Galardi

Background

Plaintiff Leslie Galardi, an accomplished equestrian, sustained personal injuries when she fell from a horse while training for an upcoming horse show. On the theories of general negligence and premises liability, plaintiff sued two defendants, the owner of the stables (Judy Martin doing business as Seahorse Riding Club) and the instructor (Lisa Jacquin). Specifically, the complaint alleged that defendants had “negligently instructed, supervised and controlled plaintiffs activities, including but not limited to, causing plaintiff to jump over fences that were unreasonably and unnecessarily high for the circumstances; said fences being improperly designed, located and spaced, and further advising and counseling plaintiff to jump said improperly designed and placed fences in an improper direction.”

The trial court granted defendants’ motion for summary judgment, which was based upon the doctrine of assumption of risk. This court affirmed the judgment. (Galardi v. Seahorse Riding Club (Apr. 18, 1991) B050579 [non-pub. opn.].) Neither the trial court nor this court had the benefit of the Supreme Court’s subsequent decision in Knight v. Jewett (1992) 3 Cal.4th 296…