Saddling riders with the risk [The Buffalo News, N.Y.]

Nov. 29--Overhead, a crisp autumn afternoon was fading into dusk. The air smelled of fallen leaves and sawdust, and the rhythmic thud of hoofbeats resounded as a group of girls trotted and cantered their horses around an outdoor ring.

"When you're ready, you can walk 'em," called out the riding instructor at Skibbereen Farm in Orchard Park.

Liz Conron leaned against the fence and watched her 11-year-old daughter, Molly, steer a pony named Honeybear through its paces.

"I know it's a dangerous sport," the Williamsville mother said. "You have a child involved with this animal that weighs 2,000 pounds -- that's kind of scary.

"But it's like anything in life -- there's risk."

Conron is one of many people across the region who have ridden horses for pleasure and sport -- or watched a child saddle up for a riding lesson.

Now, legislation proposed by Sen. Michael H. Ranzenhofer would make horseback riding a sport in which the "inherent risk" is acknowledged -- and assumed -- by those who engage in it.

The idea behind the law, which is similar to laws under consideration in other states, is to give a boost to equine businesses, which can face high insurance rates and other costs related to safety, proponents said.

"It's nice to get out on a farm and ride a horse. That's a good thing to do," said Ranzenhofer, R-Amherst. "But a lot of stables are running into financial problems because of the risk if somebody gets hurt."

Some stable owners in Western New York said they support the proposed law. But some lawyers, including trial lawyers, said the law may not be necessary.

And what of horseback riders -- and their parents?

Many seem willing to take on the risk for a sport they love.

"You can't live in a bubble," said Conron, watching Molly trot the dun-colored mare. "And I'd rather have them here than at the mall, you know?"

Ranzenhofer said he got the idea for the "inherent risk" law from a horse owner in Clarence. Hans Mobius, a former president of the Erie County Farm Bureau, made the case that farms and riding stables must pay higher rates for insurance because of the risk involved in horse care and riding.

Alleviating that would be a boon to small businesses and to New York's equine industries, Ranzenhofer said.

"The purpose of the law is to try to limit the liability of these stables," said Ranzenhofer, who has ridden horses but doesn't own horses or a stable. "It would also require the posting of a notice [in barns], that there is an inherent risk with this activity."

The proposed law is in committee, and it could take months to come up for consideration.

Right now, general liability law governs horseback riding, said Ranzenhofer, who is a lawyer. The change he proposes would not prevent lawsuits, he said.

"This does not eliminate a person's ability to sue," Ranzenhofer said. "Someone can still bring an action for damages against the owner of a stable -- if the person was acting recklessly or hid something.

"What this would do is, for the typical situation, it would limit the liability for these family farms and stables."

Precedent in other states

Ranzenhofer said as many as 30 states are considering or have passed such riding-risk laws.

"This is not a stand-alone, New York State-only type of law," the lawmaker said.

Alpine skiing is another physical activity that, in New York, is considered an "inherent risk" activity, said a local trial lawyer.

"There's a whole section [in the state's general obligation law] on downhill skiing," said Kevin D. Walsh, president of the Western New York Trial Lawyers Association, "saying it's risky, and here are the obligations of skiers, and so on."

A horse-focused addition to the state law would be similar to the skiing provision already on the books.

Such a measure could be a helping hand, according to one local stable operator.

Chrissie Hannon, a prize-winning equestrienne who operates Skibbereen with her husband, Bill Kraetz, said the general public doesn't have a good grasp of what it costs to maintain a successful riding and schooling barn.

In the 16 years that Hannon and Kraetz have run the Orchard Park farm on property that they lease from Hannon's relatives, costs for bedding and hay have risen steeply, as have prices for veterinary care, manure disposal and barn help. Horse trailers and pickup trucks also cost much more.

Finding good schooling horses -- Skibbereen has 16 in all -- can be difficult and expensive, since the farm tries to find reliable and trustworthy lesson horses.

"Most of our schooling horses are as bomb-proof as you can get 'em," said Kraetz, who manages the barns. "But insurance is expensive. Everything is expensive in this business."

Skibbereen's costs are kept down because Hannon and Kraetz, along with Hannon's sister Molly Hannon, do most of the instructing and barn management, Chrissie Hannon said.

But it's still a challenge to keep everything up to the high standard that Hannon expects of her 30-horse operation. (Besides lessons, she does some boarding and sales).

"Our overhead is crazy," said Hannon, a former college champion rider.

Accepting the risk

Skibbereen places an emphasis on safety, said Hannon, who accepts children for lessons as young as age 5. The barn requires students and their parents to sign a release form saying they understand riding can be risky and accept that condition.

"We're pretty strict with safety rules and regulations," Hannon said, watching helmeted girls lead horses into an indoor barn. "That wouldn't change."

Walsh, the president of the trial lawyers group, said such waivers may offer warnings to people signing up for physical activities such as skiing or horseback riding, but they are not complete protection for the businesses.

"[Waivers] are an acknowledgment that the individual is understanding that there are risks," he said. "There's an understanding ... that there's an inherent risk, but if the property isn't maintained, or there's improper maintenance, there is not a [full] release of that business."

Hannon said that no matter how safe they normally are, all stables see occasional accidents because they are full of heavy, lively animals that react quickly.

"If you ride, you're going to fall off," she said. "We all fall off. I fall off. Horses aren't machines -- they do things out of response and instinct."

"But in any sport," she said, "you have the risk of injury."

Conron, the Williamsville mother, said she is happy with the level of safety instruction and personal attention her daughters receive at Skibbereen.

"You have to feel comfortable with the barn and the instructors," she said. "They're really good here with putting the kids together with the horses. When [the girls] are riding, the instructors are always in the ring with them."

Conron, a former equestrienne herself, said she understands the idea behind the proposed law, and it doesn't bother her.

"We ski, too," she said. "And that's another dangerous activity where you have to sign a waiver."

But some lawyers in the region, including trial lawyers, said the proposed change strikes them as unnecessary.

"I don't see that this is necessarily a change in the law," said Linda J. Marsh, president of the Western Region Affiliate of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, a group consisting of plaintiff lawyers.

In the state, a complete "assumption of risk" law means that anyone who engages in a sport or activity assumes the risk of taking part, Marsh said.

"We already have this well-established [tradition]," she said.

Marsh said cases involving horse-related accidents are not unheard of, because horses are unpredictable creatures -- but that each of those cases involves unique circumstances.

"It's not murky," Marsh said of the existing law. "But it's very fact-driven."

Ski resorts and downhill skiing businesses -- which have the special provision -- have long been considered activities where customers take the risk of participating upon themselves, said Scott Brandi, president of the Ski Areas of New York trade group, which represents skiing providers across the state.

"Skiing is a risky sport. We don't market it as a sport without risk," Brandi said.

He said the businesses are generally comfortable with that image, and if release forms are used, they are just an extra layer of notification to participants.

"The doctrine of assumption of risk has always been a doctrine of defense for the ski industry," Brandi said. "If they're going down the slopes -- it's their choice."

Hannon, the stable operator, said accidents at Skibbereen are rare.

And, she said, there's something intangible that kids -- and adults -- get out of horseback riding. Something she thinks you can't find anywhere else.

That's one of the reasons Hannon lets her own daughters -- ages 7 and 5 -- ride horses at the farm.

"Horseback riding teaches you empathy," said Hannon.

"You're not just riding a bike. We try to make kids understand -- it's not just about them."

[email protected]

___

(c)2011 The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.)

Visit The Buffalo News (Buffalo, N.Y.) at www.buffalonews.comDistributed by MCT Information Services