Dog out of control on the beach - not a good ending

How awful, just a terrible accident. I remember seeing the same thing happen to a hound when out hunting, an awful experience. Sending you a hug x
 
Really feel for you, silly dog owners. If I were you I would report it, just so you have your side of the story straight. Am I right saying if you ran a dog over I has to be reported but no idea if it applies to you.
 
You poor thing :( None of it was your fault and you did the right thing to slow to a walk. The owner of the dog should have had it under better control with a solid recall, but ultimately, it was an accident. How sad for the owner, but you did nothing wrong.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
BUT........ just think what might have happened: the flexi-lead might have got caught around your horse's legs, you or your horse might have been very seriously injured and/or had to be PTS even. And all because of someone's lapse of concentration basically.
Click to expand...

Yes this has also gone through my mind as well - and if anyone of us had fallen off and damaged ourselves because of the lead.

Thank you for your kind words.
 
Highlands said:
Really feel for you, silly dog owners. If I were you I would report it, just so you have your side of the story straight. Am I right saying if you ran a dog over I has to be reported but no idea if it applies to you.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this - I think you have to report it if the owner isn't there? Possibly? I'm going to report it to the BHS - they track horse incidents throughout the country, and anything to make the dog owners more aware of the worst thing that could happen in these sort of circumstances.
 
Billie1007 said:
Oh I am so sorry that this happened to you and it is no wonder that you feel terrible. What an awful experience for you and the owners. Thing is it wasn't your fault, maybe it wasn't even theirs. It's just an accident and one of those things.

RIP little beach dog x
Click to expand...

Well said, maybe it was an accident that he/she lost hold of the Flexi lead, even though it shouldn't happen, sometimes it truly is just an accident when things like this happens.

Try to remember that the female owner was probably in shock when she screamed that you'd killed her dog, so try to be lenient when you think of what she said, and be lenient about yourself too, you probably knew that a horse could kick a dog to death, but you still don't expect it to actually happen, or for it to be your horse, so it is only natural if you're a little shocked too. At least the man realised that it wasn't your fault.

It isn't strange that you feel that you can't stop thinking about the accident, it is quite natural to think about the what-ifs, that is often our brains way to try and deal with what has happened. But basically, the dog behaved like a dog, your horse behaved like a horse, sadly it all ended tragically, and I hope that you can accept that you did your best then and there.

((((((Hugs)))))) to you, and R.I.P. little beach dog.
 
Thank you everyone for your thoughtful words. I've had a glass of wine now! Tomorrow is a new day, so I shall try to put it behind us. I'll go back to the beach very soon, and hopefully have a more enjoyable time.
 
Oh my god, what an awful accident! Not anybodys fault imo, especially not yours or your horses. Just a freak accident. Thinking of you, RIP little beach dog xx
 
Immensely sad, please don't blame yourself or the horse.

By the bye, those flexi leads are a menace and in my experience usually attached to a disobedient dog with no boundaries. I think they should only be used for tracking dogs. Not to say this wouldn't have happened with an ordinary lead, but perhaps OP would have felt more comfortable walking on in the absence of a flexi trip wire. Hateful things imho.
 
How awful for you and all concerned. Sounds as though you did everything right. It also sounds as though the owners had momentarily lost control of their dog. Really awful for them. Not many of us can say we haven't had moments where our dogs haven't done something we didn't want them to for a moment or two, I certainly can't, they were just very unlucky.

Hope that you're ok and can put it all behind you.x
 
What a horrible thing to happen to you. It's only human to feel awful about it but I agree that it was just an unfortunate set of circumstances. Also agree with sadken, I'm not a fan of the flexible leads at all.
 
How awful :-(

my mare did a similar thing to my mothers dog, we were at the beach with my mare, my rotti cross and my mums bichon friese. My mare got attacked by 2 sheep dogs and was double barrelling to get it off her rump (my dog stood there and watched). I finally took off with mare who was OK. Bichon who was on the lead walked behind/side of my mare and she stamped on the side of its head. Bichon had fits and lay there, luckily for me he was knocked out but I will never forget that day and the aftermath of it all.

Just had to post this to say your not on your own and I hope your OK, I feel for you because even though dog was OK I cried for days. It wasn't your fault these things happen x :-) x
 
Oh you poor thing, what a horrible thing to have happened. But as others have said, it is definitely not your fault, please don't blame yourself - of course you feel awful but honestly you did all you could have done in that situation. You all stopped your horses when you saw the dog which is more than a lot of people would have done, and your horse was only acting on instinct so completely not his fault either. An awful outcome and incredibly sad, but at the end of the day the owners should have had the dog under enough control to allow it not to tear off down the beach away from them - I'm sure part of the woman's upset was due to this and the feeling that she could have prevented what happened. Sending massive hugs your way x
 
kathantoinette said:
Thanks for this - I think you have to report it if the owner isn't there? Possibly? I'm going to report it to the BHS - they track horse incidents throughout the country, and anything to make the dog owners more aware of the worst thing that could happen in these sort of circumstances.
Click to expand...


No idea, think its an old bye law when dogs had licences? Defo report to BHS, I think they collect statistics re dog attacks. Is your horse ok , she / he was not bitten.
 
Of course I feel some sympathy for the dog's owners but it was their fault the dog was loose, and their fault that it was so badly trained it ran at you in the first place and didn't come to call. The poor dog paid a high price for their stupidity. Having been on the receiving end of a dog attack while I was out hacking, I admit I would have been delighted if my mare had put the boot in and frankly, killed the horrible thing to prevent it doing the same to another rider. What if you had been a child on a skitty pony? It doesn't bear thinking about.
 
As everyone says, it really was just a sad accident and wasn't your fault.

I had a dog still on a leash come running at my group of riders once, none of the horses would have been bothered by the dog as they're all used to them but all I saw was the long leash and how it could all go quickly wrong around the horses legs so I jumped off my horse and caught up the dog and returned to the owner who was running after it. Very apologetic owner but the leash had slipped through her hand and the dog came bounding over to us, not her fault, just one of those things and thankfully catching the dog up meant it came to no harm.
 
oh no kathantoinette, so very sorry to read this. Of course you feel awful, anyone would in your situation, but it is totally not your fault. The dog owners were responsible for it - I too agree that this is probably why the woman shouted at you, because she was feeling so guilty herself. It is very sad that the dog died and such a shocking thing for you to see, but so much worse could have happened. My OH once saw a small dog chase a pony along a beach that resulted in the (child) pony rider having to be airlifted to hospital. I dont think there is anything else at all that you could have done to prevent this, including getting off, as the dog would have dodged round to get to the horses' heels in any case, and if you had tried to escape at speed it would have chased you. The only people who could have prevented this were the dog's owners, by keeping it under control. Bless you - try to remember that. x x
 
Im so sorry about that, what a horrible situation but it sounds like there is absolutely nothing you could have done. The dog shouldn't have been loose and with its lead like that it probably could have been much worse. Don't beat yoursekf up about it though, just one of those things where none was to blame.
 
Not your fault at all.

I had a lovely mare who hated small dogs, especially Corgis. When she was a filly she'd been chased and bitten by a pair of Corgis. Big dogs she loved, small dogs---she hated. I was at a show and way apart fro everyone else. My mare was happily nibbling grass and relaxing between classes. A lady was walking her Corgi and I told her, "Please stay away from my mare, she doesn't like dogs". The dog owner flapped me off and said, "My dog likes horses, she just wants to say hello". I told the woman to keep her effing dog away from my mare. She got all huffy, "It's a public venue, you can't keep me from walking where I want!" Her stupid dog ran up and sniffed my mare's leg..."WHACK!" followed by a "YIP!" with the expected, "My dog, your horse killed my dog!" "Well, DUH you silly cow". She ran to get an official and everyone who saw what happened stayed around. They all told the story of me finally yelling at the idiot about her dog and her comments. I felt sorry for the dog, not the owner. Almost the same thing happened several weeks later with an almost identical owner.

Being the heartless person that I am, I painted 2 Corgi silhouettes on my trailer and her stall.
 
Not your fault just horrible for everyone .
You will feel better in time .
Have a bath and a glass of wine .
RIP silly dog.
 
Trakehner said:
. A lady was walking her Corgi and I told her, "Please stay away from my mare, she doesn't like dogs". The dog owner flapped me off and said, "My dog likes horses, she just wants to say hello". I told the woman to keep her effing dog away from my mare. She got all huffy, "It's a public venue, you can't keep me from walking where I want!" Her stupid dog ran up and sniffed my mare's leg..."WHACK!" followed by a "YIP!" with the expected, "My dog, your horse killed my dog!" "Well, DUH you silly cow". She ran to get an official and everyone who saw what happened stayed around. They all told the story of me finally yelling at the idiot about her dog and her comments. I felt sorry for the dog, not the owner. Almost the same thing happened several weeks later with an almost identical owner.
Click to expand...

Ooh that's unbelievable - crazy lady! Thank you for sharing.
 
When I was a teenager my friend and I were riding on some common land and a German Shepherd dog started chasing us. There was nobody around with it. It barked around my friend's cob's heels and she kicked it and killed it. I've still no idea whose dog it was, but it was in a bit of a rough area so I'm sorry to say we didn't hang around.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top