Date Gone Bad? Don’t Sue,|Get Back on That Horse!

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (CN) - A woman who fell off a horse cannot sue her date for failing to keep the activity safe, a New York appeals court ruled.

Barbara Ann Stanislav was on a date with William Papp when she fell off the horse she was riding.

She sued Papp for negligence, claiming that he failed to appreciate her limited level of riding skill and did not heed her request that they ride slowly and carefully.

The trial court ruled in Papp's favor, and the justices of the first department appellate division agreed.

"Plaintiff has provided no evidence or authority which supports her contention that defendant owed her a duty to insure that the horseback riding experience was safe," they wrote. "As a person with experience riding horses, plaintiff was aware that the risks of falling off a horse or a horse acting in an unintended manner are inherent in the sport."

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