Intro to Horse Boarding Agreements
A horse boarding agreement is a written contract between the owner of one or more horses, the Customer, and the operator of a boarding facility, the Facility Owner, which sets forth certain terms and conditions under which the Facility Owner agrees to board the Customer’s horse(s) at the Facility Owner’s boarding facility. A horse boarding agreement is essential, as it sets forth the expectations of both the Customer and the Facility Owner and can help avoid future disputes between the parties. On balance, the horse boarding agreement should be most beneficial to the Customer in order to avoid disputes regarding the care of his/her horse(s), while also containing certain minimum requirements for the Facility Owner’s protection in the event of damage or injury to the Owner’s property or other patrons or guests at the boarding facility.
The horse boarding agreement typically contains the following key components:
(1) Description of Services and Fees
The Facility Owner will describe the services agreed to be provided, including, but not necessarily limited to, feeding, cleaning stalls, grooming, administering medications, daily exercise, and attendance at shows. This section will also set forth the charges for such services and state how often payment is due, i.e., weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. A statement indicating that rates are subject to change should also be included in accordance with any changes made by the Facility Owner , as applicable.
(2) Care and Responsibilities of Facility Owner
This section sets forth how often the Customer’s horse(s) will be fed and what the Facility Owner will be required to do in connection with the care of such horse(s). It should give the Facility Owner the broadest discretion with respect to the care of the Customer’s horse(s) and should indicate what the Facility Owner views as luxury items (i.e., grooming, exercise, and socializing) that are not required to be performed. In addition, this section should require the Facility Owner to provide all necessary vaccinations and medical records as well as maintaining certain liability insurance.
(3) Care and Responsibilities of the Customer
In this section, the role of the Customer is outlined. This section should make clear that the Customer is responsible for payment of charges as indicated in Section (1); however, to ensure prompt payment for services, the Facility Owner should also require all charges to be paid at the beginning of each month for that month.
(4) Indemnification Provision
This section should provide broad indemnity language with respect to all actions taken by the Facility, the Customer and any guests invited onto the Facility.
(5) Waiver of Liability
In this section, the Customer will waive any liability of the Facility Owner for the loss of or injury to the Customer’s horse(s); however, this section should include language indicating that the Facility Owner is only reimbursed and indemnified for those losses or injuries to the horse(s) that occur during the Facility Owner’s care.
(6) Miscellaneous Provisions
This section sets forth some of the general terms of the contract, including provisions for arbitration of disputes, amending or modifying the contract, governing law and entire contract provisions and incorporation by reference.
Key Terms of a Horse Boarding Agreement
To ensure a comprehensive understanding of rights and responsibilities, certain clauses must be present. The descriptions below are merely a guideline of what should be in a horse boarding agreement, but you should consult with Redwook Legal when drafting, reviewing, or revising a horse boarding agreement.
1. Boarding Fees
This is the minimum that should be included in any horse boarding agreement. It will contain how often the owner is required to pay, how much, and how that payment should be made (i.e. electronic transfer, by check, etc.). If any discounts are offered for early payment, this should also be included in this clause. Many owners are sometimes late with payments, or miss them entirely. A boarder should never have to place liens on the horse due to unpaid fees, so it is critical in protecting all involved parties that proper payment details are included.
2. Feeding and Care
Many boarding facilities charge additional fees for services such as grain, supplements, mucking, etc. The cost of these should be provided to the owner of the horse, and must be made clear whether these services are mandatory or optional (and if optional, how to affirmatively opt out of such services). It is also wise to include any requirements regarding vaccination and deworming, as well as any other health-related requirements.
3. Limitation of Liability
Unfortunately, accidents do happen. Therefore, including clauses which limit any liability that may occur is imperative to protect all involved parties. Limiting liability is not an option in all situations, however, and such clauses should not be relied upon as the sole protection against liability exposure.
4. Responsibilities of the Parties
It is critical that everyone involved in the horse boarding agreement is clear about their respective responsibilities. This section should clarify who is responsible for what, and is not limited to just care of the animal(s). This section may also include liability protection and/or indemnification in the event of damage to the property or injuries to any person(s) involved. In addition to the responsibilities of the parties, this section should also clarify that this contract is binding even if the facility is transferred to another party.
Drafting a Customized Horse Board Agreement
A standard horse boarding agreement usually targets certain needs of the boarding facility and the horse owner, but it can be unnecessarily broad or narrow for the unique circumstances of your boarding relationship. For example, stable management may require a high level of care for all horses boarded with them, while the horse owner may want less involved care for their low-key horse. Other areas where the general contract may not be specific to your needs is if an owner has pre-existing but easily managed condition or a horse with a special handling situation, a general form may make it seem like the owner is going to be responsible for managing these issues so that the stable manager is absolved of any responsibility to care for the condition or situation. It is critical that a horse boarding contract account for any extenuating circumstances to the general provisions included to ensure that when issues arise the fault does not fall on the wrong party. Perhaps you plan on only boarding a horse at the facility for a short period of time (so do others). In this case, you may want to include language that limits the contract to the term you were expecting and reserves the right to terminate the contract following that term’s expiration. If your contract is for a consistent period of time and should run for a year or more, it is important to include a termination clause so that you are not unnecessarily tied to the facility even during times when you have found a different facility.
In order to provide a full-service horse boarding contract, there must be a complete understanding of state specific issues in regards to providing services (boarding, veterinary, farrier etc.) to horses and horse owners. Some states may require a more detailed stricture of how payments work, how property is claimed, etc. If you’re an attorney writing a horse boarding contract for a client, you should study the laws related to providing boarding services to determine if any additional clauses would need to be added to the contract.
Horse Boarding Agreements: Things to Avoid
When creating or reviewing a horse boarding agreement, it is important to recognize common pitfalls that could endanger both the horse and the owner. One common mistake is using vague wording. For example, when trying to accommodate special needs, an owner might request that their horse be put in another paddock for unspecified reasons. If there are no specific instructions against letting the horse roam freely, the facility’s negligence could allow the animal to stray onto the main road where it might be injured or even killed.
Another issue is failing to set contingency plans. As previously mentioned, stall dimensions should be clearly stated in the contract and reviewed by owners. When an owner purchases a new horse , they might find that it is too big for the stall they have reserved, but the boarding space is limited. Having a back-up plan in place means that the owner can safely move their horse to a larger space without unnecessary downtime. Additionally, a solid plan will increase the chances of obtaining a more favorable view from the court if a dispute arises and the case goes to trial.
Finally, horse boarding agreements should be reviewed on a regular basis. For example, are there employees who regularly change pads near the stalls? Are there exhaust fans in the barns? If an accident occurs, negligence may be easier to prove if the contract does not clearly address ventilation and clean-up schedules.
Sample Horse Boarding Agreements
There are a number of different resources online that you can use to find sample horse boarding agreement templates. We have compiled a short list below to get you started, but these are by no means the only options available.
Equine Insurance Consultants, Inc., has a fairly comprehensive sample agreement available for free download from their website: http://www.equineinsuranceconsultants.com/sampleboard.pdf.
The following websites have general templates for boarding agreements, tack and feed leases and full leases that you may find useful:
• http://equinedocuments.com/BoardingAgreement.htm
• http://www.zoopediatools.com/docroom.html
• http://www.bodywrappers.com/docs/horsestalllease.doc
• http://www.equinecommunication.com/ga.htm
You can also find many professionals who offer customized horse boarding agreements for a small fee. For example, the following websites provide customized agreements for a fairly minimal fee:
• www.horse-lawyer.com
• www.equusmagazine.com
Although templates can be a useful starting point, it is strongly recommended that you have any agreement with significant business implications reviewed by an attorney as there are a number of state specific legal issues that come into play. If you find a template you like, it is a good idea to have an attorney review how it applies in your situation, and customize it to meet your specific needs.
PROS & CONS OF USING TEMPLATE AGREEMENTS:
PROS:
• Templates generally include starter provisions to cover many applicable laws
• Templates are often less expensive and time consuming than custom agreements
• Templates can save time on research since often the research has already been done in creating the template
CONS:
• Templates provide a starting point for custom agreements, but it is important to always double-check how the law in your state may apply to particular provisions.
• Templates may not cover all contingencies you may need to address
• Templates often need to be customized to meet your specific needs
• Templates may contain outdated or incorrect information
Equine Law: Horse Board Contracts
An essential component often included in horse boarding contracts is a liability waiver. The purpose of a liability waiver is to protect the barn owner/operator/manager and horse owner from personal liability for an injury to a human, or a horse, that occurs on the premises, regardless of whether there is negligence on the part of the barn owner/operator/manager. Every state has its own laws concerning the enforceability of liability waivers. The extent to which a liability waiver is enforceable is determined by state statutes and case law. It is important to understand that a liability waiver cannot waive all liability. A liability waiver cannot waive liability for gross negligence or willful or wanton conduct. Gross negligence is the failure to use even slight care in any situation where your failure to act as a reasonably careful person would be viewed by other people in your community as indifference. Willful or wanton conduct is conduct where a person intentionally performs an act or acts either specifically intended for the consequences of their act, or specifically knowing that those consequences are substantially certain to result from the act even if the person didn’t intend to bring about the consequences. However, a liability waiver can waive liability for ordinary negligence. Ordinary negligence is when a person failed to act as a reasonably careful person would have acted under the same circumstances; it is the omission to do something which a reasonable person would have done, or doing something which a prudent and reasonable person would not have done under similar circumstances. A liability waiver can be enforced against a horse owner for injuries to his or her horse even when that horse owner is not at fault. A waiver of liability cannot waive the boarding barn owner/operator’s responsibility to keep premises safe from unreasonable risks of injury. While many accidents involving riding , handling or working with a horse or those associated with a horse relate to ordinary negligence, a barn owner owes a higher duty of care to an invited guest such as a horse owner. Consequently, if an injury results from a premises defect, the liability waiver may not be enforceable against the horse owner because a barn owner owes a duty "to exercise reasonable care to prevent [horse] injuries which could have been avoided by the exercise of due care." A liability waiver will not protect a barn owner from liability for injuries caused by defects in equipment supplied by the barn owner when such defects were unknown to the horse owner. Horse owners should never assume that a barn owner will provide safe equipment. Horse owners should inspect any equipment provided by the barn owner to ensure it has not been replaced by a faulty or defective piece of equipment. A lease or boarding agreement can define the duties owed by a barn owner to a horse owner. The duties owed to a horse owner include: The scope of the duty is limited to the duty owed to the horse owner’s horse. A barn owner owes the duty of care over the horse at the facility but does not owe the duty of care over the horse when it leaves the premises, unless agreed upon by the boarding contract. If the boarding contract requires the barn owner to accompany the horse and horse owner off premises, a duty of care would be owed while riding, at a show or training clinic. And finally, as always, it is best to seek the advice of a lawyer experienced in equine law to review your boarding contract to ensure compliance with state law.