What is meant by outside rider risk?
You are a horse owner and are planning a vacation of several days or you are suddenly so busy that your hobby, the horse, has to take a back seat now and then and often has to be cared for spontaneously and irregularly elsewhere.
So what do you do? You look for a person who can stand in for you on occasion and ride your horse, a so-called "outside rider".
Outside riders are persons who ride a horse free of charge and occasionally for the horse owner. In contrast to a riding partnership, the outside rider is bound by instructions, but no contractual arrangement has been made between the parties regarding the handling and care of the horse.
Who pays in the event of damage - the liability issue
Especially when outside riders ride a horse, the risk of damage is high, since horse and rider are usually hardly familiar with each other and accidents or injuries can occur so quickly.
According to Section 833 sentence of the German Civil Code (BGB), there is a statutory presumption of fault in the liability of the owner of a farm animal. Horses are considered to be farm animals if their keeping is directly related to the professional activity of the owner.
The owner of a farm animal can rebut the statutory presumption of fault by proving that he exercised the necessary care in supervising the animal or that the damage was inevitable.
In the case of private horse owners (horses not kept for profit), the owner is liable under § 833, p. 1 of the Civil Code for any damage caused by the horse, regardless of fault. This also applies to damage caused by the horse to a "foreign" rider on the occasion of riding.
This means that the injured party can claim damages from the horse owner even if the latter has fulfilled his duties of care in an exemplary manner. Consequently, utmost caution is required when leaving one's own horse to another rider as a courtesy. If a riding accident occurs, for example because the horse, which is considered to be experienced in cross-country riding, suddenly runs away in the forest and the rider is hit by a branch, the owner of the recreational horse - unlike in the case of a livestock animal - has no possibility whatsoever to provide evidence of exoneration.
As a horse owner, you are also liable to an injured third party, if necessary together with the outside rider, and in the case of a privately owned horse, you cannot exonerate yourself by the fact that the outside rider caused the damage.
The horse owner against whom a claim for damages is made may, under certain circumstances, invoke contributory negligence on the part of the injured party or a third party and thus mitigate the consequences of his own liability.
The extent to which the outside rider risk is covered in your horse liability insurance depends on the respective contract. A wide variety of insurance policies are offered for "all aspects of the horse". We therefore recommend that you obtain detailed information and advice from your insurance company.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, RT & Partner.
