Horse and dog incident this morning

[DrHildegardeLanstrom]

Had quite a scary experience on our morning walk this morning.
My dog and I have crossed this field and the others with horses on many times and have never had any incidents. I have been around horses all my life and understand how they can be inquisitive. My dog is under full control on a short lead and is well behaved around horses.

This morning he was with me on a short lead as normal, and my DD was with me. The field had several horses, all grazing at the bottom of the field well away from the footpath route. As we got halfway across, two trotted over and reached us in no time.
One came up and sniffed my dog very close, which scared him so he barked. The horse instantly turned around and kicked him, luckily a glancing hit which appears to have done no damage.
We turned around straight away however the horse kept trying to kick us (I really thought I was going to be kicked) and was blocking our path. My DD was very scared, so I sent her to run back to the gate and managed to get there myself despite being pursued by the horses.

There is no damage done, however I have never experienced such a thing in 30 years of horse experience. The horse clearly felt threatened by us being there and came across the field.

AIBU to email the yard and make them aware?

I’d suggest going more slowly through stock. Sometimes calmly calling out “slowly, steady” might help (with your voice lowering on the last syllable).

@SirSidneyRuffDiamond The running would set mine off. Horses are prey animals and if they see something running, whether its another horse, sheep, deer or a human, they will assume there is a threat to run from. It is a natural instinct.

To those people saying that horses are not farm animals and should not be kept in fields with rights of way - do you believe that only animals that are farmed for the food chain should be kept in our countryside? How sad that would be. Anyway, although some horses are signed out of the foodchain (mainly due to the administration of certain drugs) most aren't. Many horses at the end of their useful lives end up as dog or cat food - and a few even go into the human food chain although from 1 January 2022 all racehorses have been signed out of the human food chain.

I think the countryside should be preserved for widlife as much as possible. Which does not include horses.

I’ve voted yanbu as I think the yard should be informed. However I’ve also grown up around horses/farms/livestock in a rural area and I’d be very cautious taking a dog through a field with large unknown animals (horses/cattle) short lead or not. If they go for the dog on a short lead then you’re automatically in the line of fire.

All animals can be unpredictable and horses are strong, with definite capacity to be dangerous when startled or barked at and can react in a way that could easily cause serious injury, so lead or not it’s not case of whether you are allowed by virtue of it being a public footpath, but more if it is wise to risk it.

In terms of cattle (for context), I wouldn’t risk it with a dog personally.

In terms of horses, if I knew the horses then that’d give a different answer than if they were an unknown quantity.

Buy a field then. Devote it to wildlife. Simple! If you have a field you put what you want in it. If you don’t have a field you don’t get a say! (For what it’s worth, my horses regularly share their field with wild deer and other wildlife)

But horses are native to this country, so why shouldn't they be kept on the land?

You think if you let a domesticated horse go free it would work out fine?

I totally agree, why would you take a dog through a footpath with livestock in it? My horses would kick out at dogs barking at it, wherever they are. Dog owners just don't get it even when you instruct them to please keep their dog away from your animal and to put it on a lead!
You should have let your dog off the lead if you feel threatened by livestock or horses. Do not risk getting hurt protecting your dog. Releasing your dog will make it easier for you both to reach safety.

@Lineofconcepcion should people never go for walks in places like Dartmoor as that is one big public footpath with livestock roaming free?

By the way, it is spring and warm and the grass is growing. Horses, and other grazing animals do get a bit of a spring in their step due to the higher sugars in the grass at this time of the year which can make some a bit unpredictable. It also happens in late autumn but not to such a degree. So be extra careful at this time of the year.

Of course they can, but they shouldn't then go on a public forum and moan about it when their dog is aggressive to livestock and the livestock seek to protect themselves!

Why does it matter if it wouldn't? The reason most horses can't live "wild" is because humans have domesticated them, put them to work and taken over their habitats - the least we can do in return is allow them to live "out" as far as possible, which includes allowing them to graze in the fields.

Keeping horses as living toys creates a demand for breeding.

This is rather a stupid comment! People have a right of way over a footpath- the land and animal owner are liable if they put unsafe animals on. The right of way was there before the horse. You can’t just block off a footpath- with a dodgy animal or a fence.. This dog wasn’t aggressive- the horse came up to the dog.

We had this a while ago - the footpath ran along the inside of the field and is actually a national long distance path. We had 3 dogs and a group of young colts in the field came over to us very quickly and cornered us. My sister and I have both ridden in the past so just waved our rucksacks at them and they moved off but a little disconcerting if you were alone or unfamiliar with horses. The horses were definitely interested in my sisters dog in particular.

This is helpful for those who are interested
www.ramblers.org.uk/advice/paths-in-england-and-wales/enjoying-the-countryside/animals-and-rights-of-way.aspx

I really don't see the issue with that all.

The horse wasn't aggressive until the dog barked at it, though.

Yes, we have public rights of way through fields but equally we have a responsibility to keep ourselves and our animals safe.

If livestock (including horses) come up and aggress to you, the recommended thing to do is let the dog off lead as they will run to safety, and you can then get to safety yourself and recall your dog.

Obviously this isn't always possible (eg. if there are sheep around) but you do have to be incredibly careful if you choose to bring your dog around livestock.

Why is a (very big) horse hassling a (comparatively much much smaller) dog considered OK, but the dog barking because its being hassled by a horse considered an act of aggression?

(More ridiculous victim-blaming on this thread.)

The dog obviously barked because it was scared of the horse when the horse came over to sniff it. You can’t just say people have a responsibility to keep themselves safe if they can’t do that BECAUSE of the behaviour of the animals in the field. If that person is sticking to the legal path with their dog on a lead they ARE NOT at fault… (it would be different if their dog was off lead worrying the horses, but even then you might be on thin ive in court). Otherwise every land owner in the country with footpaths would put dodgy animals on!! You have to have so much public liability cover for footpaths nowadays. Speaking here as a landowner with footpaths, a horse owner and a dog owner.

OP I hope you get/got sensible responses from the horse/land owner in question. It might be worth speaking to your local Rights of Way officer (council) if not.

Horses have 'off' days. You always have to expect and be prepared for the unexpected.

@DrHildegardeLanstrom absolutely no help whatsoever... but I love your user name! Am hoping you are quite quite mad 😉😂

In all seriousness though I would report to the yard (I'd like to know if my horse was being a nuisance so I could take steps to prevent this happening again)

You can’t just say people have a responsibility to keep themselves safe if they can’t do that BECAUSE of the behaviour of the animals in the field.

It's a bit of a difficult scenario though, isn't it?

Because you don't know 100% how your dog or the livestock/horses will behave until you're in the field and walking through it. You can have a dog who has never reacted that reacts, and a horse that's never reacted but spooks or reacts. There's always a first time for everything.

Even the Countryside Code says you should be careful around horses and livestock as they can be dangerous and unpredictable.

You should have kept walking and not stopped to allow interaction with livestock. It’s a footpath not a park. Direct line walking through no stopping YABU