Equinnovation : Planning for Success : Horse Business Law & Logic

Horse Business Law & Logic

This section of the Equinnovation site will develop as a collection of resources on the general subjects of good standard business principles and practices, and "Thinking like a lawyer for horse people."

Horse folks need business resources because very often they do not act primarily like business people. Too often, we find ourselves devoting all of our energies to our horse activities and forget momentarily that we are operating a business. Breeders like to look at stallions and visualize the outcomes of certain breedings, not consider mundane business topics such as return on investment. Trainers like to ride and train, not fiddle with business plans and contracts. So we need some assistance in applying business concepts to our equine world.

When I say "thinking like a lawyer," I am referring to the thought process which attorneys are trained, through law school and practice, to follow. Specifically, it is an ability to think of possible negative outcomes and disputes (worst-case scenarios) and to apply logic and legal principles in structuring a business or a transaction in order to avoid those negative outcomes.

Why should good, decent horse people want to pervert their “normal” human thought processes to think this way? At the risk of sounding more than justifiably cynical, we live in an inhospitably litigious society. This is a world mired in lawsuits, news stories of stupendous jury awards and outrageous causes of action, and ever-increasing insurance premiums. Some have called our society “sue happy,” and this trend is not barred by the stable door. So to stay in the horse business, horse business people need information on avoiding liability and addressing problems.

This area is in development, and articles will be added from time to time.