Poor dog, such a senseless loss

There are horses where I live, two of them are in the paddock literally outside my garden.
My dogs are horse savvy, even Silk whose assessment and introduction to them was fairly recent.
When taking any of my dogs through the paddock when the horses are in there, my dogs are on lead *regardless* of how trustworthy my crew are around horses, [ which they certainly are ].
One of the horses here does not like dogs so

a] I will not have her stressed *thinking* my dogs might head toward her

b] she is pretty brave and could well go for the dogs if she thought she could get them before they could get her, [ in her mind ].

It does`nt matter how good a dog is, horses can be unpredictable. I won`t risk my dogs around the horses they do know let alone unknown horses anywhere else. Not only can horses hooves easily kill a dog but horses can be badly injured from panic, damaging legs which can mean a death sentence for them.

Its very plain common sense to me irrespective of laws and warning signs, pet dogs walking through anywhere with horses, [ and any other livestock for that matter unless a dog is there to work them obviously ! ], = dogs on lead, full stop, and I would consider anyone not adhering to that, whether a legal requirement or not, to be at fault.

It sounds like the horses owner has done everything and more in putting up clear path guides, [ with the e-tapes ], and warnings.
I dont know if the dog owner is lashing out in grief and guilt and is desperate to bame anyone but herself, but the shortsightedness of not having the poor dog on lead under the circumstances as described of the incident, there is no question of how this tragedy could and should have been avoided

Sorry to hear of the poor collie, I would say it was the owners fault, knowing the signage was there, she should have taken precautions, this is the point animals are unpredictable, horses spook easy and whether the horse is a dog hater or not, the collie should've been on a lead, dog etiquette really near this close to livestock.

maybe there should be signs up to say 'dogs on leads at all times' and 'watch out for horses' or words to that effect?

poor dog (

I asked a similar question a while back. We have a footpath that goes right through a field of horses but in this case they aren't taped off. On a couple of occasions people around here have had a horse have a go at their dog, even though the dog is on a lead and minding its own business.

I am really sorry for the poor dog and its owners but I don't think they'll be able to do much about it,especially as the dog was off lead.

Such a sad thing to happen. Fault would lie with the dog owner. Dogs should always be on lead around livestock, including horses.

What a terrible tragedy, but I'm sorry it's the dogowner's fault.

Funnilly enough, I investigated this when our local farmer put a bull in a field of cows which had a footpath going straight across it We usually have horses in it, and although there is NO SIGN saying dogs had to be kept under control, it was obvious to me for my dog's safety to put them both on a lead when walking through the open field with horses in it, even though Cassie is well used to me and my own horse. The bull, however, caused me to worry for myself too, so I did some investigations. Turns out the farmer can have what the hell he likes in his fields with footpaths going through them, horses, cows, bulls you name it and they don't have to be fenced away from any public right of way!!!!

It also cropped up because I used to ride my horse across a massive open field with a bridleway going from corner to corner, but because they had half a dozen horses in it at one time, it was horrendous for me to control my horse when I had all the others galloping up to me and messing around! Again, the bridleways people told me they could do that.

I wonder why these horses were in fact fenced off from this footpath then, when at least in my area they don't have to be???

There was a woman killed locally by some cows in a field whilst she was walking through with her dog, but the farmer never got done for that! I don't think this woman will win her case imo.

I suppose it all boils down to wether the dog was actually in the field, dog owner disputes this. Or wether the horse kicked through the fence.

In my book if dog was off the footpath then it is the dog owners fault but if the fence was not substantial enough to restrain a kicking horse then the horse owner may be at fault. If the horse kicked through the fence and hit the dog it would not matter if the dog was on alead or not?

Just a few thoughts. If the horse had kicked a passing child then the horse owner would be at fault?

Definitely not Fudgeley. It's plain common sense whether there's a fence there or NOT you just wouldn't walk a dog/child along there unless you kept well clear of the livestock and have them totally under control on a lead/in a pram! Horses are allowed to be in fields, we are priveledged to be able to walk through them on a path, and if you don't think your dog/child is capable of being in complete control then don't do it! No way would the horse owner be liable, no way!! Now if the horse was walking along a road and lashed out at your child on the pavement then yes, that's a different story.

Such a sad loss.
Similar situation.....we walk a lot of the valleyn nature walks around Coventry, one is down 'Stoke Floods' (as named, local flood plains-duck pond etc) one of the rear frields behind it leads onto another field, that has no fencing around butjust has one 'style' type thing. A field ajoining to this one has horses in, with a fence going around. But it has a gate, the gate is allways open and the horses enter the unfenced field often-does this mean thatthis field is private or 'unwalkable'?
I just allways wonder as the guy who owns the stable is reknowned for being a bit hapy with his shotgun so its often a worry

100% the owner of the dogs fault, allowing her dog of lead in any field with livestock, when will people learn! Horses are not great lovers of dogs, specially if they are running around their feet , I have sadly witnessed this happening many times, and these were dogs that lived around horses, fourtunatly most dogs come of with a bruise or two, sadly I have seen 2 dogs killed in all the yrs of owning horses. Horses are flight animals if they feel uncomfortable with something moving behind their heels they will kick out, it does not make the a dangerous animals. the fact that they may also have been waiting to come in for their dinner, will also get them agitated , anyone who has been round them will know what it can be like trying to bring them in from the field at tea time, lots of kicking and biting .

This is very sad for this woman to loose her dog, I would think in her greif, she is just looking to lay blame at someones feet other than her own.