LRB-2103/1
PJH:wlj:rs
2015 - 2016 LEGISLATURE
April 20, 2015 - Introduced by Senators Wanggaard, Nass,
Vinehout, Cowles,
Petrowski, Moulton and Farrow, cosponsored by Representatives Kapenga,
Kerkman, Jacque, Weatherston, Czaja, Edming, Quinn, Horlacher, Knodl,
Petryk, Kulp, Gannon, Thiesfeldt and Tauchen. Referred to Committee on
Judiciary and Public Safety.
SB126,1,2
1An Act to create 895.481 (1) (b) 5d. and 895.481 (1) (b) 5r. of the statutes;
2relating to: immunity from civil liability for certain equine activities.
Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
Under current law, a person who participates in certain equine activities
(related to horses, ponies, mules, and other equines) is immune from civil liability
for his or her acts or omissions if another person is injured or killed as a result of an
inherent risk of an equine activity. An inherent risk of an equine activity is any
condition that is an integral part of an equine activity, including the unpredictability
of the animal's behavior, the failure of a rider to control an animal, or a collision with
an object or another animal.
Current law does not extend immunity if a person provides equine equipment
that he or she knew or should have known was faulty, if a person provides an equine
to a person without making a reasonable effort to determine the person's ability to
safely manage the equine, if a person acts in a willful or wanton disregard for the
safety of a person or intentionally causes the person's injury or death, or if a person
fails to post required safety and warning signs.
Under this bill, equine-assisted learning and equine-assisted psychotherapy
are equine activities for the purpose of civil liability immunity.
The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
enact as follows:
SB126,1
1Section
1. 895.481 (1) (b) 5d. of the statutes is created to read:
SB126,2,22
895.481
(1) (b) 5d. Equine-assisted learning.
SB126,2
3Section
2. 895.481 (1) (b) 5r. of the statutes is created to read:
SB126,2,44
895.481
(1) (b) 5r. Equine-assisted psychotherapy.
