I just pulled out a book I've had for several years, called "Equine Liability." There's a whole section on the subject of liability involving children. I'd recommend that anyone who ever has kids over to ride, or who has kids in the neighborhood, read it. (I do allow kids to ride here sometimes, but only in controlled circumstances.) There are times when releases of liablity aren't binding, and that's particularly true when kids are involved. Kids can't sign a release for themselves, and if the release is written such that it's binding, it still only prohibits the parent who signed the release from suing - it can't keep the other parent from suing, nor can it prevent someone from suing for the child himself.
We don't talk about it a lot on the list, but we DO have increased liabilities just from owning horses. I think we're mostly a VERY safety concious group, and that we understand that their are inherent risks with this sport. I'm sure we've all fallen, some of us many times, and those of us who have kids that ride have seen our kids fall - and maybe we've also been kicked, struck, stepped on, bitten, head-banged, you name it... My daughter got kicked in the belly (by a horse belonging to another kid) during the first day of her 4H horse camp and had to be carried out by ambulance and was hospitalized for two days. She was on restricted activities for six weeks, due to a bruised spleen - luckily it didn't rupture. We didn't sue because we don't like nuisance suits, her injuries were covered by our health insurance anyway, and we didn't want to shut down what was basically a well-intended program... but we could have sued, and in this case, maybe it wouldn't have been merely a "nuisance". It never hurts for us to remember that their ARE laws that protect us when we make every effort to do things right, but there are also laws that protect others, and it's that gray area in the middle where the biggest risks are for safety minded folks like us. Karen Thomas, NC
