7 October 2020
 Categories: , Blog

Many businesses offer recreational horseback rides. Unfortunately, many of these businesses do not take reasonable safety precautions, and oftentimes customers will fall off of the horses and suffer injuries. If this occurs to you, it's essential to document all of your injuries and work closely with a personal injury attorney to build your case.

Waivers

When riding a horse, you will often be required to sign a waiver. However, not all waivers are legally binding. Even if you have signed a waiver, the courts will often not enforce it. However, not having signed a waiver will make your case much easier. 

The majority of companies will require that you sign a waiver. However, the waiver may not be legally binding depending on the age of the individual injured during the ride. Also, a waiver is not legally binding if the courts consider the waiver to be unreasonable.

Duty of Care

Horseback riding is not a regulated industry. Therefore, there are multiple levels of training protocols that horseback riding services will follow. For example, some companies require that you wear a helmet, while other companies do not even supply helmets if you request them. 

If you have never ridden on horseback, a horseback riding company should ideally give you basic training. However, many horseback riding companies fail to do this. In some cases, you may need your personal injury attorney to find an expert witness who will be able to consult on whether the horseback riding company conducted itself appropriately. This may be another individual who has worked in the industry and can give an opinion on whether the horseback riding company's actions were reasonable.

For example, you might be curious about the behavior of the horse. Some horses shouldn't be ridden because they are too wild and unpredictable. However, even horses that are well-trained can sometimes become startled and can bolt.

Dangerous Trails

In other cases, the horse might be well-behaved, but the trail itself is not safe. For example, the trail might require that you walk across a bridge that isn't in good condition or you may be required to cross the street at an area that has too much traffic. You may ride over an uneven road surface and both you and the horse might fall. Whenever there is negligence and it leads to you becoming injured, you may be entitled to compensation for your injuries and should consider pursuing a settlement.