§ 87.001.Definitions

Title 4. Liability in Tort · Chapter 87. Liability Arising from Farm Animals · Last amended 2021 · Last verified August 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 87.001 defines farm animal to include equines, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, ratites, fowl, and managed honeybees, and defines the activities, sponsors, professionals, and participants the chapter covers.

Full Text of § 87.001

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In this chapter:

(1)"Engages in a farm animal activity" means riding, handling, training, driving, loading, unloading, feeding, vaccinating, exercising, weaning, transporting, producing, herding, corralling, branding, or dehorning of, assisting in or providing health management activities for, assisting in the medical treatment of, being a passenger on, or assisting a participant or sponsor with a farm animal. The term includes management of a show involving farm animals and engagement in routine or customary activities on a farm to handle and manage farm animals. The term does not include being a spectator at a farm animal activity unless the spectator is in an unauthorized area and in immediate proximity to the farm animal activity.

(2)"Equine animal" means a horse, pony, mule, donkey, or hinny.

(2-a)"Farm" means any real estate, land area, facility, or ranch used wholly or partly for raising, cultivating, propagating, fattening, grazing, or any other farming, livestock, agricultural, apicultural, or aquacultural operation.

(2-b)"Farm animal" means:

(A)an equine animal;

(B)a bovine animal;

(C)a sheep or goat;

(D)a pig or hog;

(E)a ratite, including an ostrich, rhea, or emu;

(F)a chicken or other fowl; or

(G)a honeybee kept in a managed colony.

(3)"Farm animal activity" means:

(A)a farm animal show, fair, competition, performance, rodeo, event, or parade that involves any farm animal;

(B)training or teaching activities involving a farm animal;

(C)owning, raising, boarding, or pasturing a farm animal, including daily care;

(D)riding, inspecting, evaluating, handling, transporting, loading, or unloading a farm animal belonging to another, without regard to whether the owner receives monetary consideration or other thing of value for the use of the farm animal or permits a prospective purchaser of the farm animal to ride, inspect, evaluate, handle, load, or unload the farm animal;

(E)informal farm animal activity, including a ride, trip, or hunt that is sponsored by a farm animal activity sponsor or a farm owner or lessee;

(F)placing or replacing horseshoes on an equine animal;

(G)examining or administering medical treatment to a farm animal by a veterinarian;

(H)assisting in or providing animal health management activities, including vaccination;

(I)assisting in or conducting customary tasks on a farm concerning farm animals;

(J)transporting or moving a farm animal; or

(K)without regard to whether the participants are compensated, rodeos and single event competitions, including team roping, calf roping, and single steer roping.

(4)"Farm animal activity sponsor" means:

(A)a person or group who sponsors, owns, organizes, or provides the facilities for a farm animal activity, including facilities for a pony club, 4-H club, hunt club, riding club, therapeutic riding program, or high school or college class, program, or activity, without regard to whether the person operates for profit; or

(B)an owner or operator of, instructor at, or promoter for facilities, including a stable, clubhouse, pony ride string, fair, or arena at which a farm animal activity is held.

(5)"Farm animal professional" means a person engaged for compensation:

(A)to instruct a participant or rent to a participant a farm animal for the purpose of riding, driving, or being a passenger on the farm animal;

(B)to rent equipment or tack to a participant;

(C)to examine or administer medical treatment to a farm animal as a veterinarian or to provide nonmedical care or treatment to a farm animal, including vaccination;

(D)to provide veterinarian or farrier services;

(E)to assist in or provide animal health management activities, including vaccination;

(F)to provide other care, feeding, and husbandry of farm animals;

(G)to assist in or conduct customary tasks on a farm concerning farm animals; or

(H)to transport or move a farm animal.

(6)"Livestock animal" means:

(A)an animal raised for human consumption; or

(B)a farm animal.

(6-a)"Livestock producer" means a person who owns, handles, breeds, raises, buys, sells, or feeds livestock animals.

(7)"Livestock show" means a nonprofit event at which more than two species or breeds of livestock animals are gathered for exhibition or competition.

(8)"Livestock show sponsor" means a recognized group or association that organizes and sanctions a livestock show, including a political subdivision or nonprofit organization that is exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt organization in Section 501(c)(3) of that code.

(9)"Participant" means:

(A)with respect to a farm animal activity, a person who engages in the activity, without regard to whether the person:

(i)is an amateur or professional;

(ii)pays for the activity or participates in the activity for free; or

(iii)is an independent contractor or employee; and

(B)with respect to a livestock show, a person who registers for and is allowed by a livestock show sponsor to compete in a livestock show by showing an animal on a competitive basis, or a person who assists that person.

End

Plain-English Summary

Nine definitions, and the chapter has grown well beyond the equine statute it began as.

"Farm animal" means an equine animal, a bovine animal, a sheep or goat, a pig or hog, a ratite, including an ostrich, rhea, or emu, a chicken or other fowl, or a honeybee kept in a managed colony.

The honeybee is the most recent addition and the most surprising, but it follows the logic: beekeeping is a farm activity with an inherent risk the keeper cannot eliminate.

"Farm animal activity" lists eleven categories, from shows and rodeos through owning, raising, boarding, or pasturing including daily care, to placing horseshoes, veterinary treatment, vaccination, customary tasks on a farm, and transporting.

"Engages in a farm animal activity" is defined by an even longer list of verbs — riding, handling, training, driving, loading, unloading, feeding, vaccinating, exercising, weaning, transporting, producing, herding, corralling, branding, dehorning, and more.

"Participant" is the definition that carries the chapter's reach. A person who engages in the activity without regard to whether the person is an amateur or professional, pays or participates for free, or is an independent contractor or employee.

Employees are participants here, which is the opposite of the 75-series chapters. A 2021 amendment made that explicit, along with the "farm," "livestock producer," and honeybee definitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a farm animal in Texas?

An equine animal, bovine animal, sheep or goat, pig or hog, ratite including ostrich, rhea, or emu, chicken or other fowl, or a honeybee kept in a managed colony.

Are farm animal activity employees covered?

Yes. "Participant" applies without regard to whether the person is an independent contractor or employee — unlike the recreational limited-liability chapters, which exclude employees.

Does it cover unpaid participants?

Yes. The definition applies whether the person pays for the activity or participates for free, and whether they are an amateur or professional.

Amendment History

Added by Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 549, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995.
Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1108, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2001.
Amended by:
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 896 (S.B. 479), Sec. 2, eff. June 17, 2011.
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 219 (H.B. 365), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2021.

Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from Texas Legislature Online (statutes.capitol.texas.gov). Enacted by the Texas Legislature. Current through May 14, 2026. Last verified August 29, 2026. · Official source