Video Driving Horse attacked by dog in the US

[Meowy Catkin]

I saw this on COTH and thought I would post here. The lady in red is the horse owner and she dismounted from the carriage to help her horse. Such a nightmare. I wish both her and the horse the best during their recoveries as they were both injured.

 

[Sprat]

God that was awful to watch. I am amazed that the dog was still walking after that.

 

[milliepops]

unpleasant viewing. That must have been utterly horrible to experience.

 

[Breagha]

That was awful to watch. Poor horse.

 

[conniegirl]

Was the horse ok?

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Was the horse ok?

The brother of the horse owner did an update on the horse. I'll go and find it and share it here.

ETA -

 

[TPO]

How horrific. That poor horse and woman. I hope that they both make a full and speedy recovery.

Where was the dog owner? I'm surprised the dog wasnt killed, especially with the last kick it received.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I think the dog owner is the lady in grey who lay on top of the dog once it was got away from the horse.

ETA - that is what I have read, I hope it is correct.

 

[HBB]

That was difficult viewing, I hope they both make a full recovery.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Horrendous, sad to say but I am glad the dog was severely injured enough to be put down. Hope horse and owner make a good recovery.

 

[Baywonder]

What a horrific, traumatic incident. ?

 

[Yokosmom]

Even after being kicked repeatedly, that dog kept coming back for more. It was a menace.

 

[AmyMay]

Horrific

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

That's awful

 

[Goldenstar]

Poor horse hampered by his blinkers when he was trying to strike out .
Once the horse got a kick on the dog well a dog does does survive a kick like that .
Once those pit bulls go for it they really do .
The owner was brave I am glad she’s going to recover .
Its extremely fortunate that the horse did not bolt if it had the risk of injury to bystanders would have been huge .
The people with the horse handled it all well .

 

[palo1]

Appalling to watch. Thank goodness no-one or the horse was fatally injured -surely a matter of luck.

 

[Birker2020]

This happened with my horse in 1998 when he was attacked by a Staffie out riding over public open space. The dog wouldn't leave the horse alone and kept trying to latch on to his throat and finally tail. I had jumped off my horse and was holding his bridle either side of the bit rings. I did consider letting him go to see if he could outrun the dog but the waste ground was partly skirted by roads and he wouldn't have stood a chance. My horse was so good natured but finally sustained a bite to his flank, the dog dropped between his back legs and the horse finally losing his patience kicked out knocking the dog out.

Peoples gardens backed out onto the waste ground and a couple of people, one with a shovel from memory ran over to help me, I assume he was going to bash the dog over the head not the owner!

Because the dog was injured when it came round (mouth full of blood/broken teeth/jaw) the owner was yelling that he was going to sue me! I was very upset but I managed to pacify my horse who incredibly didn't appear to be traumatised. Because it was too far to lead and the horse was sound I jumped back on a rode back to the yard.

It was a horrendous thing to have had happen. I actually wrote a story about it which appeared in Gallop magazine which was a monthly horsey magazine - I'll try to dig it out at the weekend.
Luckily Biggles never sustained any serious physical or mental scars. I went to the police station and they said to ring 999 if I saw the dog loose on the waste ground again.

The bloke yelling 'easy' to the dog or horse, not sure which isn't helping the situation, he is easing nothing at all.

 

[PurBee]

So sad, horrible for all involved.

Whats sad is that could all have been avoided if that pitbull was leashed. (This links with the aggressive loose dogs wwyd thread)

Even if that dog is 100% good with other people, dogs, kids - but has never seen a horse before - id be leashing it as its an ‘unknown’. With my own animals, despite being trained and good with ‘everyday life’ - anything unknown to them is a potential unknown reaction from them - i want to be able to control them by leashing should their reaction be unexpected.
Every moment is a potential training opportunity.
That dog didnt get the chance to be ok around horses because it saw it as a new big animal to attack and defend itself. If introduced via leash to a horse, with owner showing it is ok, the dog would have had the chance to learn horses are ok, instead of attacking it, because it was loose and being instinctual - which with pitbulls, causing a huge % of dog attacks, their instinct seems to be attack.

Many dog breeds cannot be viewed as just ‘pets’ - they’ll always be dogs first.

 

[ester]

The coth thread said it broke its harness.
That’s horse did an incredible job in those circumstances.

 

[palo1]

So sad, horrible for all involved.

Whats sad is that could all have been avoided if that pitbull was leashed. (This links with the aggressive loose dogs wwyd thread)

Even if that dog is 100% good with other people, dogs, kids - but has never seen a horse before - id be leashing it as its an ‘unknown’. With my own animals, despite being trained and good with ‘everyday life’ - anything unknown to them is a potential unknown reaction from them - i want to be able to control them by leashing should their reaction be unexpected.
Every moment is a potential training opportunity.
That dog didnt get the chance to be ok around horses because it saw it as a new big animal to attack and defend itself. If introduced via leash to a horse, with owner showing it is ok, the dog would have had the chance to learn horses are ok, instead of attacking it, because it was loose and being instinctual - which with pitbulls, causing a huge % of dog attacks, their instinct seems to be attack.

Many dog breeds cannot be viewed as just ‘pets’ - they’ll always be dogs first.

That is definately the kind of public setting in which my dog would be on a lead but probably many people would happily have their dog loose; I think it is like a country park? To me the dog didn't look as if it was defending itself, nor did it look intimidated or scared of the horse. The horse wasn't moving at speed at the time it seems so the attack wasn't provoked by particular prey-drive related stuff. It looked like a casual aggressive attack and for me, unused to these sorts of breeds the body language of the dog is really scary. It just seems so casually aggressive and utterly determined as well as pretty confident. I don't in any way see myself as a dog trainer or especially knowledgeable about dogs but that dog, to me, looked as if it felt it could just do what it wanted. The owner was having no impact whatsoever.

 

[palo1]

The coth thread said it broke its harness.
That’s horse did an incredible job in those circumstances.

Poor bloody horse was really trying to keep it together as well as defend itself. I don't imagine that many horses, driven or ridden, would try to listen and remain 'under instruction' from their person in that situation. Awful, just awful.

 

[PurBee]

I havent seen the coth thread - we dont get to see the beginning of the attack to see what provoked the dog.

Its amazing how the horse under all that tack and carriage didnt create carnage...just tried to stomp and kick to defend itself.

I still feel this shows that certain breeds esp. pit bulls cannot be viewed as pets. Like you said palo - countrypark setting, so much activity, id have a dog like that muzzled and leashed tbh. I still feel sad for the dog too, and owner.

 

[Goldenstar]

Generally in the US all dogs have to be leashed in a public place like that .

 

[Goldenstar]

Poor bloody horse was really trying to keep it together as well as defend itself. I don't imagine that many horses, driven or ridden, would try to listen and remain 'under instruction' from their person in that situation. Awful, just awful.

Partly it’s the blinkers and partly it’s the training it’s drummed into them if you have someone in front of you you stand .
Standing is the most important thing driving horses have to learn in emergency it’s saves injury and death .A loose horse and carriage is a terrifying thing to see .

 

[palo1]

Partly it’s the blinkers and partly it’s the training it’s drummed into them if you have someone in front of you you stand .
Standing is the most important thing driving horses have to learn in emergency it’s saves injury and death .A loose horse and carriage is a terrifying thing to see .

Yes, clearly good training in place and also a degree of trust but ghastly to watch. I have seen a loose horse and carriage (in fact I owned a horse that had once run away in harness and caused mayhem - certainly not his fault in any way but incredibly lucky no harm to anyone was done) and yes it is terrifying.

 

[Merlod]

I havent seen the coth thread - we dont get to see the beginning of the attack to see what provoked the dog.

Its amazing how the horse under all that tack and carriage didnt create carnage...just tried to stomp and kick to defend itself.

I still feel this shows that certain breeds esp. pit bulls cannot be viewed as pets. Like you said palo - countrypark setting, so much activity, id have a dog like that muzzled and leashed tbh. I still feel sad for the dog too, and owner.

I don't think there's any excuse for a dog to repeatedly attack a horse for 200yards or so, provoked or not. I don't feel sorry for it and I am glad it was pts - a danger to society. I don't think certain breeds should be pets, yes all dogs can be aggressive but the difference is the power and damage some breeds are able to cause whether it's by accident (slipped lead) or purposely trained to be aggressive the outcome and damage they cause are all the same.

 

[Chappie]

My loan horse's owner thinks I'm over sensitive when we are out hacking and come across loose dogs, sometimes with no owners in sight. This kind of incident is exactly what COULD happen so I think I'm right to be cautious (while trying to remain calm of course).

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

awful to watch glad the dog was put down, though inside I was hoping the horse would do the fatal kick. My fear every time we hack out and uncontrollable dogs are close.

 

[Birker2020]

My loan horse's owner thinks I'm over sensitive when we are out hacking and come across loose dogs, sometimes with no owners in sight. This kind of incident is exactly what COULD happen so I think I'm right to be cautious (while trying to remain calm of course).

Yes it certainly made me rethink things after this happened to me. I would now be very cautious going anywhere. We have a place called Arrow Valley Park by us with bridle paths but I even stopped going there as there were loads of out of control dogs. such a shame. https://www.redditchbc.gov.uk/media/1157959/Arrrow-Valley-Equestrian-Leaflet-2015.pdf

 

[fiwen30]

Bloody awful, but some quick & calm thinking from the drivers, and what a brave horse. Not sure what the ‘easy’ guy was trying to achieve, and the dog owner seemed pretty lax about actually trying to regain a hold on her dog!