Clodagh
Well-Known Member
Daleks!? Elephants!? We had a purple triceratopps... it was huge, only 2 dimensional but the horses couldn't see that. Did get them past it but I admit it took a while.
Even with the best horses, there's a chance that there will be something that will set them off one day-whether its a strange dog, or a gas gun in a new place or a dalek, or someone leading two donkeys in the middle of nowhere with a pram with an awning (I met a dalek once, I kid you not). Thats hacking and that's the risk you take.
My old horse looked at dogs as if he wanted to take one apart and I had strange dogs jumping up at me on occasion and he didnt care-he was an exceptionally bold horse (even the dalek didnt phase him) and well, bullfighting bred so not all that typical (and I saw him grab two dogs in his lifetime that pissed him off). The Exmoors have a low tolerance with loose dogs and will kick-the Fell seems to be of a similar disposition and I care not if they were to kick a strange dog that ignored any warnings.
There will always be loose dogs-either deliberately or by accident, people are ignorant and dog owners seem to be particularly entitled. I agree talking to the dog as Chan describes can works but multiple dogs are a different story and a stalking dog different again. There's no easy answer-prepare as well as you can, support any efforts to educate dog owners (and cyclists and kids any other hacking hazards-although daleks are very difficult to educate and expect buffalo are similar) and accept the risk.
We need to know more about this Dalek. You can't just leave it there!
Daleks!? Elephants!? We had a purple triceratopps... it was huge, only 2 dimensional but the horses couldn't see that. Did get them past it but I admit it took a while.
The strangest thing I have come across whilst hacking and in all fairness to my pony she just pranced and snorted past it was a baby elephant. Have no idea why a man was walking a baby elephant through a small Welsh village and never saw it again. Just glad it was my little mare because if my cob I own now came across an elephant I think hw would have a heart attack.
Two large German shepherds in attack mode is hardly mundane. You’re insane.
Report to council dog warden (usually through environmental health dept) also on BHS page as they are collating incidents here http://www.bhs.org.uk/safety-and-accidents/common-incidents/dog-attacks link is down this page.
Please do report as it could be worse another time, perhaps for someone else.
The worst thing you can do is panic yourself, which tbh, is how I read OP. I didn't understand why the pony would have spun if the OP wasn't worried. Yes some things that hackers meet are bizarre but horses and riders just have to deal with them, make sure that you have a good independent seat and can stop/turn your horse under all circumstances.
If you are going to hack, you have to expect the unexpected. We once got caught up in a charity bed-push! The worst thing you can do is panic yourself, which tbh, is how I read OP. I didn't understand why the pony would have spun if the OP wasn't worried. Yes some things that hackers meet are bizarre but horses and riders just have to deal with them, make sure that you have a good independent seat and can stop/turn your horse under all circumstances.
I will have to send my sect d to you, 99% of the time he is an absolute star but if he gets something into his head nothing and no one would stop him shying and that can range from a stone he has passed hundreds of times but today its scary to shetland ponies in the field. He has three shetlands turned out with him but they obviously are not scary ones. He will never be reliable but he is fantastic in the heaviest of traffic including lorries, buses, tractors and motor bikes. He is a horse, he is alive and I am fully aware of what he is capable off and I will never be so complacent that I think I will always have complete control over his behaviour but I know how to deal with what he throws at me. I find it really hard to understand why you think a living animal can and will be completely controlled at all times.
Not dog attack but a local lady to me in Sudbury Suffolk was riding her horse with another and they met some escaped buffalos who charged. They had to gallop flat out along a narrow path with t he buffalo behind. She came off her horse. I saw the photos they took. Must have been the worst hack ever
yes but you said the horse would not have span if the rider wasn't worried, I think CC was suggesting that plenty do of their own volition!
I wouldn't have stopped the horse if the dog-owner wasn't visible. I would have kept on walking towards the dogs, standing still allows both horse and rider time to wonder what will happen next, whilst keeping moving towards the dogs makes the dogs wonder what will happen next/what they have taken on. Of course if the owner was there, trying to get hold of their dog, I would stand still.
I think we are saying the same thing? You know how to deal with what he throws at you, which surely is the same as having an independent seat and being able to stop/turn under all circumstances.
Whilst leading (fortunately not riding) my TB yonks ago, a pack of 4/5 adult, unsocialised dogs came charging at us. (Labradors of all breeds, who would have guessed it?) There was no question that they were aggressive as they were all snarling, barking or in stalking mode. I screamed liked a demented woman at them to go away and my horse did the most impressive snorting, grew a good few inches then fully reared up and 'climbed' the air with his front feet. My horse and I managed to stop all the dogs in their tracks and they retreated, but it could have been a completely different outcome if I was riding at the
Funny you should say about a labrador, I was riding a friend's pony when a chocolate lab run out of a drive and bit the mare on her knee. The owner came out and caught the dog, apologised but let the dog go before closing her gate and it run out and bit her back leg as we had continued on our way. Pony didn't flinch, she was an absolute star.