to think my dogs are Ok off leads around horses!

[Teapot101]

We walk a bridlepath around our home. We pass many horses with no problems whatsoever. 3 riders are continually rude to us and I've had enough. "can you put your dog on a lead" and when I did passed me saying "This is a bridle path you know" I replied that it was also a footpath! She was clearly grumpy that I was walking up the footpath with my dogs they could not have a good canter. They could have waited until I was at the end. My dogs do not approach horses and are very used to walking pass them. they do not bark or skitter or anything. We pass several other locals on horses and have no probs whatsoever. It's the arrogant attitude that is bothering me. They never say good morning, are v cold and standoffish, so do not feel predisposed to dive into the nettles to benefit their ride!!

My very first pony as a child was blind in one eye due to a german shepherd who was "very good with horses".

You should always put your dog on a lead if you are on a bridlepath

What rubbish. Having a dog on a lead won't reassure a horse any more than having them at heel, horses aren't that bright. And personally I'd rather not have a dog on a lead if a horse is trying to kick the shit out of it. Much safer for all if everyone can get out of the way.

Horse riders also have the option of dismounting and leading their horses past whatever shaking leaf is making them skittish.

It's clear from your post Barbarian that you know nothing about horses!

Yabu and an idiot

As it happens , if the horse doesn't like dogs , it'll still boot the shit out of one even if it's being led . And getting off actually makes you less in control of the animal , not more . And once off , it's not always that easy , or safe to have to try and remount . I never ever get off unless I have no option , like accident or dire emergency.

My horses are very very used to loose dogs , as our greyhounds regularly run round them when we're in the fields doing paddock work , but not everyone's are. And I walk them on our local bridleways too , but always stand and let the horses pass us , for which the riders always smile and say thanks ( as I do to the dog walkers that do it for us ) . It takes two minutes , and no stress for either dog walker , rider , or me .

" Horse riders also have the option of dismounting and leading their horses past whatever shaking leaf is making them skittish. "

that would be a really silly idea!
I am quite sure you have never been around horses if you have ideas like that!

Loose dogs are also annoying for cyclists using bridleways. (hijacks thread) So annoyed with entitled dog owners letting them run about in the way. How hard is it to recall your dog when it encounters another bridleway user and to control it. If you can't do that you shouldn't have one. (grumpy and fed up with useless dog and cat owners). YABU. Very selfish behavior. It's not often you encounter a horse rider surely? Show some decency.

The horse is likely to kick if the dog is near but more likely to bolt if it feels threatened.
Its a prey animal ( eyes on side of head) confronted by a preying animal -dog ( eyes on front)

Horses are often used to dogs but it is always best to assume that your dog might be well behaved but you don't know anything about the horse.

Sometimes, barbarian it is safer to stay on the horse and hopefully have a better chance of controlling it, than to dismount and have to attempt to contain, and avoid the feet of, a half tonne of snorting, bouncing attitude, who has decided that today is the day that your dog is the scariest thing on the planet and must be thwarted with brute force and hysterics .

(yes, DHorse (RIP), I am looking at you, ya big Jessie)

Lots of wise words here! Animals are unpredictable and strangers may have invisible issues. It is always sad when people cannot be friendly but some riders are actually quite nervous and this can make them seem abrupt. Live and let live but safety first!

Personally, I don't care if a dog is on a lead or not when I'm riding, I care if it's under control, and a dog wandering around ahead of owner, regardless of whether it approaches horses or not, is not under control. As a rider, I hate loose dogs as I have no idea what the dog will do, but I would be just as worried if I was on foot.

It may not be the horse that's distressed, but the rider.

The best was a loose Labrador, who bounded underneath my mare - literally underneath, and bounced up and down on the spot. Thank god she was a saint!

Not so good for the little terrier who attached its jaws to my horse's boot on his back leg and ended up fitting after a clonk on the head from a very large, shod, hoof. That was very distressing.

I agree the OP was being unreasonable.

"Sometimes people really do not mean to sound rude, they are just freaking out."

Yes, this, or if not freaking out, really having to concentrate. Generally I don't mean to sound abrupt but the horse I'm riding might just have decided there is a horse-eating monster in the hedge and be focused on that, meaning I have my hands full of a 600kg animal that at any moment might suddenly refocus, see your dog, and then decide to do something about the approach of a random predator. In which case "can you get your dog on a lead" in a rather abrupt tone is simply me trying to keep you, your dog, me and my horse safe. And a rider can feel if a horse is tense and about to arse around when to someone non-horsey on the ground it looks perfectly normal.

As for the instructions to dismount and lead your horse - just no. Sitting on my horse I can ask for leg yield to get his attention and regain control. I can say, with every fibre of my body "it's OK, I'm with you, the world is safe". If I dismount I've just said to him "help I'm so scared" thereby spooking him even more and giving myself a lot less control.

My horse is very, very good with dogs. He's hunted and he lives with dogs. He's had a mastiff gallop under his belly whilst the farrier had his foot up on a tripod and he did not care - that's about as good as it gets. He's a flight animal and even when his flight is restricted by his leg being held, he's still OK with dogs. But I still think it would be safer for your dog to be kept away from my horse on a bridle path, the one place I can chill out and relax with him whilst hacking.

People need to be speaking to the hunt staff, they leave their scary doggys off lead too round the hunt horses.

yabvu. You're on a bridlepath. Your dogs are on a bridlepath. Put them on a lead and don't be so rude yourself.

Not aiming at you gabilan cross post.
Dogs need to be under proper control, which to me doesn't necessarily mean on a lead.

No problem Lurked. Hounds know about horses and horses that hunt have to be good with hounds. Kicking out at a hound is an absolute no-no. My horse had hunted before I got him and I've never hunted him. But I know he did hunt and therefore the chances of him kicking a dog are very small. The chances of him accidentally standing on one because it's wandered over to see him and he's jumped because of a pheasant are somewhat higher.

They were probably rude to you because your dog was off its lead. On a bridleway. And you were rude to them. Your attitude us terrible, unsafe towards your dog, the horse and the rider. YABVU. Respect is a mutual thing.

Animals are unpredictable. Unless your dog is extremely docile and walks to heel (which so many dogs I see don't) then you ought to put it on a lead when other people are about.

Read page 11

www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/eng-dogs-CCW-dogownerbooklet-English-05.pdf/$FILE/eng-dogs-CCW-dogownerbooklet-English-05.pdf

I hate it when dogs are in public places and not on leads. I walk a lot in the country and am very scared when approached by dogs not on leads. sometimes they have jumped up, slobbered on my clothes, put mud on my clothes and their owners think this is okay- or can be excused with a feeble 'oh so sorry'. Worst case they could knock me over and I could break a leg or a hip.

so YABVU.

That's my point, it's about the dog being under control. And if the dog is, then the rider has a duty not to start panicking because it's not physically attached to the owner. A horse that's hunted will still kick an aggressive dog, they're just better at reading the dogs body language so when an unsupervised/ untrained dog is too close they'll only kick if necessary.

yes but a rider won't know if a dog is under control will they? The dog doesn't wear a sign saying 'I am under control' does it?
One minute an animal is 'under control' the next it's trying to bite a cyclist's leg, jump up at someone or getting under the hooves of horses.
Animals are not people.

I'd have felt irritated too but I do think you should put your dog on a lead around horses because you don't know the horses will behave around your dog.

I had a bizarre incident where I was walking my dogs off the lead and then saw two horses about to come into the field. My dogs were quite young at the time and I wasn't sure how they'd be around the horses so I called out to the riders to wait a moment while I put them on the lead. They totally ignored me and came into the field anyway and then went straight into a canter. Fortunately I'd managed to grab the dogs as they'd been quite close to me. The dogs weren't that interested but I wouldn't have been too surprised if they'd given chase.

Yabvu. The rider may have been thrown in the past by a horse that was spooked by a dog, or had a dog killed by a kick from a scared horse. You may "know" your dog is placid (you don't, btw, you can NEVER be 100% certain how an animal will behave), but they don't and they should be able to have a bloody good canter on a bridleway!!

Yes to ALL animals being unpredictable. What has never bothered them before can be a huge issue on that one off day. Big horse is pretty unflappable. Can do arenas with hundreds of spectators and loudspeakers, combines and tractors, motorbikes, screaming kids, deep water. A contractor had sprayed a circle on the road the other day for some work being carried out -instant terror, eyes on stalks, silly sideways jogging. At a small painted circle. Silly old sod.

the bridlepath gives them the right of way. you are very entitled.