Ridecamp: Re: [RC] Waivers for minors (long-winded)

Tamara,

As a former paralegal, a wanna-be endurance rider (if my horse will quit
injuring herself right before Dr. Conway does the pre-ride check),
foxhunter, and mother of three teenagers (one accident-waiting-to-happen,
one juvenile delinquent trying-to-happen, and one budding endurance
rider/foxhunter), I'll jump on this one.

"Though his parents had signed a minor release form waiving sueing, they
sued anyway, claiming negligence on the part of those who set up the
course."

This sounds like a prime example casting blame on someone else for one's
problems.  While I can empathize with the boy and the parents because of his
injuries, you have to back up and look at the whole situation.  How did this
kid get to this level of expertise?  Chances are, this was not his first
time out.  Common sense should dictate that you can get hurt skiing, but
people still do it.  You can get hurt riding (God knows, I have been) but we
all still do it.  All *should have been aware of the dangers* of sking down
the side of a mountain.  Yes, there are trees there sometimes, and some
competitions are run on courses with trees.  Sounds like the parents were
feeling a little guilty about their son getting hurt (or maybe this was to
try and avoid that guilty feeling that all us parents should feel at times),
and unfortunately found an attorney who said "we'll make those bad people
pay."  Even if they're successful, it will be small consolation since it
won't bring the boy's sight back.

Bottom line:  Accidents happen.  The tree didn't jump out in front of him
and no one cut down the tree in his path so he couldn't avoid it.  One could
certainly argue contributory negligence on the part of the parents for
allowing their son to participate in a dangerous sport.  CPS has been called
on people for less (and I know whereof I speak).

With this geared specifically toward endurance riding:  I've helped Bo and
Linda Parrish [mostly, but other RM's too] mark trail lots of times.  You
try to avoid obvious danger spots and look for those spots that may be a
little "iffy" but could deteriorate after horses go tromping across them.
You place barriers or markers for trouble spots if you can't avoid them
altogether.  You discuss these spots at the ride meeting but you can't
guarantee people are listening to the RM and not the person in the next
chair or the two dogs that are fixing to fight in the middle of your ride
meeting because they weren't left in the rider's own camp.  I don't know how
many times I've seen this happen and people have their heads up their butt.
If someone attends the ride meeting and can't hear the RM, does the RM send
the loud mouth away?  If so and loud mouth gets hurt on trail, you could
have a liability issue.  If not and the person who couldn't hear (and didn't
ask for info to be repeated), you could still have a liability issue.  I've
ridden trails at Kennard with other horses and gone across spots on trail
where my mare sank but the others horses didn't.  Whose fault is that?
Nobody's!  How do I handle it?  Familiarize myself with the trail as best I
can, be really familiar with my horse, and keep her moving across those soft
spots.  If it has rained and I know the woods will be mushy, I don't ride
her.  Period!  In the "good old days", Bo and Linda could re-route trail to
avoid those really mushy parts, but now have to utilize USFS' permanent
trail.  Still a lot of mush (even when marking on foot).  Now whose fault
would it be if a horse was injured because it sunk on trail (whether the
rider fell off or not)?  USFS?  Ride Manager?

There was enough outcry to get the Equine Liability Law passed by the state
legislature because people don't have (or use) any common sense.  That is
our only hope, I think.  I don't know how many people have "tried" the
ELL -- case law should make for some interesting reading and I needed to go
look that up anyway.  Colorado may need to enact something similar for
skiers. This case will almost certainly set a precedent we all should be
aware of.  If you hear the verdict, would you please let us all know?  I
can't get NPR here.  Personally, I don't think I'd sue.
>
Milinda Ellis
Beargrass Cleveland Bays
Jewett, Texas


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=