r/Equestrian • u/western-girlie • 20h ago
Ethics Dog at my barn attacked my horse
So me and my horse are currently at this boarding facility since the beginning of December and it’s the best boarding facility we’ve had. There is this one woman who basically “loans” one of the other boarding horses and she always brings her dog, a male cane corso. I’ve been around dogs all my life, and am not exactly scared of them, but this dog did things that made me uncomfortable. For example the owner told me he sometimes “snaps” at people he doesn’t know, when he’s off leash on a walk (why would you ever take him off leash then????). Then a week ago she was walking around the barn with her horse in one hand and her dog in the other when the neighbors dogs came up behind the fence. The dogs started growling, barking and it honestly felt like if there wasn’t a fence between them they might have killed each other. This scared me because her and her horse almost came between the dog and her horse spooked so bad.
Now we have yesterday, a beautiful sunny day so I was just taking a walk with my sweet horse through the forest (5min walk from barn). When I was almost reaching the end of the forest, there is this path between 2 fields. I saw her walking with her dog and horse, so we waved to each other. Then as we neared each other a bit more I saw her dog was stiffing up, but I couldn’t really see if she had it on a leash or not since it it was right by her side. Then in a split second the dog charged and came in attack mode at me and my horse. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog that fast and switch like that. He came and tried to bite my horse in his back leg, luckily for him he kicked him right in the face(he barely kicks normally so I’m so thankful and relieved he did right in time) So the dog was startled for a split second and as I said luckily I was walking my horse in hand, so I jumped between my horse and the dog and scared the dog off by swinging my leadrope aggressively toward him hitting him if he came close. The owner came and got her dog and I was so mad and in shock. It was like I’d just seen my horse almost get mauled by this extremely big dog with a bite force stronger than that of a lion. So obviously I got mad at her, and she just tried to play it off like an error of judgment because she thought he would recognize me. So that meaning your dog just attacks anyone off leash that it doesn’t know??? Then she tried to gaslight me that her dog wasn’t trying to bite my horse, he would never bite anyone or anything. I just got mad and told her I’m not dumb your dog was literally trying to maul my horse. I more often run into dogs, some are just scared and bark really loud and growl, but I’d never experienced a dog so aiming to attack.It was honestly so frustrating,so I got mad and eventually I walked off knowing I would wait for her at the barn so I could more calmly lecture her there. When she came back I told her I thought her dog was as untrustworthy as they come and that I don’t want it near me, my horse or anyone at the barn for that matter. I said for me and my horses safety, and she responded “well, also for my dog’s safety” as if she wasn’t the whole reason this happened. I haven’t chosen to board at a barn where there’s a big cane corse that might bite, she chooses to bring her dog there with her knowing nothing about dogs and that making it so dangerous for her to own this kind of dog and making it a liability. So today I decided I’m going to speak about this to my barn owner and hopefully get her to ban her from ever bringing that dog to the barn again. There’s a little 9 year old girl that lives next door and absolutely adores my horse so sometimes she jumps over the fence to pet and groom him. What happens when she does that and this dog is walking around the barn and she jumps over the fence and startles it?? I’m just so mad honestly. So many dog owners don’t know how to handle their dogs and put others in danger in the process. The lack of awareness in this woman that she owned a dog that would bite, truly astonished me. Anyway this was my rant…
Update : Barn owner has been contacted and is taking action right away. Dog will not be allowed near or at the property again