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Else Solicitors launch service for equestrian industry

Horse riders and all involved in the equestrian industry can benefit from a new service launched by Else Solicitors which has offices in Birmingham and Burton-on-Trent.

The firm's equine law and safety division has been set up by lawyer Kate Stubbs and health and safety consultant Lizz Fields-Pattinson.

Ms Stubbs said: "Horses are a very valuable commodity now and the equestrian industry is big business.

"But although horse people are very professional when it comes to looking after and bringing on their horses, the industry has tended to lag behind on legal and health and safety issues.

She said the new division was intended to be as much pre-emptive and advisory as a source of legal support in a crisis or when disputes have arisen.

"Too much equestrian business has in the past been conducted on the basis of a handshake but it is difficult to prove what was agreed verbally in a law court when disputes arise," she said. "And the tendency in the horse business has been to think that health and safety regulations are so rigorous and overwhelming that if you pay regard to them then any equestrian business would become automatically unworkable overnight.

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