Some people take your breath away!

Daisy2

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Ok so was riding out down a narrow track and a woman with her Doberman dog was walking towards us, no lead and dog now running towards us, woman made no attempt to control the dog, then the dog just bouncies through us and in and out between mares legs with no fear she just looked happy to see us, I said please could you put the dog on the lead I am worried she might get kicked, woman said oh dont worry she needs to be taught a lesson and I said that maybe but I dont want an injured dog on my hands, woman said oh dont worry shes insured and walked off. Absolutly gob smacked. We contined on, I was speechless and just baffled and rode home in a daze, oh and the dog had a dimanti collar on and was called lola seemed like a nice dog but the owner was scary:eek:.
 
Oh that's one of my pet hates. We only have on road hacking round here and I'll be walking quietly up the road in the village towards some idiot on the pavement with their dog loose. Dog bounces towards horse I say "Could you put it on a lead?" and owner says "Oh it's fine with horses", well yes it might be but you don't know that the horse is fine with dogs and quite often the dog is on the opposite side of the road and has crossed the road to get to the horse, even when there are cars coming. For the record my horse is NOT fine with dogs. We don't have one, she doesn't hunt and she is not used to any other animals jumping up at her. If your dog is fine with horses why is it jumping up at my horse and frightening her into the middle of the road when there are cars coming? As a person on the ground I would find that offensive behaviour by your dog and expect you to control it, why can't you afford me the same courtesy when I am riding?

The other one I had last week was a father bring his little girl out to see the horses as we passed and say to her "Go and pat the nice horsey then" as child tottered over to us. WTF! Who in their right mind would send a small child, that's small enough to walk under the horses' bellies without ducking, into the road to pat an unknown horse walking past it?
 
Unfortunately, the rest of the world may not understand horse behaviour, thats why horses that are hacked, need to be able to cope with everyday occurances like small children and dogs, just as much as they need not to spook from heavy traffic.
 
Oh that's one of my pet hates. We only have on road hacking round here and I'll be walking quietly up the road in the village towards some idiot on the pavement with their dog loose. Dog bounces towards horse I say "Could you put it on a lead?" and owner says "Oh it's fine with horses", well yes it might be but you don't know that the horse is fine with dogs and quite often the dog is on the opposite side of the road and has crossed the road to get to the horse, even when there are cars coming. For the record my horse is NOT fine with dogs. We don't have one, she doesn't hunt and she is not used to any other animals jumping up at her. If your dog is fine with horses why is it jumping up at my horse and frightening her into the middle of the road when there are cars coming? As a person on the ground I would find that offensive behaviour by your dog and expect you to control it, why can't you afford me the same courtesy when I am riding?

The other one I had last week was a father bring his little girl out to see the horses as we passed and say to her "Go and pat the nice horsey then" as child tottered over to us. WTF! Who in their right mind would send a small child, that's small enough to walk under the horses' bellies without ducking, into the road to pat an unknown horse walking past it?
sadly there are more and more stupid people about they know there're rights but not there're responsibiltys, and bumble around until something goes wrong then it's
someone else's fault.... like one of our fellow H&H contrbuters says... nation of... a holes....
 
As a person on the ground I would find that offensive behaviour by your dog and expect you to control it, why can't you afford me the same courtesy when I am riding?

That is so true. Unfortunatly dogs are the one thing my mare is nervous off. I am aware that it would be sensible for her to be ok with them as we hack alot - but how am I going to achieve that without gaining a few squashed dogs?!

The number of times a dog comes flying up to us or runs up behind us barking - the owner shouting for them, then saying 'they are friendly', while my poor mare has a breakdown! Fortunatly as long as they avoid her legs, with a pat we walk on, I would just hate for her to kick one if it got under her.
It wouldn't be her fault and it wouldn't be the dogs fault - it would be the bloody owner. I totally accept I should have control of my mare, but I cannot control each leg and her reaction brought about by feeling scared, but I do feel an owner should ensure that their dog comes to call. Not too much to ask surely?!
I don't care if they don't put it on a lead (but I am v grateful when they do, or get it to sit at their feet - and I always thank them v much for doing that) but I do care if the dog chases!
 
Trouble is the only urban public perception of horses is police horses coping with missiles and violent behaviour without turning a hair.
 
Reminds me of a walking club some years ago that passed me riding out on a fairly narrow lane....nearly brushing past us they were so close. My mare was good, but their oblivion to giving her a little bit of space was hair raising.
They(ramblers) along with cyclists are possibly the most selfish and arrogant people as a group you will ever meet....
 
jemima_too - this happened to me ALL the time. My boy was kept on an estate that runs as a country centre that's open to the public from April-October. There are signs everywhere saying that dogs have to be kept on leads, because when it's busy there are a lot of dogs, a lot of small children, as well as the livery horses, the riding school ponies, and the centre's other animals. You always meet someone when you're out hacking who's let their dog off and yells, "it's ok, he/she's fine with horses!" ... tough shite if your horse is terrified of dogs, eh? And if it's not that it's parents sending their toddlers over to pat the horses, or kids running up to them squealing; not good with a nervy TB type!

Berpisc - Dylan would have had a FIT. He was strangely terrified of walkers/ramblers. I think it was the walking poles and rucksacks that did it, and the fact they travel in packs lol.
 
i used to keep my horses in a field whose owners also had holiday cottages there, the majority of the people were nice but there were always some that thought they could walk in the field barefoot and pat the horses then feed them a bag of apples. when i pointed out they couldn't do that they got quite narky and said that they could do what they wanted.

also i'd be riding out on a fizzy TB and the parents would allow the kids to run over and 'stroke' the horse (again barefooted.), one time i had to actually grab the kid by the scruff of the neck to stop her getting trod on as my mare spun round. i got told off for that even though i saved their daughter from being trampled.

i'd also have people turn up with dogs and let their dogs run around the field with my horses, the dogs would also pee and poop over my hay in the barn. some people just don't have a brain cell!
 
People are so rude!

I had this on a public Bridleway near where I am, some little dog came flying (and I mean FLYING) around the corner, trying to attack my cob who thankfully only tensed a littled, didnt seem to worried (he's always been around dogs, and I've often hacked with mine so he's used to them around his legs) but I was FURIOUS! The owner was no where to be seen and I was getting more frustrated by the second, so in the end I got off and started chasing the dog off (stupid idea!) with my whip, henry just standing behind me probably thinking 'WTH?' lol! Finally some man walked around the corner and said 'Oh sorry' as if there was nothing to worry about! I asked him if he knew this was a bridleway and he said yeah, its not my dog I'm walking it for a friend!!!!!! I then replied as I mounted, why was it off a lead if you dont know what the dog is like then?! he just said sorry again and carried the little rat off!
Surely that's common sence though? I wouldnt let a dog off the lead that I was walking for a friend, incase it ran off and I never saw it again!! Some people....
 
Obviously someone uncertain about horses and etiquette, but if neither dog nor mare were freaking out or hurt then I can see their point although it'd still be bloody ignorant.
 
Obviously someone uncertain about horses and etiquette, but if neither dog nor mare were freaking out or hurt then I can see their point although it'd still be bloody ignorant.
 
Used to get it a lot when I kept my old horse on livery......one day a small white dog came yipping around his legs....whilst the owner ambled along and made no attempt to call the dog off.

Horse got past the dog and whipped out a sly back leg and hoofed the dog a good one.
Dog owner looked at me, I looked at dog owner......did I apologise? Did I hell. If the dog had been on the lead or appropriately controlled it wouldn't have been in a postition to get booted......
 
The dog walkers round where we ride are all fantastic. Their dogs are all on leads and 90% of them will call out if they see you to ask if your horse is ok with dogs. Excitable dogs are made to sit while we ride past.

That said, when I used to hack out in Jo'burg, we had to ride past this one property where there were two huge rottie types and they would always run out onto the road and snap and snarl and bark at the horses. It was really scary. The owner of the property refused to shut the gates. Then one day my poor horse just snapped, swung his back end round and proper double-barrelled one of these dogs. It went FLYING through the air and ran off yelping, followed by the other one. Not a word was said by the owner, and the gates were firmly shut from that day onwards. I don't like to see any animals hurt, but that dog got taught a lesson it will never forget!
 
our dog walkers are great around us. The cyclists (and there are loads) are a very mixed bunch - from the ones who let you know they are whizzing up behind you to those who think they are god and have complete rule of the road.

A cycling club on a race came down a (narrow) bridlepath - as in some 40 cycles and actually tried to squeeze past my very large OTT mare. As I saw what the first one was looking to do I really let rip and told him he would be kicked without any doubt if he attempted to push past and they could all b**ody well wait till there was a passing place where I could keep her back legs away. There was a lot of grumbling but as the mare then kindly obliged with cow kicks and prancing around they stayed back.
 
I had a lovely mare who had been attacked by Corgis when she was young. She hated small dogs with a special place in her little heart for Corgis. Big dogs, she loved.

I was at a show, she was tied to the box and a woman wandered up with two off-leash...yes, Corgis. I said, "Keep your dogs away from my mare, she doesn't like dogs". "Oh, they like horses, it's not problem". This time I yelled, "Keep your #%@&!!! dogs awar from my mare!" as her dog came up to sniff her leg. Just then, a good solid "Whack!", a flying dog and a woman whining, "My baby, your nasty mare kicked my baby for no reason!"

Luckily, everyone within 100 feet heard me tell the silly cow to keep her dog away...My mare seemed pretty happy with herself, the Corgi had assumed room-temperature. So far, the mare has 3 small dogs to her credit, Corgi, Dauchshund and a JRT (mine).
 
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