Liability to Others at Training & Competition Fixtures

A legal viewpoint by Deborah Flynn, Director at Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors

Attending competitions and training events, as a competitor, or someone in control of a horse, brings with it the responsibility of a duty of care to others in attendance, both spectators and competitors. Your duty as a rider is to take care to ensure your own safety and that of others, to minimise risks and to warn others so far as possible of any potential risks. You owe a duty of care to anyone whom you could reasonably foresee might be affected and/or damaged by your actions; if you breach that duty and cause damage or loss, you are liable in negligence. Of course other competitors, spectators and show organisers owe a similar duty of care to you.

Horses can cause accidents in all manner of different ways and each case is looked at on its own facts. The law does recognise that horses do have minds of their own, and you can’t always be in complete control of them 100% of the time.

The general principle is that a competitor voluntarily takes the risk that occurs in the lawful pursuit of their particular sport. It follows that a rider who has knowledge of the risk, but still enters into a dangerous situation, is voluntarily taking the risk. When a competitor goes outside the scope of the sport and a fellow competitor is injured, then a claim for damages may be made.

One issue that has been highlighted recently in the press is the danger of warming up at competitions. It is important to follow etiquette and rules when warming up. Be familiar with the warm up rules and etiquettes and if you are a member of an organisation, make sure you adhere to its particular rules. For example British Dressage has “working in” guidelines which include amongst them:-

·         Pass left hand to left hand when meeting another rider coming in the opposite direction.

·         Announce that you intend to enter a practice area.

·         Do not walk or halt on the outside track and always leave room for other riders to pass.

It is clear that these rules are there to ensure the safety of those participating in the event and, if an accident occurred as a result of a rider disregarding the rules then it is foreseeable that a claim may result.

(Note: You can read more about Collecting Ring Etiquette on pages 36-37 in the Jan-Feb 2017 issue of Equine).

Organisers also owe a duty of care to competitors. This duty is not to protect competitors from the ordinary risks of a particular sport, but the organisers do have a duty to ensure that there are no avoidable outside factors which could cause damage. For example if an organiser placed show jumps in an area full of mole hills resulting in a horse or rider being injured, a rider might have a claim. In one case the Claimant successfully sued the event organiser when a horse kicked out at him whilst leaving the collecting ring. The organisers were found to have been negligent in allowing overcrowding in the ring and having insufficient stewards to control the area.

It is also not just a case of your actions when riding that could lead to you being found negligent. The way you handle your horse on the ground can be relevant. In one reported case, a coroner’s court heard how a horse which had a habit of breaking free was tied to a piece of baler twine attached to a sheep hurdle outside its horsebox. The horse broke free and galloped around the horsebox area, pulling the sheep hurdle with it, striking a girl who sadly later died. The coroner’s role was not to apportion blame, and in that case it was not clear whether the person in charge of the horse had tied the horse to the baler twine or directly to the sheep hurdle, but there was a suggestion that if the horse had in fact been tied directly to the sheep hurdle, that could have been negligent.

If a spectator is injured, then they might also have a claim if there has been negligence of another competitor or the event organiser.

The courts do recognise that spectators have to accept a certain level of risk when attending sporting events. That risk is that riders may make errors of judgment or suffer ‘lapses of skill’ momentarily. However it is unlikely that spectators would be taken to have accepted the risk of a rider being reckless for their own or others’ safety, or deliberately riding dangerously, if an injury were to follow as a result.

Further, there could also be a possible claim against an owner/handler for damage and injury caused by their horse under the Animals Act 1971. Under this Act, an owner/handler is automatically liable for any injury or damage caused by their horse if:

·         The damage is of a kind which the animal was likely to cause; and

·         The likelihood of the damage was due to characteristics of the horse which are not normally found in horses or only found in horses at particular times or in particular circumstances; and

·         Those characteristics were known to the owner/rider.

The Animals Act does contain a number of statutory defences, some of which would be available to horse owners/handlers. Under Section 5(1) of the Act, the owner/handler is not liable if the damage is wholly due to the fault of the person suffering it. Section 5(2) says there is no liability if the person has voluntarily accepted the risk.

Under Section 5(1), a court has to find the Claimant was wholly responsible for the damage which he or she has suffered due to his or her own fault. For example, in one case, a Defendant successfully relied on the statutory defence when a Claimant was injured when he was kicked by the Defendant’s horse, whilst competing in a showing class. A number of horses were in the ring being judged. The Court found that the Claimant approached the other horse from behind too quickly and too close so that he came well within kicking range. This caused the other horse to kick out, which was normal behaviour for a horse in these circumstances. The Claimant had little difficulty in establishing the three requirements for strict liability, but the Court also found that if the Claimant had ridden properly he would have given the other horse sufficiently wide berth and it would not have kicked out. Instead, the Claimant put himself in a dangerous position and that action was a catalyst for what happened and the claim failed.

If you have a claim brought against you, an insurance policy is invaluable as litigation can be very expensive. It is advisable that as a horse owner/rider you take out public liability insurance, but do check the detail of your insurance cover. It is important that it covers any third party injury or property damage. If you compete, ensure that the level of cover includes the type of riding you do, and the level at which you compete.

Third party cover is also available through certain organisations. For example, The British Horse Society Gold Membership includes public liability insurance in respect of riding/handling horses for recreational purposes.

Unfortunately, horse riding accidents can result in serious injuries leading to claims into the millions of pounds. Without adequate insurance in place you could be personally liable for these losses.

Note that some insurance policies might have a clause forbidding the policy holder from accepting or trying to accept liability for an accident. Check your policy carefully in this respect, as insurers may invalidate your policy if you have indicated that you were responsible or at fault.

If there is an incident involving your horse that might lead to a claim, inform your insurers straight away. There might be a time limit for you to notify claims under your policy. If you have informed your insurers in time, then even if a claim isn’t made against you until many months later, your insurers should still deal with it.

Normally under English Law, a claimant has three years in which to issue Court Proceedings if they have suffered a personal injury. If the claimant is below eighteen, they have until their twenty first birthday.

If you do become involved in any sort of accident, safety is paramount. If it is safe to do so, try to preserve as much evidence as possible. As soon as you can following the accident, write down what happened and date it. Ask witnesses what they saw and if they are willing, write down what they saw and ask them to sign their statement. Identify everyone involved, including the horses. Make a note of any injuries if you can for example how someone appeared at the time. If you can, take photos or videos, make drawings or sketches of who and what was where. If relevant, make a note of whether people were wearing protective clothing. Note the time, and the weather conditions and the state of the ground if appropriate. It is best to obtain as much information as you can as early as possible, because memories fade or change very quickly.

In conclusion, riding accidents at competitions and training events for which someone is liable are few and far between but if something does go wrong it can often end in severe injury and loss and it is advisable to have third party insurance to deal with those eventualities if someone claims it is your fault. Whether someone is responsible for that incident will depend upon whether they have been negligent or in breach of a statutory duty, and each case will be considered on its own facts.

Deborah (pictured left) has over 21 years experience in all aspects of personal injury claims including catastrophic brain and spinal injury cases, amputee cases, road traffic accidents, accidents at work, fatal accidents, public liability accidents and accidents involving animals/horses.

She gained an LLB (Hons) from Newcastle University before joining Cartmell Shepherd in 1993, qualifying as a solicitor two years later. She became a Partner in 2006.

Deborah is a member of Headway, the brain injury association, the Spinal Injuries Association and Headway North Cumbria, a charity for local people with brain injuries and their carers. She is also an Accredited Litigator of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, a member of the United Kingdom Acquired Brain Injury Forum (UKABIF) and the British Horse Society.

In 2004 Deborah was nominated for Cumbria Woman of the Year. She has been personally recommended in the Legal 500 and has a ‘five-star’ rating in the Good Lawyer Guide. In 2016 Deborah was named a Leading Individual in the Legal 500.

Contact Deborah at Cartmell Shepherd’s Victoria House office in Carlisle City Centre. Tel: 01228 516666. www.cartmells.co.uk



This article first appeared in the March 2017 issue of Equine. To subscribe securely online, visit www.theeequinestore.co.uk