EQUINE ACTIVITY LIABILITY RELEASE, WAIVER OF RIGHT
TO SUE
AND ASSUMPTION OF ALL RISKS
This Equine Activity Liability Release, Waiver of
Right to Sue and Assumption of All Risks Agreement ("this Agreement")
is hereby given by the undersigned (i) to Elmington
Farm, LLC, equine activity sponsor and/or equine activity professional (in each
case, the "sponsor"), (ii) to the sponsor as agent for and for the
benefit of each owner of land upon which an equine activity to which this
Agreement relates is conducted
("owner"), (iii) to Kathleen E. Hamlin , Gregory P. Hamlin and
Michael Huntt, as landowners and as persons who
provide facilities for equine activities (the “equine activity sponsor”), and
iv) to each partner, officer, agent, employee, director, shareholder,
subscriber, member, heir, personal representative, successor and assign of the
sponsor and of each owner (who also shall be included within the words
"sponsor" or "owner" as their relationships may determine)
and provides as follows:
In consideration for the opportunities provided by
the sponsor and each owner to the undersigned (including any minor in whose
behalf the undersigned signs this Agreement) (the “participant”) for the
enjoyment of equine activities as participant, the participant, including any
minor participant for whom he signs this Agreement, hereby agrees as follows:
1. This
Agreement is given in part under the Virginia Equine Activity Liability Act
(Code of Virginia Section 3.1-796.130, et seq.) as it may now provide or
be hereafter amended (the "Act").
All terms defined by the Act shall have the same meaning herein, and the
Act is hereby incorporated in this Agreement by reference. This Agreement shall be so construed as to
provide to the sponsor and each owner the fullest protection of a release,
waiver of right to sue and assumption of all risks that is afforded by the Act,
by other applicable statutes and by general law.
2. The
participant hereby acknowledges that he has full and complete notice and
understanding of the Act and of all the risks inherent in equine activities
which may cause, contribute to or result in the death or personal injury of the
participant or damage to the participant's property (the
"Risks"). These risks include,
but are not limited to: (I) the propensity
of equines to behave in ways that may result in injury, harm, or death to
persons on or around them; (ii) the unpredictability of an equine's reaction to
such things as sounds, sudden movement, and unfamiliar objects, persons, or
other animals; (iii) certain hazards such as surface and subsurface conditions;
(iv) collisions with other animals or objects;
(v) the potential of a
participant acting in a negligent manner that may contribute to injury to the
participant or others, such as failing to maintain control over the equine or
not acting within the participant’s ability; (vi) the propensity of an equine to behave in
dangerous ways or to trip and/or fall; (vii) the inability of anyone whomsoever
to predict or foresee an equine's reaction to excitement, weather conditions,
sound, movements, objects, vehicles, persons, animals, reptiles, birds or
insects, and the effects of such reactions; (viii) the hazards of surface or
subsurface conditions, including but not limited to objects or conditions on, under
or protruding from the surface both latent and patent; (ix) the hazards which
rocks, cliffs, hills, fences, trees, stumps, logs, bridges, ditches, bodies of
water, debris and obstacles, and any equine activity in connection therewith,
may foreseeably or unforeseeably present; (x) the dangers and risks of tack or harness
slipping or breaking for whatever reason; (xi) the dangers and risks of
becoming entangled in tack, harness, or vehicles used in an equine activity;
(xii) the risks of falling from or otherwise becoming unstable on an equine or
a vehicle used in an equine activity for any reason whatsoever or for no
identifiable reason; (xiii) the dangers of being struck by an equine, or by
rider; (xiv) any negligent act or omission by the sponsor or any owner which
causes or results in the death or personal injury of the participant or damage
to the participant's property; and (xv) all other risks associated with
horseback riding, [ handling horses,] and related activities.
3. The
participant hereby RELEASES and WAIVES all rights which he may have or
hereafter have against the sponsor and each owner for injury, loss, damage or
death which is in any way resulting from the intrinsic dangers of equine
activities and/or associated with the Risks enumerated in Paragraph 2 above; he
does hereby WAIVE his right to sue or to bring any action against the sponsor
and each owner in connection therewith; he agrees to INDEMNIFY and DEFEND the
sponsor and each owner from and to HOLD the sponsor and each owner HARMLESS against any such suit or action
including reimbursement of legal fees associated with the defense of any claim;
and he hereby expressly ASSUMES ALL RISKS AND DANGERS of injury, loss, damage
or death which are in any way resulting from the intrinsic dangers of equine
activities and/or associated with the Risks enumerated in paragraph 2 above,
including an act or omission that constitutes negligence for the safety of the
participant by the sponsor, any owner or any other person .
4. The participant hereby authorizes and
consents to any emergency medical care
which
may at the time appear reasonably appropriate under the circumstances as a
result of injury or sickness caused by or incurred in the course of an equine
activity.
5. This
Agreement shall remain valid and in full force and effect from and after the
date opposite the signature of the Participant until expressly revoked by the
Participant in a written notice personally delivered to the sponsor.
6. To the
extent possible, this Agreement shall be construed in such manner as will
render it, and each provision of it, fully enforceable; but if any provision of
this Agreement shall be unenforceable, such provision (or so much thereof as is
unenforceable) shall be deleted and the remainder of this Agreement shall
continue in full force and effect.
7. If
this Agreement is executed by the undersigned for and on behalf of a minor
participant named below, the undersigned hereby warrants and represents that he
is in fact the legal parent or guardian of such minor, with full rights of
custody and control; that this Agreement is given on behalf of and is intended
to be binding upon said minor participant, his heirs, personal representatives,
successors and assigns; and the undersigned further agrees that this Agreement
shall also be as fully binding on the undersigned as if it were entered into
solely on his own behalf.
8. This
Agreement shall be binding upon the heirs, personal representatives, successors
and assigns of the participant and the undersigned.
I HAVE FULLY READ AND FULLY UNDERSTAND THE FOREGOING
EQUINE LIABILITY RELEASE, WAIVER OF RIGHT TO SUE AND ASSUMPTION OF ALL
RISKS. I HAVE CONSULTED AND RELIED UPON
MY OWN ADVISORS ON ALL QUESTIONS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, AND I HAVE NOT RELIED
UPON THE SPONSOR/PROFESSIONAL, ANY OWNER OR THE EQUINE ACTIVITY SPONSOR FOR ANY
ADVICE OR EXPLANATION IN CONNECTION THEREWITH.
Print Name:______________________________________________________________
Date:___________________ ____________________________________
Signature
FOR MINORS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE:
Print Name of Minor Participant for Whom Signing:__________________________________________
Date:____________________ _________________________________________
Signature