Equine Legal Services:
What and Why
By Adam Trenk, Esq.
“
E
quine Law” is a phrase used to describe the practice of law relating to horses. If you are an
avid reader of AZ in the Saddle, you have seen my columns over the last several months
and probably have a good understanding of how the law interfaces with horse play.
However, a lot people who work with horses, professionally or as a hobby, tend to disregard the
significance of the law in their work until they are faced with a legal problem. Such problems
may arise in the form of a dispute over a horse related transaction, a notice of non-compliance
from local government due to activities involving horses, or worse, a legal action asserting
liability for a horse related injury. While the scope of these potential pit-falls is very broad,
they all have one common factor: the majority of all horse related legal problems can be easily
prevented by obtaining equine legal services prior to the problem arising.
So now you are wondering what are “Equine Legal Services”? There is no short answer, as
the range of services an Equine Attorney can provide are as broad as the scope of the legal
problems that an unprepared horse enthusiast may encounter. With that said, the concept
is rather simple. In the horse industry, we consult with professionals every day. We use
trainers, veterinarians and farriers for services that are necessary to ensure the health, fitness
and abilities of our equestrian companions to get the most of the physical, emotional and
monetary investments we make in them. In the same vein, a good Equine Attorney provides
legal services that ensure your interests are protected in every transaction and that your horse
related affairs do not run afoul of the law or expose you to liability. You may not realize it,
but virtually every aspect of the horse business is governed by state or local law and involves
transactions that should be documented by a written contract.
Every horse, regardless of breed or discipline, presents its owners with certain questions
of legal significance. If you board horses at your property for other people, you need to be
concerned about the remedies for non-payment which may include feed liens that can be
perfected and give you title to the horse depending on your jurisdiction. You also need to
worry about liability issues. This is especially true if you have other people ride horses that
you own. Have you had the participants sign a waiver? In Arizona, in order to be protected
against liability in the event someone is injured while riding a horse you own, a properly
drafted waiver is required pursuant to A.R.S. §12-553. If you already have a waiver, it should be
reviewed and updated regularly to reflect any changes in the law.
If you engage in breeding horses, there may be questions about rights and obligations in the
event a breeding is unsuccessful. Buying and selling horses presents an entirely different set of
questions. In Arizona, a bill of sale is required to document any transfer of livestock ownership.
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