Does anyone know abotu insurance for horse boarding operations?

[jettgirl24]

Hi All,

I'm in the process of opening a small 10 - 12 horse boarding/training operation in western Washington. I hope to start bringing horses in on October 1st and I need to find out about getting liability insurance. Does anyone know about how much the premiums usually run? Any recommendations on a company to go with?

Thanks!

 

[ducks4you]

I know enough that I wouldn't risk losing my property to anybody who thinks that they can succesfully sue me for injury on my property.

In the late 1980's I looked into insurance because I hated where I was teaching, and wanted my own place to run my tiny riding academy. At that time, I discovered that I had to insure every square foot of area that I taught, else I would be liable for injuries. In the course of ten years, my waiver (written by DH, my atty), went from 1/4 of a page to a full page of particulars, beginning with "Horseback riding is a dangerous activity." The worst injury was a broken arm, and fortunately, my student believed it was entirely her fault, and her healthy covereage covered the injury.

The first thing I can suggest is to overinsure. The 2nd thing I can suggest is to screen your boarders. The 3rd thing I can suggest is to post only the words "Safety First." IF you post your rules for safety, and you miss the "odd duck" occurance, a good lawyer will snatch that and can pursue you in court. (Honestly, some of the request calls my DH gets are glorified venting with a checkbook.)
You CAN post rules like "Indoor Arena Expectations," to try to get boarders to clean up after themselves. Don't be scared, just be informed.

Good luck. I think that we need more good horse trainers.

 

[w c]

I'm going to guess it's even more complicated than that. Today, that girl who broke her arm, her INSURANCE COMPANY would go after YOUR insurance company! And they would go after you. It wouldn't even be up to the person. People have even reported the location of the accident fraudulently in order to avoid having the stabe get mixed up in it. And that can create its own problems.

It's not enough any more to have people sign a waiver stating horse back riding is a dangerous sport. I would recommend that you not ask on the internet, I think that's very ill advised, no offense intended. Instead, sit down with a lawyer who is already doing equine law work and is very vcery familiar with boarding/lesson operations, and can tell you just how it works in your state and exactly what you should do to protect yourself. It does differ state to state, so that's another reason why you can't ask people for advice - it's different in every state.