Horse kicks dog. Who is at fault?

[AmyMay]

There was also a dog on lead injured, was being led by its owner whilst horse owner leading her horse. The dog did nothing, the horse just struck out. Horse owner told insurance (nfu) the truth but they wouldn't pay. Should probably have taken it to court, I think in that situation it was the horse at fault - although maybe the dog should have been kept out of reach of horse.

I think anytime you put dogs and horses in a situation where one may get hurt you accept the risk and the possible catastrophic outcome.

 

[Upthecreek]

I think anytime you put dogs and horses in a situation where one may get hurt you accept the risk and the possible catastrophic outcome.

This. It is our job as responsible dog/horse owners to manage our animals. Don’t do this and there is risk. Most dog owners wouldn’t let their dog run into the road, so why on earth would you let your dog run free around horses? Not fair on dog or horse. Being a good owner is not about letting the animal run free and allowing it to do whatever it wants all the time. You manage the situation because you can foresee hazards that the animals can’t.

 

[Lois Lame]

Dog owner unless they were literally just walking the dog past and the horse is known to kick- then as the horse owner I'd probably have offered to move the horse.

This reminds me of someone who used to park their horse in a silly position near the gate, where, if you were leading a horse into the feed yard, you would have to walk close behind this woman's mare. Said mare was opinionated, like her owner, and thought of herself as Top Dog, like her owner. The owner did it as a power play imo. I mean she wasn't a fool (though did some foolish things on occasion, like many of us).

I would ask her, "Christina (not her real name - her name is very identifiable if by chance she is reading this) would you please move Petunia (also not her real name. Same reason as above) and she would make some power-play remark, about me being a chicken, and I would say something really boring but sensible to her because she asked for it, and she would move her mare and act like I was a sissy. (Whereas I'm just sensible and refuse to be put up with her claptrap.) : )

But yes, if a dog were where a dog isn't supposed to be, but a horse is, I would think that the dog owner would be responsible for the dogs injuries. Hopefully, as someone already mentioned, the dog hasn't been too badly hurt.

 

[Winters100]

Poor dog. The foolish dog owner is to blame.

Out of control dogs are one of the things that really irritate me. Why is it that these sort of people seem to justify it by saying that their dog is 'just being a dog', but cannot understand that the horse is also an animal, and therefore unpredictable. A while back my mare kicked a dog who had been allowed to enter my paddock and was chasing my horses. The owner came to tell me about it, and even told me how much the vet bill was, I suppose expecting me to contribute. My reply was simply that she was lucky that none of my horses were injured, as then she would have had my vet to pay too, and that I hoped that going forward she would keep her dog out of my paddock. Since then YO has made a rule that dogs are allowed only on leashes, which I fully support.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Which ever animal was where it wasn't supposed to be,.doing what it's not supposed to do,.the owner of that animal is at fault.
So clearly the dog owner in this case.

 

[Tiddlypom]

When out walking (with or without the dog) I’ve quite often been waved on to walk behind a horse or horses which are parked partially across the road while the rider yaks away on their phone.

First time I’ll politely ask them to please move the horse so I can go past out of kicking range. If they ignore me or come back with ‘No, you’re fine, just on keep walking’ they get the full force of me telling them what a *****ing stupid thing that would be to do, I‘ve got horses too, just move the horse.

They soon move then. But a non horsey person would probably just comply.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Dog owner completely