DirectorFury
Well-Known Member
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/dog-owner-sued-5m-after-23957804
Snippet of article:
"The owner of a West Highland terrier faces a £5 million claim from a rider who now has to use a wheelchair after the dog spooked his horse on a beach. Lourens Koetsier suffered a severe spinal injury after he was thrown while on a guided ride along the beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 2018.
The 63-year-old financial adviser told the High Court in London that the accident occurred because the unleashed dog, called Max, ran under the horse. He said it frightened the horse, which bucked and threw him to the ground. Koetsier, who was on holiday in Wales with his wife, is suing for up to £5 million in a claim that alleges the dog’s owner, David Clifford Thomas, should have kept him on a lead.
Thomas, who told the court that he has owned Max since he was a puppy, has denied liability, saying that there is no reason to blame his “small, elderly and gentle” Westie for the accident. Thomas said there was no requirement for Max to be on a lead while on the beach as local bylaws allow owners to let their dogs run freely.
Documents filed at the court in London state that Koetsier, who is Dutch, is an experienced horseman, having owned a pony as a child and competed as an adult. He rode Dutch warmblood sport horses from when he was a teenager until his forties. On the day of the accident Koetsier had joined a ride arranged by Nolton Stables in Haverfordwest. The route took riders along the mile-long Druidston Haven beach.
Lawyers for Koetsier said that the riders spotted Thomas’s dog running off its lead on the sand and as they began a second canter Max ran barking towards the group from behind. Koetsier’s horse, Bonfire, was stationary when the small white dog went underneath him from behind, said Matthew Chapman QC, in written submissions.
“Bonfire reacted explosively to the presence of the dog,” Chapman said. The horse’s head went down “while he jumped from the ground and flung up his hind legs in a violent and propulsive buck”. The rider was “violently propelled out of the saddle, over Bonfire and on to the ground. The claimant landed on or about the top of his head and suffered catastrophic personal injury.”
"
The rider is also suing the riding stables.
The outcome of this case is going to be interesting.
Personally, if I ever see a dog off lead on the beach I don't go any faster than a walk, but we still regularly have dogs come flying over barking and trying to get under/behind my horse. Luckily she's rock-solid with dogs and will circle to keep facing them but I've always worried about what would happen if she kicked out at a dog and injured it (am I liable?), if she kicked out at a dog and caught a human (I assume I'd be liable?), if a dog injures her (are the dog owners liable?), or if she flipped out and I was injured (my own risk, no one is liable?). It's also impossible to identify dog owners unless they swap details or unless you can follow them to their car as they leave, so even if the dog owner is liable you'd have a hell of a time getting them to actually pay.
If I'm on the beach with my dog and I see horses I always put her back on the lead - I know she has no interest in them but the riders don't know that and I don't want her caught up in an accident if another dog goes for the horse and it bolts.
Snippet of article:
"The owner of a West Highland terrier faces a £5 million claim from a rider who now has to use a wheelchair after the dog spooked his horse on a beach. Lourens Koetsier suffered a severe spinal injury after he was thrown while on a guided ride along the beach in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in 2018.
The 63-year-old financial adviser told the High Court in London that the accident occurred because the unleashed dog, called Max, ran under the horse. He said it frightened the horse, which bucked and threw him to the ground. Koetsier, who was on holiday in Wales with his wife, is suing for up to £5 million in a claim that alleges the dog’s owner, David Clifford Thomas, should have kept him on a lead.
Thomas, who told the court that he has owned Max since he was a puppy, has denied liability, saying that there is no reason to blame his “small, elderly and gentle” Westie for the accident. Thomas said there was no requirement for Max to be on a lead while on the beach as local bylaws allow owners to let their dogs run freely.
Documents filed at the court in London state that Koetsier, who is Dutch, is an experienced horseman, having owned a pony as a child and competed as an adult. He rode Dutch warmblood sport horses from when he was a teenager until his forties. On the day of the accident Koetsier had joined a ride arranged by Nolton Stables in Haverfordwest. The route took riders along the mile-long Druidston Haven beach.
Lawyers for Koetsier said that the riders spotted Thomas’s dog running off its lead on the sand and as they began a second canter Max ran barking towards the group from behind. Koetsier’s horse, Bonfire, was stationary when the small white dog went underneath him from behind, said Matthew Chapman QC, in written submissions.
“Bonfire reacted explosively to the presence of the dog,” Chapman said. The horse’s head went down “while he jumped from the ground and flung up his hind legs in a violent and propulsive buck”. The rider was “violently propelled out of the saddle, over Bonfire and on to the ground. The claimant landed on or about the top of his head and suffered catastrophic personal injury.”
"
The rider is also suing the riding stables.
The outcome of this case is going to be interesting.
Personally, if I ever see a dog off lead on the beach I don't go any faster than a walk, but we still regularly have dogs come flying over barking and trying to get under/behind my horse. Luckily she's rock-solid with dogs and will circle to keep facing them but I've always worried about what would happen if she kicked out at a dog and injured it (am I liable?), if she kicked out at a dog and caught a human (I assume I'd be liable?), if a dog injures her (are the dog owners liable?), or if she flipped out and I was injured (my own risk, no one is liable?). It's also impossible to identify dog owners unless they swap details or unless you can follow them to their car as they leave, so even if the dog owner is liable you'd have a hell of a time getting them to actually pay.
If I'm on the beach with my dog and I see horses I always put her back on the lead - I know she has no interest in them but the riders don't know that and I don't want her caught up in an accident if another dog goes for the horse and it bolts.
.
