Warning/Requesting dog walkers

[Skib]

On my other thread someone suggested one should ask dog walkers to keep their dogs away from one's horse lest the dog get kicked and hurt. This always was the suggestion from NR and I did this for many years.
In the last two years it has become ineffective. And even provokes aggression and blame.

Dog walking here now operates in a legal framework. If a dog does not come away from one's horse, the owner always protests that the dog is innocent -That dog is deaf - that dog hasnt seen a horse before, that dog is young - etc etc.
In other words, if my horse hurts their dog, I am responsible. The horse is big and the dog small, innocent and vulnerable!

I decided therefore to change what I said and to warn dog walkers that, if they allow their dogs to frighten my horse, they put my life in danger. Thanks to Melanie Reid, people are now more aware that riders can get seriously injured in falls.

It is a sad day that it is now necessary to bring my human safety into the discussion. But that trumps risk to animals. And it was the first time I had done it.

Last autumn, I decided that I absolutely refused to be banished from the meadows by these dogs. Six months later, both horse and dog owners - well everything is better. A lot more consideration - I turn the horse away to avoid private dog owners and they divert to avoid meeting me.

 

[volcy]

Interesting point about what to say and provoking blame - my friend had a nasty fall after meeting a cyclist coming down off the top of the Downs, coat flying out behind him at probably at least 30 miles an hour. Horse is partially sighted but had never had a problem with bikes spooked and she went off sideways. That stopped the cyclist despite numerous attempts to slow him down as he approached!

The horse is now scared of bikes, depending on how she sees them, sometimes she walks straight past and sometimes she does a head up snorty walk past and very occasionally she has to be tucked in next to me however my friend has taken to warning the cyclists just in case so that they can stop or at least be aware that the horse might do something - it was only on Saturday that my OH out walking with us said that what she was saying suggested that she would be to blame if something happened and that maybe she should swap to something that doesn't put her at fault - it's a sad day when we have to watch what we are saying when it is supposed to just be a warning to people/ a request for cooperation..

 

[Lot1983]

IF my horse had these sort of issues I would work on putting in the time and effort to make my horse safe! Henry had a hell of a fright from a motorbike in 2010, not long after I bought him and afterwards was pretty hairy around bikes (once leaping off a verge bucking!).

My plan initially was to ask my father in law to bring his motorbike up to the yard and help me bomb proof Hens against them.

Thankfully I had a few good experiences with bikes, the first being two bikes coming from behind, they slowed right down and I turned round to face them, trotted past them and then turned and followed THEM down the road. A few weeks after that we encountered 25 classic bikes and they waited for us to pull into the drive, Henry stood and watched them all pass, close but not too close.

On Sunday we hacked out on roads for the first time since January, a bike came up behind us so my friend flagged him to slow, as soon as I could I turned Henry to face the bike and Henry.... TOTALLY IGNORED HIM.

So, I would say that as an owner YOU should be working on YOUR animals issues too! (Not aimed at anyone in particular, Skib you appear to have done this with your horse already! )

If the likes of Monty Roberts and Kelly Marks teach us nothing it's that not all fears, no matter how bad they seem are insurmountable!

 

[volcy]

So, I would say that as an owner YOU should be working on YOUR animals issues too! (Not aimed at anyone in particular, Skib you appear to have done this with your horse already! )

That's a fair point, and in our case we have taken bikes into a safe setting to help the horse but due to her partial sight think there will always be an occasion when she doesn't see something 100% clearly (and as it's only bikes she has a problem with i don't think she is ready to be retired) so asking bikes to pass on her better side etc doesn't seem unreasonable likewise we will give them a wide berth as they have as much right to be using the paths as we do.

I was more trying and probably not making the point very well that in an environment where we all share space, bikes, dogs horses etc it's unfortunate that we have to worry about asking things and how we ask them..

 

[Wally]

THis is why we let the dogs run around the horses from an early age. Horses get to ignore dogs and dogs find out that horses need to be respected.

 

[KarinUS]

I say whatever works to keep everybody safe, Skib!
We have leash laws here which sounds totally reasonable to me. I have my horse 'on a leash' and so I expect for others to have their animals on a leash as well to ensure that they have it under control at all times.
Unfortunately not everybody obeys that law and I do carry maze just in case.
I have young kids too raise and can't afford to get seriously injured just because somebody can't be bothered to control their animals. If I encountered an unaccompanied dog on the trail and it was bothering my horse I wouldn't hesitate to spray.
We have bridle trails and they are off-limits to motorized vehicles and simply too sandy for bicyclists. I've actually never encountered anybody while out on the trail that did NOT show courtesy and care to the other persons.
Sure we all are constantly trying to improve our horses' bombproofness -but that doesn't mean other people don't carry responsibility to have their animals under control.

 

[Wiz201]

In the Uk, unless you're on a public road or on farmer's land where there is livestock, we are allowed to let dogs off the lead. Amber is not too sociable with many animals (mainly dogs and horses) so I am careful about letting her off anyway. If I saw a horse or dog in the distance, I would call her back before she saw them and put her on the lead. Or if in the unfortunate circumstance that I didn't get the chance to get her attention before a horse came she would go off and bark at it.
As mentioned above it is the responsibility of both dog walker and rider really. I'll do my best to control the dog and make sure she didn't scare the horse. That's why I tend to keep to the fields where I can see clearly where and what she's doing. But riders should be aware that its their choice to ride the horse and its also their responsibility to train it so its ok with dogs.

 

[notpoodle]

I find it works both ways .... i have seen some riders be very much on the rude and arrogant side towards dog walkers eg. jumping right in with 'keeop your effing dog on the blinding lead' etc., when a polite, friendly request would get better results, followed by 'thank you very much' and maybe a compliment about their dog - it goes a long way i find if someone has a seriously aggressive dog, you can report them to the dog warden or the police (we had to do that once .... horse got a nasty BITE off a dog).

also agree with wally that horses who are used to dogs in the grand scheme of things are easier to deal with.

@ volcy - :mask: your poor friend! that's one of my worst nightmares you've described just there! really dont understand what posesses some people! i've had one wizz past on the road (steep, downhill, blind bend!), first I 'heard' of it was a breeze of air and a wirring brushing MY FOOT! thankfully i was on my older pony who was fine, appley would have gotten a fright im sure!

 

[Ruskii]

I'm along the same lines as Wally - my dogs have been brought up on the forest so they have seen ponies from when they were puppies. One dog in particular learnt FAST that ponies are a no no, he got chased out of the field by hubbies horse. They know to respect the horses and ponies but also they aren't THAT interesting. Different story when you have an inquisitive foal who wants to approach the bigger dog and Mum says different !

My horse has always been kept on farms where they have had dogs roaming around so they aren't that bothered by them, however we get a LOT of dog walkers/cyclists/picnickers out on the forest so he has had to learn to get used to them. But we do encounter moronic dog owners who just won't recall their dog despite them clearly seeing the dog is being a pain in the backside, I take matters into my own hands if the owner is not taking responsibility. I turn my horse and chase the dog, owner soon wakes up pretty sharpish.

My horse also has unfortunately kicked out and got a dog hard on the shoulder, damned if I am going to be held responsible for it, the dog was out of sight from the owner, I had called out already in a friendly tone if they could recall the dog and was told 'no - he has ever right to do what he pleases' so I carried on, going around wasn't an option. The lab came up behind my horse and started to circle barking and he dived in at my horses heels, horse kicked out and bam - got him square on the shoulder. The dog started howling in pain straight away, the dog owner is to blame on that one not me - his dog was out of control, my horse was under control.

 

[Wiz201]

Same as if a dog had done that to another dog who was in control. Its a good thing Amber has never gone past the point of barking at a horse, but unlike that owner I would have been much quicker in getting her before any biting.

 

[OldandNew]

Dogs are very much an issue on the common where I ride. I find most owners are responsible and either restrain or call their dogs to heel when they see riders approaching. However, a few seem totally unaware and will let their dog snap and bark at the horses' heels. A horse I was riding once bolted when approached by a barking dog and - much as I love dogs - my own safety comes first. We always shout to owners of such dogs to call their dogs off - otherwise their dogs may get kicked!

 

[chunky monkey]

I take my two dogs with me now quite often on hacks. The horse is fine with them in front, at side or behind. However he still hates it when a dog walker has no control over there dog and lets it charge up to my horse full pelt, he will do a merry dance.

Just a couple of weeks ago I came back from a ride and had just dismounted, when two dogs came flying down the track and ran at my horses back legs. They cleary went for the horse as they completely ignored my two dogs. The horse leaped sideways into the air and kicking out. Had I have been still sitting on the horse I would have been thrown from the horse onto the tarmac. The two dogs ran off back up the track. I walked back up with my horse by this time the too dogs had found there owners and were back walking on there leads. I told them what happened and they said that the dogs 'had escaped'. Well there was no way they escaped, as they would have been trailing leads. Clearly they had let them off.