Covering All Your Bases

It is important to note that homeowner’s insurance typically does not cover horses. If you feel your policy does, it is best to look at it carefully, talk to your agent and get it in writing. In addition, general liability declarations must be made for a variety of activities, such as clinics, riding lessons and pony rides, or they are not covered.

But what is available beyond the basic types of coverage? You do have additional options allowing you to customize based upon your professional avenue. Since every situation is unique, it is best to sit down with your insurance agent, go over your existing policy and discuss with him/her your specific needs. In addition, it is good to review your policy every year upon renewal. As your business changes and develops, so must your insurance policy.

Covering the Facility

There are a number of different optional endorsements you may add to your policy. Professional equine liability covers you as a trainer and/or instructor. If you work at more than one facility, you may have to declare the different places and have them listed on the policy. “Care, custody and control” comes into play whenever you are involved in boarding, transporting or handling someone else’s horse at a show or away from home. This will cover you if something happens to that horse while in your care. Racehorse owner’s liability is obviously specific to people involved in horse racing. Similar to that is equine personal liability. Rose says this is fairly inexpensive and covers the horse owner if her animal does damage to another horse, person or property.

If you are in the trail riding business and rent horses for a fee, you will need additional coverage for that facet. Even if the named insured is a trail riding club, the insurance only applies to its members. However, horses hacking out on or off the premises are covered if enrolled in an instructional riding program conducted by the named insured.

Covering the Horse

The main forms of insurance on a specific horse are mortality/theft and major medical. Rose recommends insuring animals valued at $5,000 and above. If you have many horses, such as those in a lesson program, and money is a consideration, you will have to go through the horses and decide which ones are most valuable to the program. Another option is to ensure for partial value. For example, if the horse is worth $20,000, you can write a policy for $10,000 and “self-insure” for the other $10,000. Rose points out that at some point, you will grow to think, “this is the cream of my crop,” and want coverage on the best. If you have a loss on the rest, you can handle it financially.