Would you cover their vet bill?

[neddy man]

A definite NO, that's 29 to nil, you have made the right decision.

 

[Lipglosspukka]

Or just send them the link for this post and hopefully they will then see how unreasonable they're being...

 

[Pearlsasinger]

And another 'no' from me! I would let the YO that she is trying to pressure you into contributing to paying for her own stupidity. YO may decide that it is safer all round to ban dogs from the yard, which it is.

 

[meleeka]

That’s almost laughable! Of course you shouldn’t have to pay. Nobody was negligent (except perhaps the owner!). It’s her own risk if she wants to put her dog in a position where it probably will get hurt.

I have my dogs at my field, but if I was on a livery yard I’d leave them at home. Horses aren’t machines and can be so unpredictable.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

100% her fault, she should be mortified letting her dog get injured. Idiot owner.

 

[FireCracker238]

I agree with the others, it's not your responsibility. This sounds awful but just be careful that she doesn't try guilt tripping you. Something along the lines of the dog will need to be pts if you can't go halves with her as that would be cheaper than the pelvic repair surgery.

 

[saddlesore]

There’s not a chance I would pay! I am honestly shocked at the level of brass neck! I would also be letting the YO know in the hope that they ban dogs or at least insist they are on short leads and fully under control.

 

[MissTyc]

Another hard no from me.

If your horse is insured, you might want to let your insurance company know that this happened with the full details of the incident, just so they are prepped to defend you in case she takes things any further. Continue to make it clear you fully deny liability on the basis that your horse was tied up on a horse yard as he should be whereas her dogs were running loose and got too close. Horses kick things that get too close. That's normal horse behaviour.

 

[AmyMay]

Nope. And this is why (thankfully) no yard I’ve liveried on allows dogs.

 

[Pipps]

Absolutely not, I'd be furious at her even suggesting it's your horses fault!
It's her responsibility to keep her own dog safe and to keep others safe from her dog.
I doubt she'd see it the same way if your horse was injured in the process.

 

[Annagain]

There's only one creature to blame for this and it's not your horse or the poor dog.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I would also be letting the YO know in the hope that they ban dogs or at least insist they are on short leads and fully under control.

This. I was on a 'dog friendly' yard recently, and the dogs were wandering freely around right up close to both their owner's and other horses. The horses were stamping with the flies, and the dogs were wandering in and amongst their legs .

 

[sport horse]

No and what sort of livery yard allows dogs anyway? Perhaps the yard should be responsible (not really I know but a pretty stupid thing to permit)

 

[splashgirl45]

no absolutely not. if your horse had pulled back and injured itself because it was scared of the dog, would she pay? whenever i took my dogs to the yard they were either on lead with me or tied up away from the horses, although my dogs are good with horses i wouldnt risk them loose even with my own who wasnt bothered by dogs. i looked at a livery yard once and there were dogs all over the place , i didnt go there because of this...too much hassle IMO

 

[YorksG]

We use our yard for both our horses and dogs and the two species are never in the yard at the same time! It beggars belief that loose dogs are round horses on a livery yard

 

[Tarragon]

You will have to tell us how you get on! I hope that they don't make it hard for you.

 

[Kaylum]

Write everything down whilst its fresh in your mind. The times and everything as some people will twist the truth. Does your yard have cctv?

 

[paddy555]

Another hard no from me.

If your horse is insured, you might want to let your insurance company know that this happened with the full details of the incident, just so they are prepped to defend you in case she takes things any further. Continue to make it clear you fully deny liability on the basis that your horse was tied up on a horse yard as he should be whereas her dogs were running loose and got too close. Horses kick things that get too close. That's normal horse behaviour.

i would let your insurer's know and advise them that if there is any further contact from her you will pass it on. In the meantime I would ignore the message and see what happens. If she asks you face to face just say no and don't get into a discussion about it.
I'm not sure why she wants you to pay half. If this was your fault she would be requesting the whole lot and if her fault for failing to look after her dog then up to her to foot the bill.
Just in case there is any comeback for what could be very expensive treatment I would sit back,, do nothing. If she claims let the insurance sort it out.
Make sure you have the entire history written down, date, time, place, what happened, witnesses etc.

I'm not dissenting from the overall "no" just trying to make sure you are protected for what could happen.

 

[muddybay]

Definitely no! I was schooling my green horse a month or two ago and one of the other livery's dogs ran into the school and jumped up at my horses back legs trying to bite him luckily my horse didn't kick or anything and we managed to get the dog out of the school but it would've been the owner's fault especially as she couldn't see the school from her stables which were about a 2 minute walk away so let her dog off lead and let it run out of sight!

 

[Fransurrey]

I know that the yard is not deemed as a "public place" in terms of keeping a dog under control

Actually in terms of public liability a yard IS deemed a public place. Not unless hell froze over would I pay any part of that bill. The stupidity and lack of responsibility of many dog owners astounds me, sometimes.

 

[Jim bob]

Nope from me too! She knows the risks of the dog lose on the yard. Even with the most well behaved horses they can kick. As for no insurance. That's not your fault. None of it is.

 

[AFB]

i would let your insurer's know and advise them that if there is any further contact from her you will pass it on. In the meantime I would ignore the message and see what happens. If she asks you face to face just say no and don't get into a discussion about it.
I'm not sure why she wants you to pay half. If this was your fault she would be requesting the whole lot and if her fault for failing to look after her dog then up to her to foot the bill.
Just in case there is any comeback for what could be very expensive treatment I would sit back,, do nothing. If she claims let the insurance sort it out.
Make sure you have the entire history written down, date, time, place, what happened, witnesses etc.

I'm not dissenting from the overall "no" just trying to make sure you are protected for what could happen.

Absolutely this - insurance isn't just there to pay out at fault, but to defend when you're not at fault. If she doesn't accept your initial 'no' just advise that you'll be passing to your insurance company. They will send her a polite denial letter, she doesn't have an insurer backing her case and no sensible legal team are going to advise her to pursue of her own accord - hey presto, it's gone away and you can pass the buck to your insurers when she's narky about it.

 

[AmyMay]

Actually in terms of public liability a yard IS deemed a public place. Not unless hell froze over would I pay any part of that bill. The stupidity and lack of responsibility of many dog owners astounds me, sometimes.

Really interesting point. Wonder what liability the YO carries in all of this.

 

[Renvers]

Really interesting point. Wonder what liability the YO carries in all of this.

Do you think it might depend on what the YO rules are about allowing off lead dogs on the yard?

OP, agree with consensus here, the dog was failed by owner and she is paying (literally) the consequences of her own poor judgement. Just sad that the do g had to suffer and your horse was upset. If you are worried about losing a hacking buddy over this, her cheek at trying to guilt you into paying would make me consider that she is no loss at all

 

[Muddywellies]

The minute she brought her dogs onto the yard, she accepted the risk. It's no secret - horses kick. . Nope, I wouldn't pay a penny.
She should have her dogs insured.

 

[Goldenstar]

And a no from me .

 

[EchoInterrupted]

As a dog owner, if I let my dog anywhere near the tail end of a tied up horse (or a horse anywhere that is a "horse space" - ETA: or not a horse space for that matter) and something happened I would never think to ask the horse's owner for financial assistance and would be profusely apologizing for my dog getting that near their horse. It's an absolute no from me.

I find it similarly frustrating when you're in a public place and people let their dogs run up to every human/dog in sight without a care in the world, particularly up to on lead dogs that may be reactive, in training, not dog friendly, etc and are being appropriately handled by their owners. People need to take responsibility for the actions of the animals in their care and not let them run loose if they don't listen.

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I wouldn't pay, no!

Bleddi cheek TBH!

If the owner let her dog near your horse's back-feet and it got kicked, then HER fault and not yours! End of.

Do not be tempted to pay her a penny! Unfortunately people like this tend to be the gobby ones on yards and she may well bad-mouth you, but please do ignore it. You are not to blame and neither is your horse, who was merely doing the natural thing and defending itself against what he/she perceived as a threat.

It's nice to have a yard that is relaxed enough to allow dogs; I do on my yard, with the proviso that they have to be kept "under close control", and not allowed to roam everywhere! I have my own dogs on-site as well as my cats, also poultry and more importantly sheep on-pasture, so cannot have loose dogs running everywhere, end of. Both my liveries are very responsible in this regard and do adopt a sensible approach.

But please don't feel you should pay anything towards this vets bill! Tell her to jog on; and don't feel guilty about it either! Her dog, her problem. Up to her to keep it away from the danger zone. End of.

 

[chocolategirl]

Last week I was up the yard and one of the other owner's had her 2 dogs with her. Our yard does allow dogs on site as long as they are under control & well behaved.

Unfortunately one of them went too close to my gelding's back legs and was kicked and suffered a broken pelvis. Obviously I was mortified.

Fast forward a few days and the owner messaged me on Facebook saying her dog required an operation & subsequent PT (no insurance) and would I be able to pay half "as it was my horse's fault".

I haven't responded yet but I want to say no- it's a lot of money to fork out & my horse was safely tied up & minding his own business until then.

Am I being too tough? Would others agree to pay!?!

Errrr no! I’m a yard owner, 25 years and counting, and this is the reason visiting dogs must be kept on leads. You did nothing wrong, so why the heck should you have to pay anything?!

 

[sunnyone]

No, not your horses fault in any way.
People who don't insure, self insure and accept the risks for themselves. Perhaps she'll now learn the lesson that if you are of limited means, you need to pay for insurance as it's a false economy not to do so.
As an aside if dogs aren't on site how do people dogproof their horses? I've always had a dog around.ànd it's not been an issue.