16-04-2025
San Angelo native continues Roping Fiesta injury case
SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Over one year after the inciting incident occurred, a legal battle between San Angelo native and barrel racer Danica Wilde and the San Angelo Stock Show & Rodeo Association regarding injury liability is still ongoing.
According to case records submitted to Texas' Seventh Court of Appeals, a summary or brief detailing an incident that took place at the Cinch Roping Fiesta in October 2023 was filed on March 20, 2025.
Facts listed in the brief paint a picture of what transpired. According to the brief's statement of facts section, Wilde was involved in a match horse race at the Cinch Roping Fiesta in October 2023 at an arena owned by SASSRA. This arena 'was fully enclosed … and thus a fence remained beyond the finish line that obstructed racers after they crossed the finish line.'
As the racers' horses finished the race, 'the short distance between the finish line and the fence forced them to veer to the left to slow and to avoid the enclosure fence.' Wilde's horse was positioned 'to the right of the horse she was racing' and as such was blocked 'from veering left after crossing the finish line,' bringing Wilde to 'cut behind the competitor.'
Having been 'left with less room to stop as she approached the border fence, Wilde pulled back on the reins to slow her horse.' Doing this caused her horse to 'decelerate abruptly,' throwing Wilde into the border fence and causing her to fall to the ground. Wilde sustained 'bodily injuries' as a result.
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Stated in the brief is a singular presented issue central to the case: 'Did the design and layout of the race course for a match horse race inside an enclosed arena that left a fence beyond the finish line restricting the stopping distance of horses and their riders represent a premises defect or an 'inherent risk' to participants in the race?'
As stated in the brief's argument summary section, Wilde and her legal counsel believe that SASSRA's motion to dismiss the case 'should be reversed and the case remanded to state district court for trial' on the grounds that 'Wilde's pleadings, when taken as true together with all reasonable assumptions drawn from them, entitle her to the relief sought.'
Also invoked in the argument summary is the Farm Animals Activities Act, a part of Texas law that absolves 'all persons, including a farm animal activity sponsor, farm animal professional, farm owner or lessee, livestock producer, livestock show participant, or livestock show sponsor' from liability for property damage, personal injury or death under specific circumstances, called 'inherent risks.'
According to the brief's argument section, the rodeo association had the case dismissed in the trial court by claiming that the incident and Wilde's injuries fell under inherent risks specified in the Farm Animals Activities Act. There are exceptions to the act, however.
Cited in the argument summary is the fourth exception to the act listed in Section 87.004, which states that persons may be held liable for damages or death if 'the person committed an act or omission with wilful or wanton disregard for the safety of the participant and that act or omission caused the injury.'
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'The exception for wilful and wanton disregard for the safety of the participant protects Wilde from the inherent risk of sponsor negligence and creates a genuine issue of material fact for her premises defect claims,' the argument summary reads.
Later in the brief's argument section, it is alleged that SASSRA's decision to 'conduct races between two horses sprinting at full speed toward a fence that obstructed one end of the race' while utilizing 'a race course that did not provide a sufficient stopping distance between the finish line and the boundary fence' as reasons for the association's reported 'wilful and wanton disregard for th esafety of the participants.'
'This was a hazardous combination of factors that should have been readily apparent to a stock show and rodeo association, and the danger for mishap should have been foreseeable,' the brief reads. 'Nonetheless, the Stock Show & Rodeo Association proceeded recklessly and with conscious indifference to the safety of the participants, and Danica Wilde suffered the consequences.'
Concho Valley Homepage has reached out to SASSRA's legal counsel for statements. We will continue to monitor the case as it develops.
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