Ask an Expert    Insurance Q. Show season is coming and I plan on being ready this year. I'll be trailering my gelding to a number of competitions across western Canada. I have a friend who will be accompanying me with her own horse. What type of insurance would you recommend I carry to protect the horses, my tack and myself? A. From an insurance perspective, your concern has three components: yourself, your tack and the horses. For yourself, there are the concerns of life, accident and liability insurance (combining automotive liability, personal liability and commercial liability if you transport a friend's horse for compensation). Life insurance may be of interest to you if you need to provide for your estate. Accident insurance can be arranged to cover you and a passenger through automobile insurance or for more specifically for yourself while riding and working around horses. Automobile liability insurance will address your exposure to lawsuits resulting from accidents while your vehicle and trailer are in motion. Personal liability insurance, typically provided by a home insurance policy, will address your exposure to law suits resulting from accidents while your vehicle is parked or that do not involve the vehicle or commercial enterprises. Commercial liability insurance may be required if you are receiving compensation for transporting your friend's horse. The extent to which you are compensated may determine if the activity is excluded by your personal insurance. It is important to note that home insurance policies vary from one insurance company to the next. Some policies exclude losses involving horses or place limitations on losses involving horses. You should consult your insurance agent to confirm the details of your own coverage. For your friend's horse there is the concern for legal action against you for negligence on your part which results in loss of the horse while it is in your care, custody or control. Most insurance policies exclude property of others unless specifically endorsed to the contrary. Check with your insurance agent to determine how any existing insurance you carry would respond. You may want to have your friend sign a Release and Acknowledgment Form absolving you in advance from any responsibility for the loss of the friend's horse. For your own horse, you may consider arranging coverage through your home/farm insurance policy. Limited perils including transit are available. Or you could investigate broader coverage by purchasing equine mortality insurance. For your tack, coverage may be automatically included under your home insurance policy or if you arranging an equine mortality policy, tack coverage can be added. Another potential solution to your insurance concerns would be to consider becoming a member of a provincial equine association. For example, the Alberta Equestrian Federation (AEF), the Horse Council of British Columbia and the Saskatchewan Horse Federation have insurance programs in place for members. The AEF policy provides $5,000,000 personal liability for the ownership or use of horses, $5,000 coverage for non-commercially transporting horses of others, and $30,000 accidental death or dismemberment for members. Such programs also provide special access for members to farm, home, property, and commercial liability insurance. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: At westernhorsereview.com our 'Ask an Expert' page is not intended to replace diagnosis or treatment of your horse by your veterinarian or other professionals; westernhorsereview.com does not assume any legal responsibilty.