Appeal Court Revives Suit by Parents of Girl Thrown from Horse

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Remember how the lawyer speaking about equine liability at the USEA Convention said that one problem with equestrian litigation is that the judges often don’t understand anything about horses?  A Los Angeles legal newspaper is reporting that a California appeals court has revived a negligence case between the family of a 17 year old daughter who was killed during the cross country at a 2006 event against their daughter’s riding coach, Kristi Nunnink, a respected 4* rider and member of the 2010 USEF High Performance list. 

Since it was filed, the case has become remarkably convoluted.  But, the quick version is that the Erikssons originally sued claiming that the horse (which they owned) was injured and “unfit to ride” and that “his condition was concealed from them, which increased the risk of harm to their daughter.”  A previous judge dismissed the case, but earlier this week an appeals court revived the case, according to the Metropolitan News Enterprise: 

[B]ased on the evidence proffered by the Erikssons that Nunnink’s role encompassed the authority and responsibility to determine whether Mia’s horse was fit for competition and that Nunnink had assured them [the horse] was capable of performing, [appellate court Justice Jeffrey King] reasoned the Erikssons had demonstrated the existence of a triable issue of material fact…

Although the Erikssons had executed a release of liability in favor of Nunnink, King opined that ‘the disputed facts as to the unfitness of [the horse] in conjunction with disputed facts as to Nunnink’s knowledge and the representations she made to [the parent], triable issues exist as to the presence of gross negligence,” which would place Nunnink’s conduct outside the scope of the release.

This is a ruling on an appeal; it is not a ruling based on the weight of evidence, it is just a decision that there is an existence of a “triable issue of material fact.”  But, the point is that apparently the courts in California could hold a trainer responsible for not stopping a student from riding a horse, even despite the existence of a signed liability release. 

[Metropolitan News via M]

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