A horse only needs to spook in the wrong place once — a gate that breaks open, a kick aimed at a passerby, a collision on a trail ride — and the damage runs into amounts nobody wants to pay out of pocket. Under Dutch law, the possessor of a horse is in principle liable for damage the animal causes, even without personal fault; how that strict liability (risicoaansprakelijkheid) works legally is covered in a separate guide. This guide covers the insurance side, commonly labeled WA (Wettelijke Aansprakelijkheid — statutory liability insurance): how you cover that risk, and where the gaps are.
Why this is the most important horse insurance
Many insurance policies around a horse are a choice: covering health costs is a trade-off between premium and savings, death cover is a personal one. Liability is a different category. Damage to your own horse is limited by what a horse costs; damage to someone else — especially in cases of injury — has no such limit. If you arrange only one insurance policy around your horse, this is the one.
AVP: sometimes enough, never a given
The personal liability insurance (AVP — Aansprakelijkheidsverzekering voor Particulieren) that most households already have usually covers damage caused by pets. For horses, that varies by policy: some insurers simply cover hobby-kept horses, others apply restrictions or exclude horses altogether. That rarely appears on the first page of the policy. The only reliable route is to ask your insurer explicitly: "does this policy cover liability for my own horse, including outside my own property?" — and keep the answer in writing.
When a separate horse liability policy makes sense
A standalone liability policy for the horse comes into play as soon as the AVP doesn't (fully) cover it, with multiple horses, or as soon as something commercial creeps into the situation: structurally renting the horse out, having lessons given on your horse, or other commercial use falls outside any personal policy. For a stable, riding school, or training business, that's a separate topic — see insurance for a riding school or horse business.
The gray areas to explicitly ask about
Two situations cause the most discussion in practice. The first: someone else rides your horse. Damage to the rider themselves (the "opzittende," the person on the horse's back) is sometimes excluded or limited in liability policies — exactly the situation of a co-rider (bijrijder, someone who rides another owner's horse under an arrangement). Anyone sharing their horse can read more about that in the guide on being insured as a rider or co-rider, and should set out agreements in a co-riding contract. The second: the horse on the public road. Good cover also applies while out on the road and on trail rides, but check that — it's precisely outside your own property that the risk of damage to third parties is greatest.
In short
The possessor of a horse is in principle liable for the damage it causes, and that risk is too large to leave uninsured. An AVP sometimes covers hobby horse ownership, but that varies by policy — ask explicitly. A separate liability insurance policy for the horse makes sense in case of exclusion, multiple horses, or any form of commercial use, and the gray areas (co-riders, public road) deserve a written answer from the insurer. The broader overview of worthwhile coverage is in which insurance you need.
See also: Liability around your horse · Which insurance you need · Insured as a rider or co-rider · Liability insurance · Level: own horse · In Belgium: rider insurance in Belgium