Horse attacks dogs.. If and how can you stop it?

JosieB

JosieB

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I have a problem, have rented part of my field to a lovely lady and her pony. At present he is in a seperate paddock next to my horses however we were hoping to put them all together soon. Problem is that I always take my two dogs up the field with me when I feed, poopick etc., my horses are fine with them and it has never been a problem. The new pony, i have discovered, hates dogs. He would stamp on them given the chance and despite me standing in his paddock with one of my dogs he would still go for it if I took my eye off the ball for one second. If I continue going into his paddock with my dog, will this help or am I wasting my time?? Hasten to add I did not know he hated dogs when agreed to share. Am thinking he will need a permanent seperate paddock tbh.
 
Little Stig is the same. I can honestly with total conviction say he would kill a dog if he were quick enough to catch it.
Nothing has helped to get him used to dogs and because of that there is a no dogs rule at the yard...
Keeping taking your dogs in at your own risk I would say. You cant hold the owner responsible for injuries either as you are aware of the problem.
Can you not leave the dogs at home or in a stable and give them a good walk once you are done?
Perhaps his owner was unaware he had a problem with dogs until now?
 
You cannot stop it, and its perfectly normal behaviour not to tolerate "Wolves"

One of ours stalks our dogs, and we just make sure that either you keep an eye on them or don't let the dogs in the field..

To be honest its useful for dogs to have a healthy respect of horses and you can also train your dog to wait for you at the gate to the field.
 
I only take one of my dogs in his paddock and get it to stand next to me so there is no chance it getting attacked without me being in the middle, thought maybe continued exposure to a quiet dog would desensitise him abit. I have to say though that deep down I think this pony would be the same as Little Stig and kill them if he had his way.The owner does know about his hatred for dogs, apparently was fine until a small dog kept bugging him in a field where he was previously.
My dogs are a big part of my life and they love running around the field while I am there and I will not restrict that, its a routine we have done for two years, they don't bug the horses. I don't charge much for the field and it wasn't a case of extra money just that I had 5acres and two horses that don't need much grass so plenty to share. At least after hearing you have tried lots of things, I realise I am wasting my time trying to get this pony to accept dogs.
 
Its the same as those poor people last year killed by cattle whilst trying to protect their dogs.

Any horse will see a dog as a wolf and even though they are flight animals some will be so scared they will become aggressive. Saw a newforest pony walk up to a kids new puppy on boxing day a few years ago and just stood up, landed on dog and killed it. Ghastly. Only one of mine attacks dogs but she is easily my most fearful horse. Had a horse at livery kill a dog in Cookham years ago too.

Probably not what you want to hear but you need to be careful and keep your dog away.
 
JosieB said:
I have a problem, have rented part of my field to a lovely lady and her pony. At present he is in a seperate paddock next to my horses however we were hoping to put them all together soon. Problem is that I always take my two dogs up the field with me when I feed, poopick etc., my horses are fine with them and it has never been a problem. The new pony, i have discovered, hates dogs. He would stamp on them given the chance and despite me standing in his paddock with one of my dogs he would still go for it if I took my eye off the ball for one second. If I continue going into his paddock with my dog, will this help or am I wasting my time?? Hasten to add I did not know he hated dogs when agreed to share. Am thinking he will need a permanent seperate paddock tbh.
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I have experienced this twice before. Once when I took my collie into a field full of horses to poo pick and heard him yelping. I turned round to see this cob rearing and pummelling my dog with his front hooves. I somehow managed to get my dog but he had a fractured pelvis and would never go near horses again. It was so sad as he used to love them and would accompany me on hacks etc. I had no idea that this horse would do that. His owner confirmed that he hated horses as he had been attacked as a youngster. As far as I know, that horse never got over his dog hating attitude.

One of my mares was also attacked on two separate occasions by dogs and she has gone for all of my four dogs in the past. I therefore never take my dogs into the field with her or any of the other horses. However, she is absolutely fine with them whilst she is tied up or being ridden. so the dogs can all wander round quite safely. It is only when she is at liberty that there is a problem. I would actually not trust any horse that is at liberty with a loose dog. I think it is natural for them to attack them.
 
I would strongly suspect that this pony has been attacked by a dog in the past. If this is true then it will be very stressful for the pony to have dogs in the field with it and I doubt that you will ever re-train it to be fine with dogs.

My filly was ok with dogs until she was attacked (luckily no injuries) but she suddenly twigged after several laps of trying to outrun the dog, that she could turn around and stamp on it. This worked as the dog ran off. She will not tolerate dogs in her field at all now, even the cats get shown the gate. She is however fine with dogs on the lead that we have met on walks. When the farmer comes to move his sheep, I take the horses out of the field. She is fine with the sheep once the sheepdogs have gone.
 
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