Is this legal?

I am 16 years old and looking to teach riding lessons to a few people. At the barn I ride at, the woman can be on site and she has all of the necessary liability information.
I have been told I can't teach anyone because I'm a minor and can be sued if something happens.
Nothing would be under contract, these would just be casual lessons to a few people every once in a while.

Is this true?

Well if you can't teach because you are a minor, you can't be sued either...

Your question is a combination of liability issuees with the owner, your parent, local laws, local labor laws, etc etc. All of those are going to be different depending on where you live.

Janey,

Depending on your state's laws, I think it's fine for you to teach under the stable owner's supervision if she has the appropriate liability insurance. What this really means is that the stable owner accepts all the liability for having you teach.

It's highly unlikely that you personally would be sued, as you have no assets in your own name. Not impossible, anyone can sue anyone for anything,but highly unlikely as there would be little to gain from it.

Just to clarify, I am not a lawyer and that is not a legal opinion. However, I started out teaching exactly that way at your age, and every large lesson program or camp or Pony Club has teenagers assist with some of the teaching duties, with appropriate supervision. And I certainly had my own teenage students assist with beginner lessons or warmups at shows, and we had a very detailed comprhensive liability policy.

Good luck to you!

Anything you do with the permission of the barn owner leaves the barn owner potentially liable. Local laws vary greatly from area to area. In my area you wouldn't be allowed to teach without certification saying you know what you're doing.

Also- in connection to the previous poster who said as a 16 year old you cannot be sued- yes you CAN. Until you hit legal independence (18+ years old and living on your own,) your PARENTS are legally responsible for you. That means if you do something and someone wants to sue you- they don't sue you- they sue your parents and your parents are responsible for paying/legal issues/etc.

IMO- this leaves you in a VERY potentially sticky situation. It would be different if you had someone who was an adult around supervising (and you were assisting such as with a club or something,) but this sounds like you by yourself. All you need is one person who complains/falls/looks to start trouble.

If you do this- make sure you are legally in the right and that you aren't breaking any local laws. There's nothing that says you don't know what you're doing but you DO want yourself, your parents, and your BO legally protected as much as possible. Legal and medical bills are expensive! (I speak from experience- health insurance saved me $40,000+ from surgery bills in a nasty fall riding during a lesson.)

You should have youself as a "co instructor" in a close knit barn where nobody will mind if you slip up once in a while for whatever reason.

Ok.. so are you saying you want to teach and the BO said no? Or who said you can't.

Obviously if the BO says no you can't.. then no.. you can't.

If your parents say no you can't, then no, you can't.

Because, until you are 18, you aren't responsible.. they are. So while you'd be fine, they'd potentially be screwed if you something happened.