting equipment or tack to a participant;
(c) To provide daily care of horses boarded at an equine facility; or
(d) To train an equine.
(6) "Inherent risks of equine activities" means those dangers or conditions
which are an integral part of equine activities, including, but not limited to:
(a) The propensity of equines to behave in ways that may result in injury, harm,
or death to persons on or around them.
(b) The unpredictability of an 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 or her ability.
(7) "Participant" means 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.
773.02 General provisions.
Except as provided in § 773.03, an equine activity sponsor, an equine
professional, or any other person, which shall include a corporation or
partnership, 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 § 773.03, no participant nor any participant's representative shall have any
claim against or recover from any equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or any other person for injury, loss, damage, or death of the participant
resulting from any of the inherent risks of equine activities.
773.03 Limitation on liability for equine activity; exceptions.
(1) This section applies to the horseracing industry as defined in chapter 550.
(2) Nothing in § 773.02 shall 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:
(a) Provided the equipment or tack, and knew or should have known that the
equipment or tack was faulty, and it was so faulty as to be totally or partially
responsible for the injury;
(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, or to determine the ability of the participant to safely manage the
particular equine based on the participant's representation of his or her
ability;
(c) Owns, leases, rents, has authorized use of, or is otherwise in lawful
possession and control of the land or facilities upon which the participant was
injured, and the injury was due totally or in part, to a dangerous latent
condition which was known to the equine activity sponsor, equine professional,
or person and failed to post warning signs;
(d) Commits an act or omission that a reasonably prudent person would not have
done or omitted under the same or similar circumstances or that constitutes
willful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant, which act or
omission was a proximate cause of the injury; or
(e) Intentionally injures the participant.
773.04 Posting and notification.
(1) Every equine activity sponsor and equine professional shall:
(a) Post and maintain one or more signs which contain the warning notice
specified in subsection (2). These signs shall be placed in a clearly visible
location near to where the equine activity begins. The warning notice specified
in subsection (2) shall appear on the sign in black letters, with each letter to
be a minimum of 1 inch in height, with sufficient color contrast to be clearly
distinguishable.
(b) Give the participant a written document which the participant shall sign
with the warning notice specified in subsection (2) clearly printed on it. Said
written document may be used in lieu of posting the warning on the site of the
equine activity sponsor's or equine professional's facility, and shall be given
to any participant in an equine event not on the location of the equine activity
sponsor's or equine professional's facility.
(2) The signs and document described in subsection (1) shall contain the
following warning notice:
WARNING
Under Florida law, an equine activity sponsor or 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.
773.05 Limitation on liability of persons making land available to public for
recreational purposes.
Nothing in §§ 773.01-773.05 shall be construed to limit in any way the
limitation of liability granted to private citizens who allow the public to use
their land for recreational purposes, as provided in § 375.251.
Enacted in 1993, amended in 2000.
Reviewed by AAHS in March 2001.
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All activities are
done on the ground and no horse experience is necessary.
Dress for the weather for this outdoor experience.
Please
contact us today
to schedule your session!
We are willing to work with ANY budget & special agenda
you have!
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