Michigan Equine Liability Act: Immunity, Exceptions, and Waivers

The Michigan Equine Activity Liability Act protects stables, trainers, instructors, event sponsors, and others involved with horses from being sued when a rider or handler is hurt by one of the risks that come with being around horses in the first place. The protection is not absolute. Five statutory exceptions let an injured participant sue anyway, and professionals only get the shield if they post the required warning signs and put the warning language in their written contracts.

The law took effect March 30, 1995 as Act 351 of 1994 and sits in Michigan Compiled Laws beginning at section 691.1662.

What Counts as an Equine Activity

The statute reaches further than most people assume. It covers horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, and hinnies, and it defines “equine activity” to include shows, fairs, competitions, parades, rodeos, dressage, jumping, polo, endurance trail riding, and gymkhana, along with lessons, clinics, boarding, hoof trimming, and veterinary treatment.¹

You don’t have to be in the saddle to be “engaging in an equine activity.” The definition includes being a passenger on a horse, assisting with breeding, touring a facility as part of an organized event, and helping with show management, whether mounted or on foot. Grooming a horse at a fair or leading one through a barn aisle at a clinic counts.²

Who the Protection Covers

The act’s immunity runs to three groups: equine activity sponsors, equine professionals, and a catchall “another person” that can pick up volunteers, property owners, and others involved in the activity.³

An equine professional is paid to teach riders, rent out horses or equipment, provide daily care for boarded horses, train horses, or breed horses for resale. A sponsor is any individual, group, club, partnership, or corporation, profit or nonprofit, that sponsors, organizes, or provides facilities for equine activities. That bucket is written to cover pony clubs, 4-H clubs, hunt clubs, riding clubs, school and college programs, therapeutic riding programs, and stable or farm owners.¹

The Inherent Risks the Act Blocks Claims For

Under MCL 691.1663, a sponsor, professional, or other covered person is not liable for injury, death, or property damage that results from an inherent risk of equine activity. The injured participant is also barred from making a claim or recovering civil damages for such an injury.³

The statute defines “inherent risk” as any danger that is an integral part of equine activity, including:

A horse’s natural tendency to kick, bolt, rear, or otherwise move in ways that can injure someone on or around it.
A horse’s unpredictable reaction to sounds, sudden movement, other animals, people, or unfamiliar objects.
Surface or subsurface ground conditions such as uneven terrain, holes, or hidden debris.
Collisions with another horse or with a stationary object like a fence, gate, or wall.

These risks exist no matter what the operator does. If a well-cared-for horse spooks at a noise and throws its rider, the stable owner generally cannot be sued for the resulting broken arm.¹

When You Can Still Sue

MCL 691.1665 lists five situations where immunity disappears and an injured participant can bring a lawsuit:

The sponsor or professional provided equipment or tack they knew or should have known was defective, and that defect was a direct cause of the injury. A snapped girth strap the operator knew was fraying is the classic example.
The professional handed a rider a horse without making reasonable efforts to assess whether the rider could handle that animal. The statute is explicit that a professional cannot simply take a rider’s word for their skill level; the rider’s claims about their ability must carry enough detail to be credible.
The sponsor or professional controlled the land or facility, knew about a hidden hazard such as a rotted board over a hole, and failed to post warning signs about it.
The sponsor or professional acted or failed to act in a way that showed willful or wanton disregard for the participant’s safety, and that conduct directly caused the injury. This is more than ordinary carelessness.
Someone covered only by the general “another person” language was negligent. For non-sponsors and non-professionals, ordinary negligence is enough to strip immunity.

⁴

Note the gap between the last two exceptions. Sponsors and professionals keep their immunity unless their conduct crosses into recklessness. Everyone else loses immunity for garden-variety negligence. The legislature gave the equine industry an extra cushion that casual helpers and bystanders don’t get.

Participants, Spectators, and Where the Line Falls

The act limits claims by participants. A participant is any person, amateur or professional, engaged in an equine activity, whether or not they paid a fee. Spectators are explicitly excluded from the act’s scope, so if a spectator is hurt, the statute does nothing to limit the sponsor’s or professional’s liability.²

There is one wrinkle. A spectator who places themselves in an unauthorized area in immediate proximity to the activity is treated as a participant. Michigan courts have also found that someone who started out watching can be reclassified as a participant based on what else they were doing at the facility when they were hurt.⁵

Warning Signs and Contract Language Professionals Must Use

MCL 691.1666 sets a compliance obligation that functions as the price of admission for the act’s protection. Equine professionals must post and maintain signs near where equine activities take place, with letters at least one inch tall, carrying a prescribed warning notice. The same warning must appear in clearly readable print in every written contract for professional services, instruction, or rental of equipment, tack, or a horse, whether the activity takes place on the professional’s property or elsewhere.²

The required language reads substantially as follows:

“WARNING — Under the Michigan equine activity liability act, an equine professional is not liable for an injury to or the death of a participant in an equine activity resulting from an inherent risk of the equine activity.”

The word “substantially” allows some flexibility in wording, but the core message has to be there. Skipping the signs or leaving the warning out of contracts hands a plaintiff’s attorney an easy argument that the shield shouldn’t apply.

Waivers and the Horse Racing Exclusion

Two parties can agree in writing to a broader liability waiver than the act provides. Those contracts are enforceable by their terms, though Michigan courts still check them for fairness and clarity, and a vague or lopsided release may not hold up. The act also does not apply to horse racing regulated under Michigan’s Racing Law of 1980; injuries at a licensed race meeting are governed by other law.⁶

Deadline to File a Claim

If one of the five exceptions applies and you want to sue, Michigan’s general personal injury statute of limitations gives you three years from the date of the injury. Missing that window almost certainly ends the claim, regardless of how strong the facts are.⁷

Why Insurance Still Matters for Operators

Statutory immunity is not a substitute for coverage. The act only blocks liability for inherent risks, which leaves several large gaps:

Many commercial general liability policies exclude horse-related injuries unless the operator buys a specific equine liability endorsement. A stable owner who assumes their general policy covers riding accidents may find out otherwise when a claim is denied.
Standard liability policies typically exclude property in your custody, so if a boarded horse is injured or dies at your facility, your general policy will not pay. Care, Custody, and Control insurance fills that gap, with policies available up to $500,000 per horse and $2,000,000 per policy year.
Homeowner policies generally exclude commercial activity. If you run a boarding or lesson business from your personal property, damage to barns, arenas, and equipment used in the business is likely not covered.

The act can reduce insurance costs, but it won’t replace a policy. An operator who leans only on the statute is exposed to any claim that falls into one of the five exceptions, any claim by a spectator, and any property loss involving a boarded horse.

1
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 691.1662 – Definitions
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 351 of 1994 – Equine Activity Liability Act
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 691.1663 – Equine Activity Liability Act
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 691.1665 – Liability Not Prevented or Limited; Conditions
5
Michigan Courts. Michigan Court of Appeals Opinion – Docket No. 352737
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 691.1664 – Liability; Exception; Waiver
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 600.5805 – Statute of Limitations