Horse Farm and Equestrian Insurance in Connecticut: Liability, Barns, Boarders, and Your Horses

Short answer: Owning horses at home changes your insurance. Many homeowners and high-value policies exclude or limit liability for horses, barns and riding activities, and exclude business activity such as boarding or lessons. Connecticut's equine statute (C.G.S. 52-557p) places much of the risk of inherent equestrian hazards on riders, but it does not protect against negligence claims. Most equestrian properties need an equine liability or farm policy, barn and equipment coverage, care, custody and control coverage for boarded horses, and optional equine mortality.

What Connecticut law says

Under C.G.S. 52-557p, people engaged in recreational equestrian activities assume the risk of injury from hazards inherent in equestrian sports, unless the horse owner or provider was negligent or failed to guard or warn against a dangerous condition. A separate statute, 52-557s, says horses, ponies, donkeys and mules are not to be treated as species with naturally vicious propensities, which limits strict liability claims. These laws help, but they do not stop a lawsuit, and defense costs are significant. Waivers and signage support the defense.

Personal horses on your own property

• Ask your carrier whether personal liability extends to horses you own and to guests riding them. Some private-client carriers include it; others exclude or sublimit.
• Barns, run-in sheds, arenas and fencing need to be insured as other structures at realistic values. Hay storage and electrical systems in barns are significant fire risks.
• Your umbrella should not exclude horses or farming activity.

Boarding, leasing and lessons

Once you board other people's horses, lease horses, or give lessons for a fee, it is a business. You need:

• Equine commercial liability for the boarding or instruction operation
• Care, custody and control coverage for injury or death of horses in your care
• Workers' compensation for barn staff; Connecticut requires it for one or more employees
• Farm property for barns, equipment, tractors and feed

Insuring the horses themselves

• Mortality: pays the insured value if a horse dies or must be euthanized for humane reasons; requires veterinary exams for higher values.
• Major medical and surgical endorsements for colic surgery and injuries.
• Loss of use for competition horses that can no longer perform.
• Transit for horses traveling to shows; confirm the trailer is on your auto or farm policy.

Horse properties are concentrated in back-country Greenwich, Ridgefield, Redding and Litchfield County towns such as Washington and Salisbury. New England Insurance, an independent Connecticut agency in Bridgeport since 2012, coordinates equine and private-client coverage so the estate, the barn and the horses are insured together. Request a review.

General information, not legal advice.