Dogs attacked my horse on a hack

T

Turtlebay69

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 November 2013
Messages
108
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
I am not really having a moan as such, just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what really you should do in that situation?

I was hacking along the bridle path through around 6 fields. As I got to the last field, I could see at the very top of the hill, around 7 dogs and 2 people with them, all off the leads. I was wearing Hi-viz: A workman jacket, hat silk and rain sheet - all hi-viz, and I saw that the owners both saw me along the other side of the hedge and recalled their dogs. So.. I waited at the bottom of the field before entering for around 8-9 mins (much to my horses annoyance) for the owners to either say its ok - put the dogs on leads - hold them - turn in another direction - just say anything in general. So I shouted can I come past - and they said yes the dogs are fine. There was no other way of getting back to the yard, only through this little pathway at the side of a farmers field. Anyway, walking up the hill, dogs all barking, owner still saying they will just bark but holding them all by their collars (2 bulldogs the rest all boxer dogs), so I continued, got past fine and onto the main road at the top.

All of a sudden, heard masses of shouting, turned around and the boxers are all running up the hill to the main road exit and coming at my horse. I halted my horse as I though if I stop they may just not bother. I was wrong, and they all were leaping up my horse and nibbling, and jumping up his back legs. I got off quick and was wafting my whip at the dogs and shouting at them - my horse was a saint didn't do anything and they just had slobbered all over him, BUT - the owner then came up to me, didn't say sorry, or a word for that matter, just shouted the dogs away! I got back on after telling the man that he is lucky that his dogs did not do any damage and to put them on leads around horses especially when walking in big groups like that.. and continued my journey, but 5 minutes later the dogs were back (YES! THEY HAD RAN BACK AGAIN!) and the owner STILL had not put them on leads!! This time I had to whip a dog off my horse, before it ran away!!

What do I do in this situation? Should the dogs be on bridle paths? It was just annoying as there are footpaths in the field next door.. I am lucky to have a relatively chilled horse but if they had bit him, do I have any grounds or do I take details or what? Does anyone else have any experiences like this with dogs out hacking?
 
The dogs have every right to be on bridlepaths, however they do have to be under control, whether that means with a good recall or put on leash if the recall isn't good.

You can report the incident to the dog warden, if the walkers are regulars and other complaints have been made then he can approach them and they could face prosecution for an out of control dog. The dog owners would be liable for any injury to your horse.

The BHS are interested in reports of dog attacks too.
 
Wow how frightening for you! Well done for keeping your cool; I would have given the owners a massive tongue lashing for that. Ok fair enough they may not have known how the dogs would behave before the first attack but what cretins to not keep their dogs on the leads thereafter and let the second attack occur. I'd imagine they were too embarrassed/proud to apologise. Hopefully they'll not use that bridle way again.
What a little sweetheart your horse is for keeping so calm about it too. Mine would have freaked and the owner would no doubt have either very trampled dogs or a lot of questions to answers to police and paramedics.
 
You can buy from amazon a control barking device, we cannot hear the sound but dogs can and it shuts them up infact they slink away, carry one in your pocket, i think its called avanti ii only £11 but worth it, i have one.

Also report to bhs and dog warden.
 
I tend to ride with a schooling whip (for one of these reasons) and those dogs wouldn't have got away without a good few open cuts from me using it on them that's for sure! Report to dog warden.
 
Dog warden.
What a saint of a horse you have!
I worry about this happening when I'm on mine. I'm inclined to think she'd give them a good kick. I wonder if that would make me liable for their vet bills?
 
Yes I have on Sand Bay. This was years ago but a yappy little thing snapped at my boy and finally got hold of his tail. I too got off to get the scrappy thing off and this woman came and shouted at ME!!? I should've reported it and still wish I had. This sort of thing does happen but its rare and there are soooooo many good thoughtful dog weds, its a shame you get the few who spoil it for everyone.
 
I would tell the Dog Warden.

If that happened to my horse he would have kicked out ,although all my horses are very good with my dogs they do not like other peoples dog running around their heels.

If your horse kicked a dog that attacked it I feel you would not be liable for the vets bills. If your horse was attacked by the dogs and they caused any damage to your horse the dog owner would have to pay your vets bill.

My Doug was minding his own business on a walk with me and he was attacked by a dog that was running free (The owner was riding her horse) my lad ended up with puncher wounds to his leg and neck. I found out where the rider lived and they were given the vet bill.

Dog owners should be responsible for their dogs and have them under control at all times. My own dogs would not harm another dog but I still bring them back to me if I see another dog of a rider.
 
Report to police - the dogs are out of control and therefore dangerous, they now also know that they can chase horses. There was an incident like this near my yard which resulted in court action and the dog being put down. It's time dog owners were made accountable for their pet's behaviour.
 
Turtlebay69 said:
I am not really having a moan as such, just wondering if this has happened to anyone else and what really you should do in that situation?

I was hacking along the bridle path through around 6 fields. As I got to the last field, I could see at the very top of the hill, around 7 dogs and 2 people with them, all off the leads. I was wearing Hi-viz: A workman jacket, hat silk and rain sheet - all hi-viz, and I saw that the owners both saw me along the other side of the hedge and recalled their dogs. So.. I waited at the bottom of the field before entering for around 8-9 mins (much to my horses annoyance) for the owners to either say its ok - put the dogs on leads - hold them - turn in another direction - just say anything in general. So I shouted can I come past - and they said yes the dogs are fine. There was no other way of getting back to the yard, only through this little pathway at the side of a farmers field. Anyway, walking up the hill, dogs all barking, owner still saying they will just bark but holding them all by their collars (2 bulldogs the rest all boxer dogs), so I continued, got past fine and onto the main road at the top.

All of a sudden, heard masses of shouting, turned around and the boxers are all running up the hill to the main road exit and coming at my horse. I halted my horse as I though if I stop they may just not bother. I was wrong, and they all were leaping up my horse and nibbling, and jumping up his back legs. I got off quick and was wafting my whip at the dogs and shouting at them - my horse was a saint didn't do anything and they just had slobbered all over him, BUT - the owner then came up to me, didn't say sorry, or a word for that matter, just shouted the dogs away! I got back on after telling the man that he is lucky that his dogs did not do any damage and to put them on leads around horses especially when walking in big groups like that.. and continued my journey, but 5 minutes later the dogs were back (YES! THEY HAD RAN BACK AGAIN!) and the owner STILL had not put them on leads!! This time I had to whip a dog off my horse, before it ran away!!

What do I do in this situation? Should the dogs be on bridle paths? It was just annoying as there are footpaths in the field next door.. I am lucky to have a relatively chilled horse but if they had bit him, do I have any grounds or do I take details or what? Does anyone else have any experiences like this with dogs out hacking?
Click to expand...



so sorry to hear this OP. glad your both ok.

Second report this to dog warden, tell the the descriptions and time

invest in a hat cam for future evidence

check this out
http://www.rbwm.gov.uk/web/prow_dogs.htm

My mare kicked two dogs, my boy lashed out at one.

I say "watch your dog if my horse kicks and likely to injure your dog" Even if he didn't I say it so they are warned.
 
Last edited:
Don't think I would have got off the horse. As long as I can stay on, I am safer on than off, as I'm spooked by aggressive, barky dogs.

If dogs run up to my horse, I turn her around and give chase. Most run off sharply. Works with badly behaved children too.
 
I had someone trying out my connemara to loan and we went for a wander up the road so she could see what he was like to hack. It all happened so fast but cut a long story short a wolf hound slipped his collar and came straight towards Kenny. The girl jumped off and i got hold of Kenny but he wasn't hanging around and got away from me. luckily we were not far from the yard and he just ran straight back there where my friend managed to get him in. The guy managed to get hold of the dog and was incredibly apologetic. In this case it was a genuine accident and we found out the dog was a very nervous RSPCA rescue as the owner knew my YO and contacted her to apologise again and to say he would let us know when they were going to be around in the future in case it happened again.

In my case, although scary, i don't think it warranted reporting but in yours i think it does. To let it happen once can be an accident but twice? thats just plain ridiculous.

Glad both you and horse are ok! at least your horse stuck around! ;)
 
You can buy from amazon a control barking device, we cannot hear the sound but dogs can and it shuts them up infact they slink away, carry one in your pocket, i think its called avanti ii only £11 but worth it, i have one.

Also report to bhs and dog warden.

Thanks for this idea. My horse was also harassed by a boxer dog yesterday, reporting is fine but a solution at the time ideal.
 
God how scary for you, what a fantastic horse to behave so well in a situation many would have panicked in - I dread something like this happening with my horse, she is good with dogs but would completely flip if that happened to her as she's very flighty and would panic. Glad you and your horse are ok, I cannot get over how completely stupid people can be. I absolutely love dogs but people just don't have them under control like they should do.
As others have said, definitely report to dog warden so that they are aware. The link to report dog attacks to the BHS is here, they take a big interest in recording these incidents - http://www.horseaccidents.org.uk/ x
 
How unpleasant :( Glad you and horse ok OP but appreciate you and your horse shouldn't have been placed in this situation.

Really sounds like the people weren't in control of the dogs and just not good enough.

Suggestions of the control barking device are great. Think I will be getting one myself!

When I was about 12, I was hacking with an older friend when a Collie started harassing my friends pony. One well aimed kick from horse later and dead dog. Kick landed eye level on dogs head and the 'dent' was very obvious. It was awful. I cried my eyes out!

I have a big dog and although he has been brought up around livestock, horses and kids, I would still put him on a lead if riders were passing by. Just the same as I do when we come across other dogs, people and children. Dog owners should act responsibly 'just in case'.
 
Please report this incident on the www.horseaccidents.org.uk web site.
Dogs must be under control in a public place.

Here are details of the laws that govern the control of dogs:

The Town Police Clauses Act 1847
Dog owners have a duty to ensure that their animals does not threaten or harm a member of the public. The act makes it an offence for any ‘unmuzled ferocious dog’ to be at large in any street (the term is defined as including any public passage and therefore covers all rights of way).

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) act 1953 and the animals act 1971 are important in assessing liability for harm done by dogs.


UK Law -Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953
The law is designed to punish the owner of any dog found worrying livestock on agricultural land.

For this piece of legislation to be used, the dog must be found attacking or chasing livestock or at large, not on a lead or under control, in a field or enclosure containing livestock. An offence is punishable by a fine on the owner or keeper of the dog of up to £1,000.

The Animals Act 1971 can also be used in cases where a dog is caught worrying livestock. It states anyone who is the keeper of a dog that is caught damaging by killing or injuring livestock is liable for the damage. This means the farmer can sue the dog owner for compensation.

In certain circumstances, a farmer or landowner has the right to shoot a dog found attacking or worrying his or her livestock, for example to act for the protection of any livestock if, and only if, either the dog is worrying or about to worry the livestock and there are no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying; or the dog has been worrying livestock, has not left the vicinity and is not under the control of any person and there are no practicable means of ascertaining to who it belongs.


If you are unfortunate enough to suffer such an attack you should report the matter to the police stating that you where in ‘apprehension of injury’ due to the dog’s actions potentially causing you to be thrown. It can be argued that there was an offence under Section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The case of R v Nash 2011 at Birmingham Magistrates Court, Appealed to Crown and upheld by HH Judge Faber, held that the offence was complete if the dog’s conduct was enough for the rider to apprehend injury by way of causation.
If the Police still refuse to take action, you should complain to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Enviromental Protection Act 1990 as amended.
State that a dog may be a statutory nuisance if it prevents the enjoyment of a member of the public rightfully using a public highway (this includes public rights of ways).The District Council can serve notice on the owner of the dog.
 
What a fab post OrangePepper! Thank you for that (must've taken ages to type!) I will definitely keep a note of it just in case I too need it in the future.
 
maisie06 said:
Report to police - the dogs are out of control and therefore dangerous, they now also know that they can chase horses. There was an incident like this near my yard which resulted in court action and the dog being put down. It's time dog owners were made accountable for their pet's behaviour.
Click to expand...

This, I'd be calling 999 there and then if I could!

Was once out on my old mare and had 6 dogs circle us, very aggressive, owners did naff all and I continued, horse was ace, finally owners called their dogs away....

Good jobs OH wasn't there on his horse, they would be dead dogs....same with my new horse! She's kicked out at one on the BP too, even though I warned the owner....

'Oh, my dog won't hurt your horse!'....

'Not the horse I'm worried about, your dog will be dead if she kicks it!'...
 
OrangePepper said:
Please report this incident on the www.horseaccidents.org.uk web site.
Dogs must be under control in a public place.

Here are details of the laws that govern the control of dogs:

The Town Police Clauses Act 1847
Dog owners have a duty to ensure that their animals does not threaten or harm a member of the public. The act makes it an offence for any ‘unmuzled ferocious dog’ to be at large in any street (the term is defined as including any public passage and therefore covers all rights of way).

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) act 1953 and the animals act 1971 are important in assessing liability for harm done by dogs.


UK Law -Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953
The law is designed to punish the owner of any dog found worrying livestock on agricultural land.

For this piece of legislation to be used, the dog must be found attacking or chasing livestock or at large, not on a lead or under control, in a field or enclosure containing livestock. An offence is punishable by a fine on the owner or keeper of the dog of up to £1,000.

The Animals Act 1971 can also be used in cases where a dog is caught worrying livestock. It states anyone who is the keeper of a dog that is caught damaging by killing or injuring livestock is liable for the damage. This means the farmer can sue the dog owner for compensation.

In certain circumstances, a farmer or landowner has the right to shoot a dog found attacking or worrying his or her livestock, for example to act for the protection of any livestock if, and only if, either the dog is worrying or about to worry the livestock and there are no other reasonable means of ending or preventing the worrying; or the dog has been worrying livestock, has not left the vicinity and is not under the control of any person and there are no practicable means of ascertaining to who it belongs.


If you are unfortunate enough to suffer such an attack you should report the matter to the police stating that you where in ‘apprehension of injury’ due to the dog’s actions potentially causing you to be thrown. It can be argued that there was an offence under Section 3 of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The case of R v Nash 2011 at Birmingham Magistrates Court, Appealed to Crown and upheld by HH Judge Faber, held that the offence was complete if the dog’s conduct was enough for the rider to apprehend injury by way of causation.
If the Police still refuse to take action, you should complain to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Enviromental Protection Act 1990 as amended.
State that a dog may be a statutory nuisance if it prevents the enjoyment of a member of the public rightfully using a public highway (this includes public rights of ways).The District Council can serve notice on the owner of the dog.
Click to expand...



Well I sincerely hope your police are more helpful than mine when my horse was attacked by a Staffordshire while hacking out. It bit and clawed her legs and belly, climbed up her tail and clawed her behind the saddle (bless her she did nothing, just kept trying to step over it - until then she was perfectly happy and friendly to any dog) and ripped her tendon boots off in pieces. I got a £110 vets bill and a £65 tack bill out of it and the police wouldn't even take my name and address despite me pointing out that I was in a public place where children riding their ponies would be at severe risk - I had 25 years riding experience, a child doesn't. It occured just yards from the River Mersey. A horse and rider going in there has to be removed by the fire brigade. The dog was in the "control" of two young children and it belonged to their "uncle" who wasn't present. From that day on my poor horse shook like a leaf if she so much as saw a dog and sadly, it wasn't the last time she was attacked.
 
Turtlebay69 said:
I am lucky to have a relatively chilled horse but if they had bit him, do I have any grounds or do I take details or what? Does anyone else have any experiences like this with dogs out hacking?
Click to expand...

I had a dreadful experience with a staffordshire bull terrier (looking back it may have been a pit bull). It was in about 1996 and I hacked with my horse over wasteground. This dog ran over to my horse and started jumping up at him and trying to latch onto him. I got off and held his bit rings whilst the dog was continually jumping up at him. In the end after about four minutes of the owner whinging that he couldn't bring his dog under control because my horse wouldn't stand still (no wonder!) the dog jumped up at my horse flank, grabbed flesh and my horse ended up bloodied. Teh dog landed between my horses legs, at which point Biggles was thoroughly pee-d off and kicked him. Dog flew through air - landed with a thud and was out cold. It came round whimpering. The owner threatened to sue me. People whose gardens backed onto the common ground came running over - one with a shovel to hit the dog on the head. I was in a right state, the horse was ok fortunately. The dog had what looked like a broken jaw. The man scooped the dog up and ran off. I reported the incident to the police, who confirmed I was within my rights to be riding where I was, and the dog should have been under control. If I saw the dog again I was to call 999. It could have been a toddler the dog attacked (I think they may have had their suspicions that the dog was a pit bull). My horse was ok fortunately, I had to ride him the four miles back home as it was too far to walk, and when a dog came barking up towards him from one of the gardens fenced off from the common land immediately afterwards he never blinked, bless him.

I wrote my story in 'Gallop' Magazine which was a popular story in those days and got paid £50 for the story which I gave to a local charity. It got a page spread and was lovely to read.
 
Last year we were attacked by a dog on a hack, the woman was on the phone, pushing a pram and also 'controlling' said dog at the same time. It was a big Rotti so pulled away and went for Tess, she kicked it in the face so the dog slinked off pretty quickly. Unfortunately she shot forwards and my sister lost her balance leading to a long night in A+e. We reported it to the police who were fantastic and tracked the woman down and spoke to her about it, she now walks the dog in a heavy duty harness and not with the baby. I also noted it on the BHS website as a dog attack for local riders to be aware of .

Your horse sounds like a complete saint, must have been a horrible experience
 
Gosh OP that is a horrible experience. So glad you and your horse are OK.

I am seriously considering the hatcam and anti bark device for myself as the thought of this is horrifying.
 
I was riding down a lane and a man with a rot tie was approaching us. He was almost level when the dog lunged at my boy who went backwards at a rate of knots to avoid the dog.

The dog owner then yelled at me to 'get out of his way'!! Doh!

I heard later the dog had been pts and the vets that did it were relieved as the dog was dangerous, actually not the dog, the owner.

he was an obnoxious man in more ways than one.
 
Gosh!! What awful experiences most of us have had!! Thankyou for all your replies, they are so helpful and I am going to invest in a hat cam on my next payday definitely, I have heard nothing but good things about them! Thankyou x
 
Woe betide any dog that attacks my horse, I have trouble enough stopping the horse from picking my dog up in his teeth when he walks in front of the stable door. Sounds like your horse is a saint OP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top