Horses serve their owners in many different ways, whether it be riding, racing, working on a ranch, or just being a beloved family pet. Regardless of its specific purpose, your horse, in addition to being a living animal, is a valuable piece of property. Like other assets, it needs to be correctly insured for its protection – and yours. 

Insuring a horse is not as straightforward as insuring a physical piece of property you own, like a high-value home, automobile, or watercraft. Horses are living creatures, and the added risks that carries with it can’t be adequately addressed by a single insurance policy. 

One Horse – Many Needs

Owning a horse creates the need for multiple policies to address your horse's various needs and the risks you assume as an equine owner. These risks mean you’ll need several different types of insurance policies:

Equine liability insurance: Liability coverage for bodily injury and property damage caused by your owned or leased horses. Your policy should keep you protected wherever you ride, show, or transport your horse.

Equine mortality and medical coverages: insure the life of your horse, as well as reimburse you for veterinary expenses resulting from injury or illness.

Travel and accident insurance: As you travel locally or around the globe with your horse, this coverage protects you in the event of trip interruption, cancellation, illness, injury, or medical evacuation service.

Collectibles insurance: Proud horse owners are noted for collectibles related to their pride and joys. Private collections insurance protects everything from sporting art of your treasured pony, trophy collections, saddle collections, and other collectibles that need to be protected.

Farm and ranch: if your love of horses is more income producing in nature, various insurers offer different types of policies for business-related risks.

In addition to these specialty policies, equine owners should also regularly evaluate their home and vehicle insurance. Many people are under the false assumption that their personal property and casualty coverages will protect any damages caused by their horses. This can be a costly assumption.

For example, if you purchased your horse under an entity’s name, such as an LLC or LLP, your homeowner’s or personal liability policy most likely does not extend coverage to an asset owned by the entity. This will exclude coverage for any injuries or damages caused by your horse. 

Also, if anyone in your family rides, shows, or competes off your property, some or all of those activities may not be fully covered by a basic insurance policy. 

Evaluating Your Equine Insurance Needs

Is it time to purchase insurance coverage(s) for all of the risks and liabilities your horse creates, or evaluate your current coverages to ensure liability protection related to your horse is sufficient?

Kelly Klee can help. We counsel high-net-worth individuals and families concerning their insurance needs. We only represent superior insurers who understand the needs of the affluent when it comes to insuring high-value homes, automobiles, boats, yachts, and other collectibles.

Contact us today to arrange a complimentary personal assessment of your current insurance coverage and risk management profile. We protect over $1 billion in assets owned by successful individuals and families, and we’d be happy to assist you.

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