Dog chasing/biting horse

[fudge]

Hi

Has anyone had any experience of a dog attacking their pony. My pony was attacked by a terrier while my friend was riding her in our local woods.

The dog would not give up and was biting her legs and my poor pony did her best to get away from the dog, in doing so she un seated my friend. The dog then chased her all the way back to the yard, where she finally decided to give the dog a good kick. The dog then left and ran back to its owner, who promptly got the dog and ran back to her car and drove off. Not even checking on my poor friend who had been left on the floor, bruised but ok.

We have taken a good few months going very slowly getting her used to going out on her own. She was doing really well. She is use to riding out in company with dogs and I have ridden with her on her own with my dog.

Should we start back at the beginning again going out with company for a while till she gets her confidence back up or carry on with little hacks on own.

Any advice would be helpful as she is a sweety but can be quite spooky.

ps The dog managed to bite her legs and draw blood.

[nellie]

Hi fudge,

How awful! I hope your friend and your pony are ok. I'm afraid I have no advice on what to do about hacking (I'm sure one of the more experienced Safecobbers will be able to advise you) but I wanted to encourage you to contact the British Horse Society as I believe they are compiling statistics on dog attacks on horses. I'm sure it was them and, if it wasn't, they will know who should be informed. One of the biggest problems they have in tackling the problem is that the vast majority of riders don't report such incidents to anyone so the statistics are not available to back up any calls for action.

All the very best of luck with your pony, I hope she makes a speedy recovery, mentally and physically.

[nellie]

Fudge,

I thought you may be interested to know that in January's issue of Horse Deals, there's a brief news article about two Police horses attacked by a dog. The riders were both thrown and the horses took off, with the dog still attached to one.

The woman owner was successfully prosecuted as "having a dog dangerously out of control". She was ordered to muzzle the dog and pay £85 in costs.

I realise your lady owner did a runner but I thought you may be interested to know about the above case: do your local force have an equestrian co-ordinator or is there a Horsewatch scheme in your area? Either should be able to help if the BHS drew a blank.

Hope this helps and hope you're pony is doing well