This is very well said. Face the threat. Horses can bite as well as kick. And stomp, too. If you do this you MUST give the horse their head and that means a really long rein.
G.
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I have a somewhat similar issue. I was walking my dog down a road in my neighborhood and past a house with three dogs. I was on the other side of the road from their house because I knew that they come out barking in the front yard. Before I knew it two of the dogs came running out to me and my dog so I quickly picked my dog up. The dogs were biting at my ankles. Then the other very large dog came out and pulled my dog out of my arms. It was very bad and my dog barely survived. We contacted animal control and told them what was going on. They contacted the owner of the dogs and told them that they had to put up a fence in the backyard and they also had to cover the vet bill. They were very cooperative and they how have a fence on the back yard. However the still allow the dogs not roam loose in the front yard. Iām so worried because there are kids in the neighborhood that walk home from school. Also, I know many people that are scared to walk their dogs past that house and ride their horses by.
The house I used to live in was by several houses that had aggressive dogs. There were 13 dogs in totaright by my house that would roam loose. They would chase you on bikes, walking, riding horses and more. Three would wonder onto our property and poop on our porch. Then be aggressive to us on our property when we walk out of the house. A different dog even chased my sister down the road and bit her in the behind. It was a huge German Shepherd. Another dog also attacked my same dog in the same scenario. The owner was a cop that could not care less that him dog ran out into the road and tore up my dog.
Itās crazy how many people are responsible with their dogs.
My horse has never had a negative interaction with a dog, We ride mostly in a suburban park where most dogs are on leash, and the ones that are loose tend to be ancient labs. When we trailer out into the agricultural area, sheās fine with dogs that are ignoring her running past, around, under her feet almost. She isnāt worried about dogs barking in the distance, or leaping and plunging almost out of control on the end of a leash at the side of the trail. So she is dog broke in the sense she doesnāt care about them at all, or about coyotes.I donāt think it has occurred to her that they could be a threat! Iāve been careful to make sure she doesnāt have any negative interactions with dogs, though.
She is a good bossy mare and she can certainly express herself. I just worry she might not adopt a defensive posture until itās too late, because she isnāt expecting any trouble.
We get very little exposure to road riding past houses and farms (because riding in traffic scares me silly as an adult) so very little exposure to passing angry dogs protecting their property. I do recall one instance at one barn we boarded at for the summer, where we had to ride out past an aggressive guard dog behind a fence in someoneās front yard, and that really worried her. I think thereās a totally different dynamic with guard dogs running off their property, compared to dogs on a long walk who are more interested in sniffing things and chasing sticks.
Reading the comments about facing the dogs, we probably have a good foundation for that! But Iāve been hopping off and getting in between horse and dog, and yeling at the dog, which works. On the other hand, Iāve only ever had to deal with one off leash dog at a time approaching aggressively or really semi aggressively, and the owner has always been in the distance so I can shout at them to leash their dog! You are in a park! etc.
I have never had to deal with the real junk yard dog or pack of dogs described in some of these posts.
BTW, I looked up the rules on carrying weapons in Canada. Basically in Canada you are not allowed to carry a weapon, period. That includes knives, bear spray, crowbars, etc. But the definition is if you use or intend to use it against a person (including in self defense). So if you are driving around downtown at 1 am with bear spray in the car, you can be charged with carrying a weapon. If you are on a hiking trail, or indeed in any of our outlying suburbs where bears are common, presumably not unless you unleash it on a person. There donāt seem to be any rules against using bear spray on dogs, so I guess dogs are not fully persons under the law yet :).
Both of my mares are fox hunters and broke to hounds and hunt-whips, so I have a slight advantage over you hereā¦but I would suggest carrying a hunt whip (and breaking your horses to it). Typically, the lash on a whip like this is 5-6 feet long (or more) and it takes some skill to learn to crack one from the saddle, but tag a dog with it and he wonāt soon forget. Sometimes, even the noise of cracking will do the trick.
It has the advantage of being long enough to keep the dog at a safe distance from both you and your horse and a leather lash with a good popper sounds like a gunshot. 
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I am fortunate in that my horse has been used to sort cows. He seems to believe dogs belong in the same category of creatures who need to go where he tells them. Heās not mean about it at all - just authoritative.
I guess Iām also fortunate in that the only time a neighborās dog gave me any trouble, the neighbor and I were able to work it out.
Looked out one morning to find my neighborās large GSD chasing my thirty-something STB. I ran out in my jammies and pink sparkly cowgirl-boot bedroom shoes to chase him away. No doubt horrified by my attire, he ran home.
After I got dressed, I went to the neighborās house and explained what happened and how I knew Bear was only playing but that my old fellow could hurt himself running from a dog. My neighbor was very surprised at his dog, since he was used to letting him out on Sunday mornings without incident, but he apologized and kept him at home from then on. Never had another problem with either that dog or his equally large GSD son for as long as they lived.
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True, thisā¦ My mare has faced down aggressive dogs a couple of times (once twice in one ride!) and sheās decidedly a rear and strike kind of girl. My job was to stay in the saddleā¦ She does not rear high as sheās protecting her belly. Sheās never actually connected with a dog doing this, because they thought better of attacking her.
She was raised with dogs, in a part of the country where loose dogs are not uncommon.
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I had a friend who would turn her mare and chase down the dogs on our road when they came anywhere near to us. I thought she was crazy until it happened to me. I turned my spooked horse to face the dogs and urged my horse forward. The dogs turned tail and ran away. Now my horse is much less concerned about dogs I think, because he feels more confident in my response. Running away would have been disastrous because my horse can run for a very long time and his adrenaline just escalates. Weāre still terrified of turkey vultures tho, lol.
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I trained my mare to chase the dog, she is an Alpha mare and demands respect. She herds the dog like a cow , head, low teeth bared and loves the chase. The dog usually gets it, understands that this animal is not to be messed with. However sheāll do the same to a bike that gets to close and hates for a bike to pass her but we deal with that its pretty funny. She so far has not kicked a dog but a friend I ride with had a dog leap out of the woods at her and her horsed a spin and nailed it, very sad never seen again. I do love dogs and they also have instincts that tell them which horse they can mess with.
Please donāt get off to deal with a dog, they can tear you up in an instant. If its two or more dogs then you have to be aggressive. I have used bear spray successfully ,yes make sure you are up wind. dog ran off howling.
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I donāt think I would get off the horse if an aggressive dog came up. The dog could easily overpower you, depending on how big and aggressive it is, and then youāre SOL. Stay on the horse and teach it to face/ chase the dog. At the very least, if the horse books it out of there, youāll get away too, instead of watching your horse leave while you get attacked. Carry your phone with you and call the police or animal control (save their numbers in your phone now) as soon as you can when/if the dogs come after you again. Video any attacks too, if you safely can.
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Itās unfortunate that you have had these bad experiences with dogs. I am so disappointed that so many people are completerly irresponsible dog owners. If you go on the facebook page - dogsbite.org and dangerous dogs - you will be shocked at how many human fatalities there are from dog attacks. In many cases people have been killed by their own dogs. I take dog aggression Very seriously! In 2017 - 39 people were killed by dogs! There is a small hand held device called a Daazar. You point it at the dog and push a button and it emits a noise that dogs donāt like. Also, I agree to face the dog , if possible - but if a dog attacks your horse and he bolts - you better learn the one rein stop , so you can get re-organized. Go to your animal control officer and look up your County Animal Control ordinance and ask animal control and sheriff what you can legally do to a dog that is off of its owners property and threatening you. You can also send the owner of the dog a registered letter letting them know the dog attacked you and you have filled out a police report.
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Iād be tempted to get a pepperball pistol. They have a reasonable range of 15 - 20 feet and fire a āpaintballā that breaks and plasters the target with capsaicin when it hits.
I used to have a mare we called Professor Princess because of her proclivity for educating nuisance dogs. She had it down to an art. I would start to snicker when her right ear went back and she shifted her weight to free up a hind leg. I knew what was coming and never had a problem riding it out. She never bucked or bolted; just unleashed a pile-driver blow with a rear hoof. As far as I know, she never killed a dog, but she did once make a chow roll three times. :lol:
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When I ride out on the roads near the barn, there are tons of loose dogs. Most just run up and bark at us as we pass, staying a somewhat reasonable distance away from my horse. The horse and I both generally ignore these dogs.
However, every once in a while a dog will start swerving behind and diving in at her back feet. If that happens, Iāll wheel my mare around and charge the dog while hollering in a stern voice for the dog to āget.ā If necessary, Iāll chase the dog a short distance to really drive home the point that this horse isnāt an animal to mess with. My horse only does this because I ask for it, she has never offered to stomp/strike/bite or chase down a dog on her own (although sometimes I wish she would). She will kick out though if they get too close to her hind legs.
Iāve thought about getting one of those handheld ultrasonic dog repellent things. Might give one a try someday, theyāre less than $20 on Amazon, but Iām not sure how effective it would be when you have a large, aggressive, snarling charging animal in full-on attack mode.
We have had this problem a lot in the past and have found that dogs seem to really respect a hunting whip. I know that it is an unusual item to have if you donāt hunt, an expensive (mine was bought used for $75 a Swain) but itās amazing how dogs will just back off if you crack or dangle that whip. You might be able to rig something up.
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Iām a distance runner, so this topic also hits home with dogs coming after us as runners. In my experience with aggressive dogs if you run from them, they will continue to chase you. I have had luck turning towards them and being really loud and aggressive, while also moving towards them. My thought, on horseback, would be to do the same thing. Turn towards them and become the predator if your horse will allow it.
Obviously, this doesnāt always work. We just had one of our elite local runners get mauled by a dog on our running trails. So scary. Be careful!
As a park ranger out in a park with a lot of bears I would tell you to be very careful using bear spray. It is not the same thing as pepper spray. It much stronger with a longer spray time . It is possible that the dogs you use it on will need vet care to get over it.
With any defense device youāre putting the health, safety, and welfare of the dog at risk. But, in the great scheme of things, if I am put in fear of my life by an aggressively acting dog and I see my choices are get mauled by that dog or put that dog in veterinary ICU thenā¦too bad for dog. The blame (moral, ethical, social, financial and/or legal) belongs to the owner of that dog as they failed to have their dog under their control.
G.
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I toldly agree with the need to protect yourselves from aggressive dogs but you should be informed about the stuff you are going to use. Bear spray is designed to be used against 600 lb bears within a range of 60 yards I am not sure I would want to spray it from the top of a horse at a dog that is closer then that. If you want to risk getting that stuff on yourself/ on your horse thatās fine but be informed about it.
And while I agree you that the responsibility of controlling a dog starts and ends with the dog owner you are still putting yourself at risk of getting sued if you injure someone elseās dog and they need expensive vet care.
Well, better to be tried by 12 than carried by 6? Being bankrupted by a law suit would be bad; being bankrupted by medical bill from being mauled would be worse. At least in my estimation. 
G.
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Agree 100% that your first responsibility is to keep yourself and your horse safe . I also agree that sprays arenāt all that useful in a situation like this. I am just touchy when it comes to bear spray because where I work we have people who donāt use it properly and end up in the hospital. People think it is just like pepper spray when itās not. If people choose to use something like bear spray ( or any type of spray for that matter) they really should do some research and practice with the spray. I would just hate for someone to use bear spray and have either themselves or thier horses injured because the wind shifted or it turned out stronger then they though it would be. Understand I have no problem with people protecting themselves and thier horses with bear spray or any other methdod as long as they can do it safely. I donāt see any point in using a method that will get you injuried.
Hunt whip. But train your horse to accept it before you try it mounted. Good reach with those and they make a nice cracking sound.
