(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant resulting from an inherent risk of equine activity, and no participant or participant’s representative may make a claim against, maintain an action against, or recover from an equine activity sponsor, or an equine professional, for injury, loss, damage, or death of the participant resulting from an inherent risk of equine activity.

(B) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability of an equine activity sponsor, or an equine professional, if the equine activity sponsor, or equine professional:

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 47-9-720

  • Equine: means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710
  • Equine activity: means :

    (a) an equine show, fair, competition, performance, parade, or trail riding that involves a breed of equine and an equine discipline, including, but not limited to, dressage, hunter and jumper horse shows, grand prix jumping, three-day events, combined training, rodeos, driving, pulling, cutting, polo, steeplechasing, English and Western performance riding, trail riding and Western games, and hunting. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710
  • Equine activity sponsor: means an individual, a group, a club, a partnership, or a corporation, whether the sponsor is operating for profit or nonprofit, which sponsors, organizes, or provides the facilities for an equine activity, including, but not limited to, a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club, school and college-sponsored class, program, and activity, therapeutic riding program, and an operator, instructor, and promoter of an equine facility, including, but not limited to, a stable, clubhouse, ponyride string, fair, and an arena at which the activity is held or a landowner who has given permission for the use of his land in an equine activity either by easement or other means. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710
  • Equine professional: means a person engaged for compensation in:

    (a) instructing a participant or renting to a participant an equine for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger upon the equine;

    (b) renting equipment or tack to a participant; or

    (c) examining or administering medical treatment to an equine as a veterinarian. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710
  • Inherent risk of equine activity: means those dangers or conditions which are an integral part of equine activities, including, but not limited to:

    (a) the propensity of an equine to behave in ways that may result in injury, harm, or death to a person on or around the equine;

    (b) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to sound, sudden movement, an unfamiliar object, a person, or another animal;

    (c) certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;

    (d) collisions with other equines or objects; and

    (e) the potential of a participant to act in a negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the participant or others, as failing to maintain control over the animal or not acting within the participant's ability. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710
  • Participant: means a person, amateur or professional, who engages in an equine activity, whether or not a fee is paid to participate in the equine activity. See South Carolina Code 47-9-710

(1)(a) provided the equipment or tack and knew or should have known that the equipment or tack was faulty, and the equipment or tack was faulty to the extent that it caused the injury; or

(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 and to manage safely the particular equine based on the participant’s representations of his ability;

(2) owns, leases, rents, or otherwise is in lawful possession and control of the land or facilities upon which the participant sustained injuries because of a dangerous latent condition which was known or should have been known to the equine activity sponsor, equine professional, or person and for which warning signs have not been conspicuously posted;

(3) committed an act or omission that constitutes wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and that act or omission caused the injury; or

(4) intentionally injured the participant.

(C) Nothing in subsection (A) prevents or limits the liability of an equine activity sponsor or an equine professional under liability provisions as set forth in the products liability laws.

(D) The provisions of this article shall not cover or apply to any liability arising from the ownership, maintenance, or use of any motor vehicle.

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