Equine Liability Statues by State

State Equestrian Liability Limitation Laws

This area consists of the full text of equine activity statutes of those states that have enacted them.

Equine activity statutes are enacted to protect horsemen, camps, stables, and other horse providers from frivolous lawsuits arising out of horse accidents that could not have been avoided.

The statutes provide that a person may not bring a lawsuit if the accident resulted from an inherent risk of equine activities. They also spell out what risks - such as providing defective tack or failing appropriately to match horse with rider - are not inherent and therefore fair game for a lawsuit.

In many of the states that have enacted these statutes, the equine provider must post notices or include notices in contracts, or both, to bring their operations under the statute's protection. These notices must contain exactly the words required by that state's statute.

This area is organized alphabetically by state and consists of the full text of the statute, including any posting or notice requirements that may be in effect in that state.

As of February 1, 2015, 46 states - all but California, Maryland and New York - have passed some form of Equine Activity Liability Act (EALA). These laws sometimes have titles other than "equine liability activity act" and several apply to farm animals in addition to horses. These laws can share many characteristics but all of them are different.

State	Statute	Sign Required	Release Required	Date Enacted	Comments
RG	Federal Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986				Federal law allowing group insurance purchasing
RG	Federal Risk Retention Act Explained
RG	Federal Risk Retention Act Guide
RG	Discussion of the Risk Retention Act of 1986
AL	Alabama 1975 §6-5-337	Yes	Yes	1993
AK	Alaska - No Equine Statute	No	No		Persons can sign liability waiver
AR	Arkansas Code 1987 §16-120-201	Yes	No	1995
AZ	Arizona 12-553	No	Yes	1994	Recently revised, sweeping immunities
CA	California - No Equine Statute
CO	Colorado Revised Statutes §13-21-119	Yes	Yes	1990
CT	Connecticut Acts P.A. No. 93-286	No	No	1993	Very short - does not follow national pattern
DE	Delaware Code Title 10, Ch 81 §8140	Yes	Yes	1995
FL	Florida law 93-169, §773.01	Yes	Yes	1993	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
GA	Georgia §62-2701	Yes	Yes	1991
HI	Hawaii ALS 249	No	No	1994
IA	Iowa 1997 H.F. 132 ( 67 § 1)	Yes	Yes	1997	Amended 2011 to include domestic animals
ID	Idaho Code 1990 Ch. 18, §6-1801	No	No	1990
IL	Illinois 1995 SB 240	Yes	Yes	1995	Written waiver revocable per law
IN	Indiana 1995 Act No 1551	Yes	Yes	1995
KY	Kentucky 1996 HB 239	Yes	Yes	1996	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
KS	Kansas 1994 ALS 290	Yes	Yes	1994	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
LA	Louisiana §9:2795.1	Yes	Yes	1992	Amendments in 7/03 & 6/06
MA	Massachusetts Gen Laws 128 §2D	Yes	Yes	1992
ME	Maine Stat. Title 7 §4101	No	Yes	1992	Amended 1999 - removed negligence exception
MD	Maryland - No Equine Statute
MI	Michigan House Bill 5006	Yes	Yes	1995	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
MN	Minnesota Ch. 623, Art. 3§2	Yes	No	1994	Benefits Non-Profit entities only
MO	Missouri §537.325	Yes	Yes	1994	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
MS	Mississippi 1994 Act 443	Yes	Yes	1994	Amended 2003 - New Warning requirements
MT	Montana Code §27-1-725	No	No	1994	Amended 2016
NE	Nebraska 1997 LB 153	Yes	Yes	1997	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
NY	New York - No Equine Statute				See: New York Helmet Law
NM	New Mexico 13, 42-13-1	Yes	No	1993	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
NC	North Carolina 1997 HB 176	Yes	Yes	1998	Amended 2013 removing negligence exception
ND	North Dakota Code §53-10-1	No	No	1991
NH	New Hampshire Rev Stat. 508:19	No	No	1999
NJ	New Jersey Statute 5:15-1	Yes	No	1998	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
NV	Nevada SB129	No	No	2015
OH	Ohio 1996 HB 564	No	Yes	1999	Written waiver revocable; school, college, and university waivers valid for 12 months
OK	Oklahoma HB 1152	No	Yes	1999
OR	Oregon §30.684	No	Yes	1991	Immunities apply to adult participants
PA	Pennsylvania 2005 SB 618	Yes	No	2006	Immunities apply to adult participants - requires large sign
RI	Rhode Island Laws Ch. 21, §4-21-1	Yes	Yes	1993	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
SC	South Carolina Laws §47-9-710	Yes	Yes	1993
SD	South Dakota Laws §42-11-1	Yes	Yes	1993
TN	Tennessee §44-20-101	Yes	Yes	1992
TX	Texas1995 HB 280	Yes	Yes	1995	2011 amendment extends to farm animals
UT	Utah Code Anno. §78-27b-101	No	No	1992	Allows liability for ordinary negligence - Amended 2003
VA	Virginia Code 27.5, §3.1-796.130	No	Yes	1991	Allows liability for ordinary negligence
VT	Vermont 12 V.S.A. §1039	Yes	Yes	1998	Approved April 30, 1996; effective date unknown
WA	Washington RCW 4.24.530	No	No	1989
WI	Wisconsin S. A. §895.481	Yes	Yes	1996	1996 amendments added sign posting/contract requirements
WV	West Virginia Code Art. 4 §20-4-1	No	No	1994	Participants must sign statement
WY	Wyoming Stat. §1-1-122	No	No	1996	1996 amendments removed definition of equine activity "inherent risks"