well, owners are responsible for their dogs’ behavior, and riders are responsible for their horse’s behavior. Dogs get excited sometimes, and horses spook sometimes. So it goes. I’d say, train your horse the best you can and otherwise, wear your helmet and live with it.
sounds like the OP wasn’t able to control his/her horse any more than the dog lady was able to control her boxer. So who is the boo-man? Both or neither, as far as I see it.
I’ve had a similar experience, Just not out on the trail (exactly.)
A boarder at the top barn on my farm used to let her dog run loose around the farm, which a lot of people do, but this dog had some MASSIVE territory issues. So we were going by one day and all the sudden the dog starts circling, and I’m thinking, crap, crap, crap crap crap. Then he lunges at us and BAM Charlie is off in a huge panic trying to run down the straightaway (Probably a quarter mile of open space to the back of the farm.) probably the most frightening thing I’ve ever experienced, I didnt come off but I had to cut the ride short because my horse was in such a panic. Needless to say I spoke to the BO and that particular dog doesnt run loose anymore.
Just to clarify that my horse is not afraid of dogs big, or small. We had a full grown Dobe and Dalmation running straight at us and all Charlie wanted to do was stand still until they came to say hello. He had never seen these two dogs before.
As far as strange dogs in pacs go, Yeah I can see how a horse who is usually okay with dogs can get a bit panicked.
Hopefully the next time you go out you can forewarn the dog walker that your horse may not react very well and if they or you could remain still until one of you passes.
I was very nearly attacked by a hot dog wrapper at a DRESSAGE show yesterday. Can you BELIEVE??
Who let hot dogs on the PROPERTY???
BRING ME THEIR HEAD!
Well, I agree if you are going to ride in public around people who have dogs you better be prepared for what might happen. This reminds me that I need to get a smaller gun–the 9mm is too bulky to carry on horseback. But much more effective than a puny dressage whip… And of course it is very important of course to train your horse to stay absolutely still, quite difficult to aim from a moving platform.
Jennifer
[QUOTE=joe21;4829546]
Loose dogs, rabid raccoons, illegal ATVs, naked joggers with ninja swords… whether right or wrong, it HAPPENS.[/QUOTE]
If I encountered naked joggers with ninja swords on the trail it would make my day – maybe my whole week --even if my horse spooked and threw me off (especially if the pictures came out).
I would settle for a large hairy man jogging in a pink chiffon dress. I love weirdos.
Good post. I find it’s best to influence that which you CAN readily influence… your actions, your attitudes, your animals.
Your experience with your son reminds me of an old, I think New England, epitaph from a gravestone:
“He died maintaining his right of way,
But he’s just as dead as if he’d been wrong.”
You fell off so you hit the “offending” dog as hard as you could???
Sorry OP, but at least the dogs WERE on leashes. You fell off so you hit someone else’s pet as “as hard as I could” – your words – with a dressage whip you carry just for situations like this??? And what, you expect people to approve of this??
Shame on you!!!:eek::eek::mad:
Sorry, but anyone who goes around hitting other people’s dogs as hard as they can just for sniffing at their horse’s legs just will not get any sympathy from me. Did the dog bark? Did it growl? Did it raise its hackles?? No? Then why did you think it deserved to be hit as hard as you could hit it with a dressage whip, no less?:mad:
Have you ever been hit with one of those little whips?? It hurts like hell, especially if you are a dog with a short slick coat of hair like a Boxer.
Well, one thing for sure, you probably have made that dog afraid of horses and nuts with whips who can’t keep their seat.
Yes, that’s right. Your horse spooked, and you could not sit it out. Don’t blame the Boxer, the lady, or your horse – blame yourself. Maybe a little self-flagillation would be in order here–try hitting yourself a couple of times “as hard as (you) can” with your cute little dressage whip-- and who goes around carrying a dressage whip on a trail ride???
I guess really, if you think about it, you were just embarrassed to have fallen off your horse-- in front of someone. So you decided to blame the poor dumb Boxer dog, and “hit it as hard as (you) could” because you probably knew that hitting the woman with the three Boxer dogs would have gotten you arrested for battery.
You are lucky it wasn’t me walking my two GSDs that you ran into because I would have demanded your name and filed animal cruelty charges against you for hitting my dog “as hard as (you) could.” I always carry my cell phone, so I could have called 911, and given them your description if you had been able to remount and ride off before the law arrived.
Go back and read your post. People like you are the kind that are getting horses banned from more and more public trails. It’s time to play nice and realize that ALL animals have feelings, not just your horse. EVERYONE has a right to use public trails unless there is a specific rule against a particular kind of vehicle or animal using the trail.
I doubt there is a rule that prohibits women who are walking three Boxers using retractable leashes held on with velcro from using the same trail at the same time as people riding horseback who have very bad tempers and carry dressage whips so they can hit said Boxer dogs “as hard as (they) can” if one of the dogs accidentally gets loose and sniffs said person’s horse’s legs.
Oh, maybe you hit your horse as hard as you can, too-- when it doesn’t act just as you expect. Maybe I should be surprised that you didn’t hit the Boxer, your horse AND the lady with the three Boxers with your dressage whip as hard as you could. :rolleyes:
HAAAA HAAA - Around here we have leash laws. I’ll help you dial 911 and have your arse arrested for having an uncontained dog.
And if another loose dog comes at me again? I’ll smack it as hard as I can again. Or pepper spray it…
[QUOTE=Huntertwo;4830699]
HAAAA HAAA - Around here we have leash laws. I’ll help you dial 911 and have your arse arrested for having an uncontained dog.
And if another loose dog comes at me again? I’ll smack it as hard as I can again. Or pepper spray it…;)[/QUOTE]
I gotta say, I agree with this.
elysianfieldsfarm, what do you want to do about the fact that the dog’s owner didn’t keep her animal contained? I think it’s reasonable to assume that leash laws mean the handler is obligated to have a leash that works, not a token leash. You must admit that the dog’s owner was partly to blame here.
Even if I were an enraged a$$ as the OP was, I’d make a big deal of the fact that the dog’s owner screwed up first by letting her animal get loose. Had she done otherwise/better/what is required the OP arguably would not have been put in the position of defending herself or her animal against another.
Entitlement on either side bugs me. There’s no reason to expect that slack should be cut for us, but no one else.
[QUOTE=Huntertwo;4830699]
HAAAA HAAA - Around here we have leash laws. I’ll help you dial 911 and have your arse arrested for having an uncontained dog.
And if another loose dog comes at me again? I’ll smack it as hard as I can again. Or pepper spray it…;)[/QUOTE]
Get over yourself. You or the dog owner call the cops and no one is going to be arrested. The cop is going to tell the dog owner that next time she needs to hold on to her dog better and the cop is going to tell you that you should refrain from hitting people’s dogs while having embarrassed temper tantrums.
You can keep trying to spin this but your original post does indicate that the dog was not wildly barking (actually, according to you, not one of the dogs barked) and he was not attacking you or your horse. Your horse was standing still and the dog was sniffing his back legs. Yes, the dog owner was negligent in allowing her dog to pull his leash off the velcro attached to her arm. She was careless in that respect, but she was polite and attempting to make a bad situation better. You, on the other hand, choose to make a bad situation worse. It is your fault that you could not control your horse and fell off said horse. You come across in your post as being angry and embarrassed about this and then you had a temper tantrum and hit the dog with your dressage whip “as hard as (you) could”. Now you want to pretend that you were defending your horse and that is why you did it, bull$hit, you were being petty and took it out on the dog. If you had told us that you tried to shoo the dog away and it growled, then it would be understandable that you hit the dog, but that’s not the case. You hit the dog because you were having a temper tantrum and now you are stomping your petulant foot again because there are people calling you on your poor behavior and not giving you the sympathy that you feel you deserve.
The dog owner’s behavior is an example of someone correctly trying to diffuse a bad situation with an irrationally angry person (that’s you). Next time you may encounter someone with a temper as bad as yours who believes that the answer to you hitting their dog is to hit you back. That will not be a pleasant encounter.
[QUOTE=Huntertwo;4830699]
HAAAA HAAA - Around here we have leash laws. I’ll help you dial 911 and have your arse arrested for having an uncontained dog.
And if another loose dog comes at me again? I’ll smack it as hard as I can again. Or pepper spray it…;)[/QUOTE]
So you are still reading this thread … and still displaying your delightful attitude.
HAAAA HAAA - Around here we have leash laws. I’ll help you dial 911 and have your arse arrested for having an uncontained dog.
And if another loose dog comes at me again? I’ll smack it as hard as I can again. Or pepper spray it.
I suspect the cops will consider attacking and injuring a non-violent, non-attacking dog to be more of a crime than someone having a leash failure. I know they certainly would NEVER arrest someone for just having a leash failure, probably wouldn’t even fine them, but animal abuse is actually a felony in some places.
There’s a big difference between defending yourself and your animal against an attacking dog and you attacking a dog who wasn’t doing anything violent.
Do you really not understand this difference?
The subtle difference between:
The dog came toward me.
and
The dog came at me.
Appears to be utterly lost on the OP.
oh, and you also might want to check on those leash laws. An amazing number of people seem to think they are much more widespread than they actually are. CT doesn’t have a state-wide leash law, and even if the local township had such a law, if you happened to be on some kind of private airport land they wouldn’t apply.
Many many places have laws against “Dogs at large” but those apply to loose, roaming dogs. If the owner is standing right there the dog is “not at large”.
So to sum up: the dog owner was idiotic, but the OP was the only one breaking the law by violently and without cause attacking an innocent animal.
lol… Yes, when I have time, I try to check in.
Apparently, TLB Gang has more time than I do…
Some how I DO get the impression that the Poor dog, bad mean OP, people are exactly the ones who let their little Muffin and Puffy run amok and screw everyone else…right?
As long as Puffy is enjoying herself, heck with the hiker she jumps all over, heck with the bicyclist she knocks off the bike, heck with the other boarders she is harassing. They don’t care, because after all, Puffy is enjoying herself and screw the other people. Got it now.
Here you go Wendy - Right from the State of CT Leash law site.
A dog’s owner or keeper is liable for any damage caused by his dog to a person’s body or property, unless the damage was sustained while the person was committing a trespass or other tort, or teasing, abusing, or tormenting the dog.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Department requires that owners keep their dogs leashed in state parks.
[QUOTE=Huntertwo;4831478]
As long as Puffy is enjoying herself, heck with the hiker she jumps all over, heck with the bicyclist she knocks off the bike, heck with the other boarders she is harassing. They don’t care, because after all, Puffy is enjoying herself and screw the other people. Got it now.[/QUOTE]
OK, I got it now. You hit the dog because you had seen the same dog jumping all over other hikers and bikers and the same dog had been to your barn and harrassed the boarders as well.
[QUOTE=Huntertwo;4831478]
lol… Yes, when I have time, I try to check in.
Apparently, TLB Gang has more time than I do…
Some how I DO get the impression that the Poor dog, bad mean OP, people are exactly the ones who let their little Muffin and Puffy run amok and screw everyone else…right?
.[/QUOTE]
Nope, I have a hound who disappears for hours if she goes off leash. I do take her for walks though and roll my eyes at the occasional ninny on horse back who screams at me to hide the dog from their precious pony…
It’s funny how these arguments go. If you posted that on one of the anti-pit bull threads, you’d start a riot. If a Pit is involved, the dog is ALWAYS at fault - even if he’s tied up in his own back yard behind a 9 foot barbed wire fence, and someone opens the gate, walks in, and taunts him. The Pit will always be at fault and criminalized for acting aggressively.
If this dog were a loose Pit Bull that broke loose from the owner, dragging the flexi leash and ran up to the horse’s hindquarters, everybody would be telling Huntertwo to beat the dog harder and do what she had to do to protect herself.
ANY dog can do harm without provocation or much warning - Pit Bull or Chihuahua, makes no difference. If a dog tears it’s leash off its owner’s arm and charges me and my horse, he’ll be darned lucky if all that happens is a whack with the crop. Maybe that whack taught him he ought not charge up to a horse’s hind legs. That seems FAR kinder than what a horse could do which is kick his skull in and send him to never never land.
Facts are - large breed, powerful dog tears leash away from owner and runs toward the horse and rider causing her to be thrown, then she protects herself from preceived threat by whacking dog with a crop. It seems to me she was WELL within her rights to protect herself from threat - be it actual, or preceived. In the heat of the moment, when adrenaline is flowing, you can’t always sit there for 45 seconds analyzing the dog’s demeanor, apparent temperament, and body language and make a rational decision if you/horse are in danger or not. You react instantly to protect yourself and your horse. In hindsight, if you realize the dog probably wasn’t going to attack and bite, then I guess you apologize to the dog’s owner and what’s done is done. But I’d rather whack the dog first and hopefully protect the horse from what could be serious damage.
And come on people - a whack with a dressage whip isn’t going to cause any long term damage to the dog. It won’t break bones or skin. The worst her crop whack is going to do will leave a little sore spot for a few days. Wooo. It was a split second decision that any of us could have also made in the heat of the moment. Especially after you’ve been tossed off the horse and now you’re on the ground with a 70 or 80 pound dog that may or may not turn aggressive.
I’m a dog owner and lover and I see nothing wrong with Huntertwo protecting herself in this situation. And if at any time, one of my 3 dogs tore the leash away from me and charged at someone else, I would FULLY expect them to defend themselves any way they saw fit. If that means my dog was injured in the process, oh well. My fault for not containing my animal in a public situation.
Some of the people here that are defending the dog owner are the same people who have posted on farrier threads that they fully allow and encourage a farrier to haul off and whack their horse for doing what the farrier believe is out of line. So you allow a farrier to hit your horse with a rasp or kick him in the belly, but you don’t believe it’s fair to whack a strange dog with a dressage whip when he charges up to your horse’s hind end. So it’s ok for someone to hit your horse as discipline for doing something wrong, but don’t you dare hit a dog that’s charging at your horse and might do damage. LMAO. Too funny.
oh BLAH BLAH BLAH.
Again a dog sniffing a horse’s hind leg is NOT a dog attacking a horse.
Do you all sniff flowers in the park or bite their tiny innocent blooms off, folks???
I am so glad I can’t even manage to see the world through your eyes. Just DELIGHTED lol
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
