Dogs horses and a hack Grrrr please advise

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Agent XXX999

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Today I took Emma and her pony Rosie out for a hack with me and Bruce. She is really novicey but we were going really well and had trotted for 20 mins, she was really confident so we went for a really nice lulling canter up the path by the woods (means nothing to you guys but I am trying to set the scene)

Anyway, so we are cantering along and all of a sudden this dog came shooting along the heath and snarling, barking, and literally FLYING with teeth bared at Em's pony.

Not knowing what to do she came back to trot, the dog went behind and was trying to bite the horse, who eventually kicked out and caught the dog, who then came to attack me and Bruce. The dog was GOING for us, and I am not exaggerating, it looked crazed.

By this point I am yelling at the owners who clearly were enjoying their day in the country and oblivious to the fact their dog was worrying the horses - the literally carried on strolling along calling the dog, but didnt even move into second gear.

I must confess to loosing the plot a bit at this point and the only way I could get the dog away was to trot towards them with it following me snarling.

When I get there and flipped my lid at them they said that it was an RSPCA case - I said it should be on a lead, they said that they didnt want it ona lead as they wanted it to be able to run free.

I am so angry because to me that is really irresponsible - they would have been very upset if Bruce or Rosie would have kicked out and seriousely injured or killed it.

Now this is not the first time that this has happened, though it is the most extreme case of it, but literally, every time I hack on the heath at the weekend a dog will run up to us or chase us, I just want to ask -

Who would be liable if Bruce had kicked and injured the dog?

Who would be liable if the dog had injurred Bruce or the other horse?

I thought it was a criminal offence not to be in control of your dog, is that true, and what can you do, call tyhe policce?

I am all for dog owners walking their dogs, for gods sake I am one, but how do you avoid these situations.

I am so worried that it could have been much worse - with the dog or the horse or the novice girl riding being injured.

HELP!

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Going from my own experience two years ago when a German Shepard (a rescue dog they had had for 2 weeks) attacked my mare and inflicted 7 bite wounds to her belly, legs and chest the police didn't want to know as it was an animal on animal attack (I was utterly disgusted as I was on a public bridleway at the time). I did manage to get the owners details and they did pay my vets bill (don't know what I could have done about it if they hadn't coughed up as the police didn't even want the dogs/owners details when I phoned them to report the incident).
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Glad you were both O.K. I know how sacry it is.
 
Cant answer your questions and thank god you are all ok but just wanted to say I have similar problems on the bridleways near us. Its totally knocked my confidence and I dread hacking out. I freeze when I see a dog in the distance and change route if at all possible, I also avoid 'busy' times. I'd like to know what you all do in this situation? I was fine with dogs until a young English Bull squared up to us whilst we stood still waiting for its owner to get it. I walked at it in a bid to make it run off but it didnt, it went for my horse which bolted with dog in tow. No injurys thankfully but Im scared stiff now. I think if a dogs known to have a problem with horses then it should be muzzled whilst off the lead.
 
i was hacking out on saturday wth playboy and we ame across 2 alsations and their owners. all of a sudden out of no where, flint had this bloody dog running after him (oh sh*t i thought) before jumping up his behing and hanging OFF his tail. i was telling the dog to kidly Pee off when the woman yelled "dont worry, she is fine with horses!" pathetics, this dog was still biting his tai. i said "well my horse isnt with dogs!" which he is golden with but to be honest thought id cover my back should flint have decided to launch this mutt through the air. its such a lack of respect and putting others at risk. as a dog owner myself when in company the dogs are either helpd or their leads put on.
 
Surely it's about having an out of control dog in a public place? If it went for another dog there would be hell to pay, so why should it be different if it's a horse they go for?
 
Did you know that if a dog is worrying sheep, horses or cattle ad poultry in a field you are permitted to shoot and kill the dog. So there must be some rule when riding but not sure what. you could sort it out privately eg. if damage was done go to small claims court. Yes an owner of the dog should be in control of it....
Hope you ok. I always stand still untill the owner retrieves their dog cause a dog will chase if you run.
 
It is definately an offence not to have control of your dog in a public place. At dog training (with my nutty gordon setter pup), it was drilled into us that you arent actually allowed to let your dog off a lead when not on your own land!
 
We teach all of our horses to chase dogs. it's a very brave dog indeed when faced by half a ton of cantering horse doesn't turn and run back to it's owners!
I used to warn people who's dogs chased the stallion that it had already killed one dog and their dog was in danger, that usually shifted them quickly..
The only way is to turn at the dog and see it off in our experience.
It did have a downside however as I could actually feel the stallion eyeing up dogs on the pavement minding their own business, he thought chasing was brilliant fun..
 
Dogs have to be kept under control in public places. Peter Natt has posted excellent advice about this before. If the police don't want to know, how about getting your local paper involved?
 
Don't get me on the subject of dogs chasing horses
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. It is particularly worrying when children on ponies are concerned. Was out riding the lanes the other day with my daughter when we came across some people walking two dogs along the lane - both dogs off the lead. We passed them and were a few hundred yards away when I heard a shout and looked round and one of the dogs had run back down the lane to chase my daughter's pony - thankfully the pony didn't take fright.

How stupid can people be? If you can't control your dog properly you don't let it off the lead, particularly on a public road! Leaving horses aside, what is to stop the dog running in front of a car?

You might find you get a better response from your local dog warden than the police. We had a couple of dogs locally in an insecurely fenced garden who kept escaping and chasing horses and the dog warden was very helpful and got the situation sorted.
 
Ours are the same! Becuase our rottie pup has grown up with our horses, they all run around the field together - dog chases horses, then horses turn round and chase dog etc, so we are lucky that when we do meet dogs out hacking our horses will happily canter straight at a dog....
Very scary though, I find especially when walking, that SO many people have no control of their dogs. They will let their horrid little yappers attack our rottie, who I always call to me and either put on the lead or hold, out of courtesy to others! He is no problem with people or dogs, but people just let their dogs go for him! It drives me mad! Just because he is big doesn't mean they should assume that he can hold his own....he can't at all, he is actually pathetic!
 
It really annoys me too, after being chased several times Lady is now petrified of anything off the lead that jogs, runs past or even worse towards her, she them turns and bolts. I will always ask an owner to put their dog on a lead, but have had some very rude if your pony isn't good with dogs it shouldn't be out, which really annoys me because if the dog is under control shes fine, this is usually on the byway where we ride, is there anything I can do about people who don't call their dogs back when I ask politely? I accept that some of the dogs are just playing but they could still cause an acccident by allowing it to run up to my pony.
 
It is the owner or keepers responsibility to keep their dogs under control at all times on the Public Highway.

I always suggest contacting both the police and the local dog warden in situations like this.

The fact it was a dog on dog attack does not mean that the police can use this as an excuse to take no action. After all it is criminal damage to your property. You report it and ask for an incident number. If they refuse to take action then you simply contact the chief constable and ask him to investigate why his staff failed to take action.

The owner of the dog is liable for any damage that the dog causes to your animals. In this day and age if one has presence of mind it is easy to take a photo to identify them and their dog at the time.

Even the owner or keeper of a dog in a garden jumping at the boundary fence and shocking a horse can be dealt with under the Enviroment protection Act (As ammended). We have done this several times where dogs have been adjacent to a public bridleway and the owners have been forced to erect an inner fence to keep their dogs away from the boundary fence.

If a dog injurses your horse then provided you can identify the owner or keeper then you can take them to the small claims court and claim against them.

Peter Natt BHS Access Officer
 
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