Trainer/coach liability?

[thumbsontop]

I had a conversation last night with an experienced 18 yr old event rider who had been asked to coach a 14yr old rider on a green horse at a local USEA BN event. The girl's trainer was fully supportive, though she warned this potential coach to be prepared to pull them from doing cross country if the mare was acting up. The prospective coach was saying how awkward it made her feel because she didn't feel like she had the right to tell a rider to not ride her own horse. My response was that this trainer likely just had her best interest in mind by alerting her to the fact that she would be taking on a serious responsibility - not to mention that she could potentially be liable if the rider or horse got hurt. Thoughts? How do you handle the situation as a coach or trainer if you think a horse/rider may be unprepared to compete? Is a coach liable if there's an accident? I imagine liability insurance helps, but this "coach" would have been more of an advisor and I know she doesn't have insurance. Does it make a difference if the person is named under "coach" or not?

More of the story....I should add that the owner's parents are not horse people, and not particularly cautious. The trainer wasn't asked to coach specifically because she told the girl that she may only be doing dressage and stadium because her horse had been off for the past 8 weeks - and done little over the winter. So the girl, with the parents' support, just tried to find someone else to coach. The "prospective coach" made an excuse about working so the girl took a parelli coach...and got a TE in stadium then, when doing XC HC, got eliminated at the first jump. Sigh...it's one of my daughter's good friends and I just feel terrible about the whole situation.

[FlightCheck]

Insurance is a must!!

[eventmom]

I don't know the legalities of the thing, but I would never put my name on anything as a coach or trainer that I was not comfortable with. In my kids world, they must sign all of her entry forms. I would never want them to do so if they didn't have confidence about her riding the given level. Isn't that the point of the signature?
In fact, I would not want them to coach my daughter even without the signature if they were not confident.

[thumbsontop]

I totally agree, but it made me wonder how many situations like this are out there that trainers or coaches face? Sometimes it's because "we paid for Poopsie and for you to coach the rider, and Little Princess will ride if she wants to" or even a hard-headed (or "determined") adult. Where does a trainer draw the line before washing her hands of a situation?

[breakthru]

yes. insurance.

in addition to insurance, have all your students sign liability releases.

but even with insurance, and liability releases, you can still be sued for anything, at any time.

The key phrase is "gross negligence" - and any good lawyer can convince a non-horsey judge or jury that a trainer exhibited gross negligence, by, say, letting an unsafe student run at a show (or XC schooling, or clinic, or lesson...).

It is SO important, both for the individual safety of horse and rider, financial/legal welfare of the coach/trainer, and the health of the sport, for trainers to SPEAK UP and say the unpopular thing, pull the student if you have the authority, or if they will listen, or be prepared to denounce the situation and walk away if they will not.

these days especially, you have to protect yourself any and all ways that you can.