Opinion
15701 308815/08.
03-03-2016
Lynette BLUMENTHAL, et al., Plaintiffs–Respondents, v. The BRONX EQUESTRIAN CENTER, INC., doing business as Pelham Bit Stables, et al., Defendants–Appellants.
Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Primavera, LLP, Melville (Henry M. Primavera of counsel), for appellants. Calman Greenberg, Bronx, for respondents.
Perry, Van Etten, Rozanski & Primavera, LLP, Melville (Henry M. Primavera of counsel), for appellants.
Calman Greenberg, Bronx, for respondents.
Opinion
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (Wilma Guzman, J.), entered on or about May 14, 2014, which denied defendants' motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint, unanimously reversed, on the law, without costs, and the motion granted. The Clerk is directed to enter judgment dismissing the complaint.
Defendants' motion for summary judgment should have been granted in this action where plaintiff Lynette Blumenthal was injured when she was thrown from a horse during a recreational ride at the stable operated by defendant the Bronx Equestrian Center (see Morgan v. State of New York, 90 N.Y.2d 471, 484, 662 N.Y.S.2d 421, 685 N.E.2d 202 1997; Turcotte v. Fell, 68 N.Y.2d 432, 510 N.Y.S.2d 49, 502 N.E.2d 964 1986 ). The risk of a horse acting in an unintended manner resulting in the rider being thrown is a risk inherent in the sport of horseback riding (see Quintanilla v. Thomas Sch. of Horsemanship, Inc., 129 A.D.3d 815, 816, 11 N.Y.S.3d 241 2d Dept.2015; Dalton v. Adirondack Saddle Tours, Inc., 40 A.D.3d 1169, 1171, 836 N.Y.S.2d 303 3d Dept.2007; Eslin v. County of Suffolk, 18 A.D.3d 698, 699, 795 N.Y.S.2d 349 2d Dept.2005 ). There is no evidence that defendant stable was reckless, nor were there any concealed or unreasonably increased risks (see e.g. Deak v. Bach Farms, LLC, 34 A.D.3d 1212, 1214, 825 N.Y.S.2d 852 4th Dept.2006 ). To the extent plaintiffs' expert opined otherwise, such opinion was conclusory, since it did not rely on any rules, regulations, laws or industry standards, and therefore, it fails to raise a triable issue of fact (see Bean v. Ruppert Towers Hous. Co., 274 A.D.2d 305, 307–308, 710 N.Y.S.2d 575 1st Dept.2000 ).
Defendant City of New York, which owned and operated the park in which plaintiff rode, is also entitled to dismissal, as there were no defects in the bridle path contributing to the accident. Plaintiff's theory that the City owed her a duty based upon the licensing agreement it issued to the stable is unavailing since the City had no involvement with the operation of the stable, and the agreement contained no provision that would make plaintiff a third-party beneficiary of it (see Eaves Brooks Costume Co. v. Y.B.H. Realty Corp., 76 N.Y.2d 220, 226, 557 N.Y.S.2d 286, 556 N.E.2d 1093 1990 ). We have considered plaintiffs' remaining arguments and find them unavailing.