IN THE COURTS
A decision handed down by the Court of Appeals for the Seventh District of Texas in Amarillo affirms the dismissal of a negligence lawsuit against the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Association brought by Danica Wilde, a competitor who sustained injuries in a livestock related event in 2023.
According to the facts as alleged in the case, the accident happened during the Cinch Roping Fiesta, as match horse races were being held for the first time.
These short, straightaway sprints between two horses were held in a fully enclosed roping arena, with a fence extending beyond the finish line, court documents say.
According to Wilde’s petition for relief, after crossing the finish line, riders were forced to veer left in order to slow their horses and avoid a fence.
Wilde says, in one race where she occupied the right-hand lane, she was blocked from turning left after crossing the finish line by the other competitor’s horse.
To avoid a collision with the other rider or the fence, Wilde said she cut behind her competitor, and as she approached the border fence, she pulled back sharply on the reins to slow her horse, which caused her to be thrown headlong into the fence, resulting in injuries.
Wilde filed suit against SASSRA alleging the association created a dangerous condition by placing the fence too close to the finish line without providing adequate room to stop or turn.
The Association moved to dismiss under Rule 91a, arguing the Farm Animal Activities Act barred her claim.
The Hon. Carmen Dusek, presiding judge for the 51st Judicial District in San Angelo granted the motion.
According to the language of the Farm Animal Activities Act, SASSRA is held harmless for injuries to participants in activities when the injury results from the conditions that are deemed to be part of “the inherent risk of” a farm-animal activity. TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE § 87.003.
The statute lists nonexclusive examples of inherent risks, such as:
- (1) “the propensity of a farm animal or livestock animal to behave in ways that may result in personal injury or death” to individuals on, near, or handling the animal;
- (2) “the unpredictability of a farm animal’s or livestock animal’s reaction to sound, a sudden movement, or an unfamiliar object . . .;”
- (3) “with respect to farm animal activities involving equine animals, certain land conditions and hazards, including surface and subsurface conditions;”
- (4) “a collision with another animal or an object;” or
- (5) the potential of a participant to act negligently, contributing to an injury.
§ 87.003(1)–(5).
The language of the act does create a limited exceptions to this immunity, if a person or organization provides faulty equipment knowing it’s faulty, or fails to determine a participant’s ability to engage safely in the activity, or fails to warn of a dangerous latent condition of land, or “committed an act or omission with “willful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and that act or omission caused the injury,” among other specified circumstances. § 87.004(1)–(6).
The Appeals Court ruling notes that the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo Association did not argue that Wilde pleaded inadequate facts supporting a traditional liability claim.
“The Association argues only that the Farm Animal Activities Act bars the claim as a matter of law.”
The appeal was heard before Chief Justice Brian Quinn, with Justices Judy Parker and Lawrence M. Doss.
The Seventh Court of Appeals was created in 1911, and has intermediate jurisdiction of both civil and criminal cases appealed from lower courts in 46 counties of Texas.
