Equine Law

The Equine Law Group at New Walk Chambers offers practitioners at differing levels of seniority that have relevant and extensive experience of equine matters. Amongst the group are individuals with personal interests and involvement within the horse world and one barrister is a member of the Equine Lawyers Association. Members of the group are available for written advice, site visits, conferences and hearings, involving all areas of equine law, including the following:

  • Bridleways/rights of way;
  • Buying, loaning and selling horses - warranties, unsoundness and vices;
  • Negligence - resulting in damage to property or personal injury;
  • Nuisance;
  • Protection from cruelty.
Common Illnesses

Equine litigation often arises as a result of the failure to warn about or detect injuries or vices suffered by the horse, when buying/selling horses, or when vetting horses. Common injuries and illnesses which horses are known to suffer from include the following:

  • Azoturia (symptoms: the loins and quarters harden, resulting in cramps and muscular stiffness, caused by a metabolic abnormality in muscle cells);
  • Colic (symptoms: restlessness, kicking at the belly, pawing the ground or rolling, often caused by too much food and/or water after exercise);
  • COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) (symptoms: coughing and a wheezing sound when breathing, often caused by mould particles in hay dust);
  • Cushing's disease (symptoms: sudden and extreme thirst, abnormal hair growth/shedding, caused by a small benign tumour in the pituitary gland);
  • Dermatitis (symptoms: red bumps, crusting and hair loss, caused by bacteria, viruses or allergies);
  • Laminitis (painful condition of the feet, caused by poor digestion);
  • Mud Fever (symptoms: weepy sores and scabs around the coronet and heels, caused by a bacterium known as dermatophilus congolensis in wet conditions);
  • Navicular disease (symptoms: severe lameness, caused by excessive work or shoeing);
  • OCD (Osteochondrosis) (symptoms: stiffness and lameness in the joint, caused by an abnormality in the cartilage-to-bone transformation, which results in the none fragments breaking off into the joint space);
  • Splints (symptoms: lameness, caused by direct trauma to the patriotism or interosseous ligament);
  • Strangles (symptoms: inflammation of lymph nodes, nasal catarrh and coughing, caused by a bacteria known as Steptococcus equi);
  • Tendonitis (symptoms: warmth and swelling of the tendon, often caused by strain overload from weight bearing and work demands);
  • Tying up (symptoms: muscle stiffness, short strides, profuse sweating, caused by chronic tension in the horse's muscle due to overwork).

if you wish to instruct a lawyer who specialises in equine law under the public access scheme, then please email the clerks.

The equine law barristers deal regularly with work in the following towns:

  • Leicester
  • Nottingham
  • Birmingham
  • Coventry
  • Northampton
  • Peterborough
  • Derby
  • Lincoln
  • Manchester
  • Leeds
  • Worcester
  • Cambridge

The equine law barristers group consists of: