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!!

I have a horse who will try to kill any lose dog she sees.

Replace "horse" with "dog" and "dog" with "other animal" and imagine what reponses you would get.

keep it shiny :)

"I am, therefore I sparkle"

Sorry about your friend Tea.

You do say in your opening post that you put your dog on the lead when asked (in the third sentence "and when I did passed me saying This is a bridle path you know").

Do ds should be put on leads near anyone vulnerable IMO so you are a bit U but so are the rude riders.

I wonder about the horse riders who take their own dogs along when they ride - their horses are obviously fine, but what about other horses or children etc. Those owners of both dogs and horses would seem to be being the most irresponsible as they have no way to put their dogs on leads or intervene if the dog becomes a problem to somebody else.

Also apparently Wombles horse will kill their dog.

Wombles you presumably only ride your horse on private land?

*dogs not do ds ...

SoupDragon - I used to own a cat who would try to fight any dog she saw, even a group of several being led by a dogwalker. She hated them. I had to stop her going out in the end - for their sake, not hers!

No idea where you got the idea that the riders were out of control Charley
There is nothing to suggest that in the OP.

The point is she knows that she is BU and bloody minded by not controlling her dog without being asked.

Do the right thing, control your dog straightaway and the riders will pass and thank you.
No drama !

Ops dog wasn't out of control though. It was off lead but that was it. I find riders that start shouting, thus upsetting the horse further, whilst on a horse they believe is frightened are either inexperienced, nervous or both, which doesn't make for having good control.
And especially so if riders start rudely ordering members of the public with normal everyday stimuli (such as an under control off lead dog) around in an arrogant manner, based on what they think might possibly happen.

"When you see another rider approaching you slow or stop don't you? You shout 'coming by' don't you? Particularly if they are going slower than you or you notice that their horse is getting a bit fresh. And you should be able to keep your horse under control, barring accidents. Or have I got that wrong?"

I wouldn't stop, no, not unless the other person was really having a problem with their horse. Since horses are flight animals, I prefer to keep them moving and keep their minds engaged. Usual etiquette IME when you encounter other riders coming towards you is to pass each other at walk. You keep an eye out for each other. Personally I don't mind if I have to adapt because someone else's horse is playing up - because the next day someone might have to do that for me. My Dhorse is good and I'm relatively experienced but they all have their moments.

If by "approaching" you mean you about to overtake them or them you there is more of a problem. As herd animals they may want to follow the overtaking horse to remain as a bigger group. You get permission from the other riders to pass. You walk past, or at the most a slow jog to get past. You keep an eye on them. You don't just trot off if by doing so you're going to cause another rider a problem. OK so in an ideal world all horses would be used to this and wouldn't worry but since horses are no longer a regular form of transport they don't encounter these situations often enough to become inured to them.

Yes I can control my horse. We can do a passable Novice test. We can leg yield or shoulder-in so that I keep control over his body and make sure he sees traffic out of his right eye. But if there's an enormous tractor the other side of a hedge that I'm aware of and you're not, I may just ask you to slow your car down/ get hold of your dog/ whatever, just because it makes things safer for everyone.

There's a big difference though when it's something that is perfectly normal and not inconsiderate in itself, eg a dog that's not near the horse, a power washer, kid with a balloon etc between 'I'm really sorry my horse is being a prat and thinks x,y,z, is there any chance you could do a,b,c please' and a rude 'do a,b,c'. (Not saying that's what I get from your post)

Again - the rider didn't shout according to the OP.
She was asked to put her dog on a lead, which is entirely reasonable, she admits this and its a general rule that strange dogs should be on leads around other animals but she had to be asked which is where she went wrong.
She should have put her dog on a lead as soon as she saw the horses not wait to be asked.
She admits this annoyed her and that's her problem.

I too cant believe that anyone would put their petty annoyance before the safety of a horse/rider.

Gabilan Shouting "coming by" I read that and really hoped that no one would actually think a rider would do this.
Go past at speed and shout - bad form !

Nicestrongtea I kind of wonder when some people say they're experienced riders just how experienced they are! It's rather like when someone is about to criticise cyclists and starts by saying "I'm a cyclist too".

As for the comment about riders cantering towards pedestrians on bridlepaths - they really shouldn't. Pedestrians have priority, followed by horse riders, then cyclists. Generally accepted advice is that you walk past pedestrians on the road or on paths - there's no point in scaring someone and cantering past them is at best rude, at worst very dangerous.

The riders too put petty annoyance above their safety. If as a rider you want/need people to do something, the last thing you do is get the persons back up by being rude. Because not only are they less likely to help you, some people will then go out of their way to be awkward, regardless of whether it poses a danger. And being morally in the right after you/ your horse/ innocent bystanders etc have been injured or worse is small consolation.
Plus the same person you're rude to can literally have your life in their hands when they later pass you in a car, and again regardless of the rights and wrongs of it, that's a situation best avoided.
I'm not arguing there aren't twatty dog walkers, or just thoughtless ones, but you catch more flies with honey. And let's not forget there are twatty and thoughtless riders too.

As both a rider and a dog walker I do think YABU not to understand the importance both for the safety of the rider and the safety of your dog that the done thing when approaching a horse is to get your dog under control. I always grab my dog as she loves horses and would probably just try to lick them, but I cannot expect her not to get trampled nor the horse to not freak out.

I do think the rider is being unreasonable though for being a snotty cow. (If she is as you describe her that is).

A bit of courtesy costs nothing.

It's not very clear in your op that you did put the dogs on a lead - you only mention you did after they asked you to and it comes across that you did so begrudgingly, as your title states you think your dogs are fine off a lead around horses. That's why you've got the responses you have, OP.
They may have been a bit rude about it but you should show courtesy before they need to ask, IMO.

Do the right thing, control your dog straightaway

There is a difference between controlling your dog and putting it on a lead.

Lurked it's hardly controversial to say that everyone should be polite and consider other people in public spaces.

Yes, sometimes some riders can be a bit snotty but IME there's a lot of bias and assumption that riders are posh and therefore will be snotty when in fact riders are equally represented across all social groups. And I think occasionally a rider may sound abrupt because they're having to deal with a situation, not because they mean to sound rude.

I didn't say it was controversial. But that the politeness isn't a one way thing. And even if someone is being a knob, being rude isn't likely to make them inclined to stop being a knob. Which is fine but if their knobbish behaviour is a threat to your safety its not exactly a clever move to piss them off further if you're the vulnerable one. Same if they're just being thoughtless, asking rudely at the least just gives them a bad impression of riders, at worst might piss them off and contribute to them continuing to place you in danger. Being in the right after an accident isn't worth it.
Tbh dogs should be in control near horses, and if they are I don't think riders have a right to plough in demanding a dog that is either to heel or nowhere near them etc be placed on a lead because they need reassuring.
I might get where you're coming from with the abrupt, although personally I think a calm tone is always better if the horse is having an issue. But unless it's followed soon after by an explanation of why you were abrupt, the average person with no horse knowledge won't be reading the horses body language and think the rider was concentrating on something else and didn't mean to be rude, they'll just think it's another arrogant rider.

Lurked the riders did nothing wrong .
They told her to put her dog on a lead to avoid a potential problem.

If you think that's wrong please stay away from the countryside.

"I don't think riders have a right to plough in demanding a dog that is either to heel or nowhere near them etc be placed on a lead because they need reassuring."

I don't think anyone on here has said that. I do think you're looking for a row and/or deliberately misinterpreting what's being said.

CharleyBarley I had a pair of riders ask me not to put an umbrella up once because their horses didn't like them. This was on a village street, mid-morning, where it had been raining heavily since dawn. They shouldn't have been there if they had so little control, or if their horses were that nervous; which is what I told them. There is no shortage of open countryside or lanes around the village. I am a reasonably experienced rider and some behaviour is shocking.

I don't believe you.

Things young horses might be scared of (I've tried telling them its just normal things you might see on a village street but they asked me to train them): umbrellas, people jumping up and down on trampolines, kites being flown, people casting fishing lines, people throwing balls for dogs with those thrower things (don't know what they're called), model aeroplanes being flown very near them. In all cases, the horse is worried its going to be struck in some way.

My horse loves dogs. All dogs. He would ideally like to go up and kiss all dogs (cats as well) or lick them or whatever it is he has in mind when he tries to edge near them whenever he sees them. If I wasn't in control, I wouldn't be able to stop him. I can guarantee if he got bitten by a dog he would be terrified of dogs for ever more and no-one would be able to control him.

My horse is also racist. When he sees a person in a burqua, he is terrified, he snorts, loudly and bounces about so that everyone stares at him and its obvious what he is spooking at. So embarrassing.

But he's still not out of control just because he is scared. And if I can ask someone to stop throwing objects around while I'm riding past to lessen the risk, I will. I kind of hope people will have enough understanding of animals to know this kind of thing without being told, which is why I'm a bit sceptical of CharleyBarley's claims to be an experienced rider.

wonder what would happen if we let our horses run around loose, going up to people and sniffing them, while calling out "don't worry, he's only being friendly/he only wants to lick you

If someone asks you to call your dog/put it on a lead, for whatever reason, no matter how unreasonable you think they may be, isn't it easier just to do it? Whether it's a rider, another dog owner or a parent, it's usually pretty easy to get your dog under control, and it reduces the risk of the situation escalating.

I'm a bit concerned with the number of out of control horses on this thread, maybe you should not be using shared pathways.
I put my dog on a lead when I spot a horse, I don't wait to be asked.