Almost every stateÑall except New York, Maryland, Nevada, and CaliforniaÑhave some sort of equine activity law that in many situations can serve as a defense to a horse-related personal injury claim. These state laws differ in detail, but generally recognize that horse sports and other equine activities have inherent risks associated with them. When participants are warned of these risks and then take part in the activity anyway, they assume the risk of being injured.

In Kentucky, the law works like this:

Thomas Biesty is a horseman with a self-described “God-given talent for training horses that very few people possessed.” In 2008 he signed on to work with horses owned by brothers Wilton and Lamon Flynn at their farm in rural Estill County. The horses included Spirit Aces High, a Tennessee Walking Horse stallion owned by Lamon.

Spirit Aces High apparently was skittish and tried to buck whenever Biesty rode him. One day in October, the trainer rode Spirit Aces High down a driveway toward the front gate of the Flynn property, where Lamon was standing and watching. About the time Biesty turned Spirit Aces High back toward the barn, Lamon pushed open the 12-foot metal gate. It dragged along the gravel driveway and made a loud, scraping noise