Web Design in Texas for Stables and Ranches That Owe Riders the Chapter 87 Warning

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

Texas law asks a riding stable, ranch or farm that offers farm animal activities to post a set warning near the stable, corral or arena, and to put the same warning, clearly readable, in every written contract for lessons, animal or tack rental and professional services. Today that contract is often a checkbox tapped on a phone in the parking lot. Web design in Texas for barns, ranches and farm animal businesses carries Chapter 87’s warning into the booking page, the signed agreement and the confirmation email. Progression’s team is based in New York, builds Texas barn and ranch sites remotely and comes out to the arena for on-site sessions on request.

A trail ride checkout with the warning folded away

A hypothetical ranch sells a one hour trail ride on a phone. The Chapter 87 warning sits behind a collapsed Terms link in small gray type under the Pay button. Beside it is the same screen rebuilt, with the warning printed in full inside the agreement at body text size, above the signature box.

The warning belongs in the contract the rider signs, not behind it. The rebuilt screen costs the rider one scroll.

Web design in Texas under the farm animal liability chapter

Chapter 87 of the Civil Practice and Remedies Code is titled Liability Arising from Farm Animals. It names farm animal professionals, farm owners and lessees, and farm animal activity sponsors, from a pony club or 4-H club to a therapeutic riding program or a college class. The definitions section lists the animals and the activities it counts.

Plain advice: the site describes the activities, and the contract carries the warning. Wording questions go to counsel, and the exact words are in section 87.005 of the statute.

Who counts as a participant?

Anyone who takes part in a farm animal activity, amateur or professional, paying or free, including an employee or independent contractor. A spectator is not a participant unless standing in an unauthorized area in immediate proximity.

• Riders in lessons, rides and clinics.
• Hired wranglers and barn help.
• Owners who board and ride.
• Guests who handle animals on a farm visit.

Every agreement a barn sends, and where the warning sits

Website design for Texas stables begins with a list of every written agreement the barn sends. The chapter has the warning sit in every written contract with a participant, including an employee or independent contractor, for professional services, instruction, or the rental of equipment or tack or a farm animal. A website development company for Texas barns can then place the warning in each one.

Lesson packages and riding camps

A lesson package is instruction, and a camp is instruction for a week. Both sign at checkout, and the warning sits in the agreement the parent or rider signs, in full.

• Put the warning in the agreement, not beside it.
• Keep one agreement for the whole package.
• Email the signed copy with the warning included.
• Ask counsel who signs for a minor.

Boarding agreements renewed online

A boarding agreement is professional services, and a renewal is a new written contract. The warning travels with it each time it is signed.

• Print the warning in the renewal flow, not only the first signup.
• Keep old signed copies in the owner’s account.
• Show the warning before the signature box opens.
• Send counsel any change to the agreement text.

Barn help hired through the careers page

The chapter reaches contracts with employees and independent contractors. A wrangler or barn hand who signs online gets the same warning in the agreement. Workers’ compensation questions go to counsel.

• Put the warning in the work agreement.
• Keep it apart from the job post.
• Email the signed copy.
• Leave coverage questions to counsel.

Farrier, vet and hauling service terms

These are professional services, and a request page that collects a signature carries the warning in the terms.

• List each service with its own terms page.
• Print the warning above the signature.
• Email the signed terms.
• Ask counsel which pages apply.

Clearly readable on a five inch screen

The statute says the warning must be clearly readable, and it is printed in capital letters. Plain advice: the warning sits in the body of the agreement, never in an accordion, a tooltip or a link.

• Use body text size with full contrast and short lines so capital letters stay legible.
• Make the signer scroll past it before the signature box opens.
• Email the signed copy, warning included, as a PDF.
• Mark it up as text so screen readers announce it, not as an image.
• Never claim a layout satisfies the law; counsel answers that.

A Texas website design that follows this still leaves the wording to counsel. The site’s job is to put the warning where the rider can read it.

Why is an accordion the wrong place for the warning?

Because a collapsed panel asks the rider to open it. The statute asks for a warning that is clearly readable in the contract, and a panel that starts closed is not part of what the rider sees.

What a ranch or stable site costs to build

Pricing depends on scope and is set in the written proposal. Published prices are subject to change. A web development company serving Texas ranches prices the booking flow and the agreements as separate parts.

Barn site prices Progression publishes

These are the fixed-scope starting prices on our website design and development page.

Rider experience questions before a booking is confirmed

Section 87.004 lists a failure to make a reasonable and prudent effort to determine a participant’s ability, taking into account the participant’s own representations of ability, among the cases where liability can return. Plain advice: the booking asks how often the rider has ridden, what gait they are comfortable at and whether they have handled the animal before.

Staff review the answers and confirm the ride, so the form never auto-assigns a horse. A wrangler can change the plan at the barn. No medical questions belong in the booking unless counsel asks for them. Texas web design that builds this flow also uses booking website design for the schedule itself.

• How often has the rider ridden?
• What gait are they comfortable at?
• Have they handled the animal before?
• Does staff confirm before a horse is assigned?

Why should staff, not the form, assign the horse?

Because section 87.004 turns on whether the provider made a reasonable effort to judge the rider’s ability. A person reading the answers does that better than a script.

The barn sign, shown on the facility page

The statute asks the professional, owner or lessee who manages or controls a farm, stable, corral or arena to post and maintain a sign with the warning in a clearly visible location on or near the stable, corral or arena. The facility page photo shows the posted sign at the arena gate, and arrival directions name the arena so riders know where they will see it.

Known hazards the owner already posts or tells riders about, such as a creek crossing or a cattle guard, can be repeated on the arrival page in the same words. A Texas web development company photographs the sign on a site visit.

For barns on pine woods trails, East Texas web design adds an arrival page that repeats those trail hazards in the barn’s own words.

Website design in Texas for beekeepers, poultry keepers and goat farms

The chapter counts honeybees kept in a managed colony, chickens and other fowl, sheep and goats and pigs as farm animals, so a hive tour, a beekeeping class, an egg farm visit or a goat handling day can be a farm animal activity. Plain advice: class registration and farm visit tickets carry the warning in the signed terms, the same as a riding lesson.

Farm stays that include chores treat those chores as part of the agreement. See farm website design for the farm side of the site, and veterinary website design for a practice that treats farm animals.

Does a hive tour count as a farm animal activity?

It can. The chapter names honeybees kept in a managed colony, and the definition of an activity covers teaching and handling. Counsel decides whether a given tour is covered.

What the warning does not settle

Section 87.004 lists cases where liability can return: faulty equipment or tack the provider knew or should have known about; no reasonable effort to judge the participant’s ability; a known dangerous latent land condition with no posted or given warnings; wilful or wanton disregard for the participant’s safety; and intentional harm. Section 87.0021 leaves workers’ compensation coverage as it was.

The site never says riding is safe, never says the warning protects the business, and keeps the warning apart from marketing copy. Web development in Texas for hiring pages names workers’ compensation only as a question for counsel.

Web designers in Texas leave the contract wording to counsel.

Does the warning settle everything?

No. The cases above remain, and the site makes no promise about them.

• No safe claims.
• No promises of protection.
• No contract wording written by the web team.
• Every contract question to counsel.

Roping schools, jackpots and the racing line

The definitions count rodeos and single event competitions, including team roping, calf roping and single steer roping, as farm animal activities whether or not participants are paid. An activity regulated by the Texas Racing Commission is outside the chapter.

A roping school’s enrollment page and a jackpot’s entry form carry the warning in the signed entry terms. North Texas web design for roping arenas follows the same pattern. A barn that also trains for racing asks counsel which pages the chapter reaches.

Does a jackpot entry form need the warning?

The entry terms are a written agreement with a participant, so they carry it. The entry form prints the warning in full above the signature.

Ready before the first lesson books online

Website development in Texas for a barn is ready when the list of every agreement is current and each one carries the warning. The card lists what to finish. For the horse side of the marketing, see equestrian marketing agency.

The handover includes a list of where each agreement lives on the site. The team can walk the barn and the arena with you on request.

Frequently asked questions