Dog and horses incident. Help needed.

[littlewhitebag]

My lab is 16 months old. I will start by saying her recall is NOT perfect but we are working hard on it.

This morning i took her as usual to the beach for her walk. On the beach she will meet and greet dogs politely play for a bit if welcome or come away if i call.

Today she bounded through the dunes on to the beach and there were four horses/riders and two horse trainers walking up towards us. She has never seen horses before and was unsure. She ran up to them barking and running round them (a bit like a dog rounding sheep).

Calling her didn't work so i ran up to the the group and said i was sorry, that she was a young dog who had never seen a horse before and if they could just stop for a moment i would get her and put her on her lead. I could then have treated her while being beside the horses to get her used to them. However they chose to ignore me and kept walking. They then started shouting to my dog to get away in a really aggressive way and brandishing their riding crops at her. This seemed to make my dog more excited. I think she actually thought they were trying to play with her.

The two trainers who were on foot then started yelling at her very aggressively and would not listen when i said to stop shouting and i would be able to get her. Eventually i just turned and walked off and my dog followed a few seconds later.

I really do not ever want to repeat this incident. What can i do in future given that horses are not something we come in contact with very much? I am completely aware that i need to be able to control my dog at all time and i am very careful where i walk her. The beach early in the morning is usually my failsafe place to walk as the few dogs/owners we meet are happy for my dog to play and it is great for doing recall training with her.

I tried to stop and wait for a woman to catch her dog yesterday whilst walking my own dog.

Her dog ran across a school field to get to mine. As we were approaching the road when I noticed him I recalled my dog and put her lead on. Then stopped and waited for his owner to catch him.

Last time I do anything like that. My dog nearly got bitten and I ended up picking her up and nearly got bitten myself as the dog jumped up and snapped at her in my arms. At 27 weeks pg I'm not balanced enough to kick out at something moving whilst holding a petrified whippet in my arms.

Thought of this thread as the woman told me he usually comes back. This was on a field we also ride across.

Any horse or pony no matter how well trained isn't going to stand still and have a dog snap around its legs. They are flight animals so more likely to bolt than standand fight.

Long lines should always be attached to a harness so there is no risk of breaking your dog's neck if you need to step on the line in an emergency. Also knots tied into them at intervals stops it from running underneath your foot.

My dog is around horses 3-4 days a week, and is perfectly behaved, however I would not trust him on a bridal trail, so have him in leAd. But actually avoid walking him on bridal trails.
In my limited experience, they learn how to behave in one situation (like at the yard), but that does not necessarily mean they translate to a different situation.

I can understand about not using long lead. My dog is young, but a giant breed, I would have no control if him on a long lead.
His recall is not 100%, so there are only certain places he is allowed off lead and I am on high alert when he is.
I did use a long lead - one he could pull me around, and he seriously had the attitude - "I'm attached to you, why so I need to come back, you fool"

It was a very unfortunate incident, but it seems that you have a strategy to prevent it from happening again.

you live and lean op!

my dog will chase horses if he sees them in a field - yet i have my own horse that he is so scared of he wont even look at her!

you know now, just just need to keep an eye out.

You could have caused a serious accident horses are flight animals funny that after you let your dog do that you started giving them orders about what to do best to train your dog properly I hope they told you where to go

woah bellasuewow Who said anything about giving them orders? . I was trying in a moment of panic to let them know that my dog had never seen a horse before. I am now more educated in how horses might react.
Also i didn't 'let' my dog do anything. We were upon the horses before i even knew they were there. If i had known they were there i would have kept her on a lead. I know now to check the beach first.

I feel for you I had very much the same experience this morning in a wooded dog walk are I let my 16 month old Schnoodle run free, I like you am working hard on his recall, generally good, he meets greets other dogs, people well short play then comes away, he ran ahead heard barking as he never barks off lead I was concerned I hurried to him to find two horses with angry riders shouting at him it took me around 4 mins to get him on the lead whilst they threatened to trample him! If they ride in dog walk areas they must expect to meet dogs that have not had any horse training why would you, it’s difficult as I like you would have liked them to allow my pup and I to walk with them

This is a six year old thread.

If they ride in dog walk areas they must expect to meet dogs that have not had any horse training

This is wrong.

If they ride in dog walk areas they must expect to meet dogs that are under control or an extremely contrite dog owner

There, that's better.

Zombie thread but in response to @Casisa44

I assure you when sitting on a 500kg animal that could spin and kill me at any moment that is worth £5000 and is not easily replaceable I am not polite when an out of control dog approaches her. Not only this but she is a flight animal and having a dog barking at her is bloody dangerous for all of us including your dog.

I also don’t want dog walkers using my horse to train said badly controlled dogs either. I managed to train my dogs to behave regardless of which animal may appear. Why would walking with them have helped in and way

I don’t allow my dogs to disappear out of sight to avoid this sort of problem and you shouldn’t either.

People with zero understanding of horses shouldn't walk dogs off lead

People with zero understanding of horses shouldn't walk dogs off lead

This is a slightly bonkers statement. There must be tens of thousands of dog owners out there with no clue about horses. Horses are a fairly niche knowledge set. I would think many dog walkers will never come across horses on their walks.

I am actually the original OP of this thread but have name changed. My lab is now almost 7! We don't go to the beach as much as we did so we haven't encountered any horses. She had elbow dysplasia and this time last year she had an OP. On the advice of the vet we now mostly lead walk her.

Reiterate zombie thread incase people read and don't spot that.

Casisa44 everyone has a right to enjoy the countryside without being bothered by others. When mine was terrible at recall I would put him on the lead, sit him down and let the horse and rider pass. Now his recall is great and he wanders through free roaming horses and doesn't bat an eyelid unless he thinks a fresh dinner of poo might arrive and starts to investigate the rear end. Despite that, when I see horses being rode I call him to one side and sit him in a wait until they pass by. Despite him not caring it isn't worth the risk of the horse being startled and causing injury to the person riding it. It's the responsible thing to do. I also found most riders will back off a bit whilst you get your dog under control if you are on the same path and are going to meet and thank you for it.

I would ask around (Facebook perhaps?) to see if someone has a dog friendly horse that you could introduce your dog to (one of my horses is very easy going and happy to stand and sniff a curious dog).

Personally I’d stop my horse and let you catch your dog if I’d been in that situation, but my dog can be naughty and my horses are chilled.

HOWEVER you need to plan against this happening again or your dog could be killed next time. You said he went bounding over the dunes and you couldn’t see the horses until the last minute- so keep him on the long line until you can see that the beach is clear of horses! You now know that you don’t have the recall you thought..