Sorry this is probably such a ridiculous post. I just feel so emotional and had to tell someone!
my horse is absolutely amazing.
I took him out for a hack today and he was being a bit of a daft lad (typical!). He’s not normally spooky or bothered by traffic but he was acting like a youngster and spooking at nothing and kept napping to go home to his pals! He’s a good boy but very smart and has a cheeky side although that’s what I love most about him. We hacked on a country road until we reached our bridle path. It’s mainly used by dog walkers now as there aren’t many horses using it anymore, but it still remains a bridle path and for horses and there are signs up everywhere that dogs should be on leads and there may be horse riders etc.
My boy was being feisty but not bad, just very excited (he’s an OTTB, that explains it!!) and it was difficult enough to control him, and out of nowhere a dog off the lead came bounding up to us. I know it sounds a MN cliche but it was one of those giant bully breeds, an XL bully I think. It came running up without an owner insight and I was absolutely terrified. It was circling my horse and snarling and running up and sort of snapping but not biting. At one point it bit his tail and ripped part out. It also grabbed our saddle pad and pulled it down and ripped the corner off. I was absolutely terrified- it was like being circled by a Shetland pony sized dog and I thought my horse was going to either rear, buck or take off (or all 3) and he’s a 17hh lad so it’s a long way to fall off. Not to mention the dog would probably have attacked me if I did end up on the ground.
but my horse didnt do that. He could tell I was absolutely terrified and he just stood there not putting a foot wrong. He didn’t bat an eyelid as the dog snapped at him or jumped on his hind or legs. He just stood there like an absolute angel. He could 100% tell I was frightened and that it would be bad if I ended up on the ground and he looked after me.
eventually the owners caught up and tried to grab the dog but it knocked her off her feet and was determined to circle and clearly intimidate my horse. But he just stood there not bothered. eventually they grabbed the dog and shouted at me that she’s not used to dogs and how I shouldn’t be there etc and that my horse could have kicked and injured her dog 🙃
but I was so so proud of my boy. He trotted off happily afterwards and was clearly proud of himself. He understood how scared I was and looked after me when he would have been more than justified to go crazy. He is getting extra treats and cuddles tonight and I’m so so proud of him (and also terrified at the near miss and how badly today could have gone)