[tec890]

This is going to be a venting post, but please stay with me.

So today, I'm at the barn with Tank just chilling out while he grazes. We had just finished about an hour of ground work and transitions in the arena and he had been fabulous so I was letting him fool around and relax. We had been the only people there for most of the afternoon, but all of a sudden I see a car I have never seen before pull up. It is some lady I don't recognize and I notice she has a HUGE rottie in the backseat of her car. I, personally, love rotties but Tank can be a little intense about dogs he doesn't know. So as the lady gets out of her car (with rottie hanging his head out the back window barking) I say hello and mention to her that Tank doesn't like strange dogs and that I'm just going to keep him a good distance away but I wanted to give her a heads up.

She responds with "ok whatever". Not the friendliest lady around. She goes into the gelding pasture (leaving her rottie in the car still barking its head off) and comes out a little later leading my friends horse Zip. I think it's a little odd that she has Zip, especially because my I had never seen her before and he's a new horse so my friend hasn't been letting tons of other people besides herself ride him. I'm still undecided over whether I should question her when she puts him in the crossties, and SLAPS him in the face when he moves to the side and yells "CRUISER BAD! STAND STILL!". I mean she literally screams this. So I calmly go up to her, and tell her "Excuse me. That's my friends' horse Zip you've just slapped. If you're looking for Cruiser, he is the bay hanging his head over the gate behind you"

Turns out this woman was the owner of Cruiser, who has been away from our barn for so long (8 months) that she forgot what HER OWN horse looked like. I proceed to point out that Zip (the horse she caught) has a white sock and a white blaze. Cruiser has no white socks and star. This really ticks her off. She marches to her car, lets her rottie out and goes to get her actual horse. Meanwhile the rottie comes bounding over to Tank and I, teeth bared, growling. Tank raises his head and gives a warning stomp with his foot. I try to shoo the dog away, but he edges closer. Tank is getting really agitated now. I call out "excuse me can you call your dog? My horse is getting very upset". She answers "he'll get over it". In the very next second, the dog lunges at Tank who turns around and connects a powerful kick to the rottie's face.

Lady took dog to vet and it turns out dog lost an eye and now she is calling me saying she wants me to pay for his medical bills and for me to put Tank down due to him being dangerous and me being an incompetent owner. Does she have grounds for this? I warned her many times that Tank did not like strange dogs and asked her to keep him away. Is my responsibility that he got kicked? I am very worried/anxious about this because I've never dealt with it before. I really don't feel like it was my or Tank's fault but I'm willing to face the light if it was. Just seeing what you guys think

[Dreamwalker]

Not your fault. You had control of your horse via the lead. Dog lady did not have any control over her dog, not even voice control, or obviously she would have called the dog off before it got into the situation it did.

Also not your fault because you repeatedly warned that your horse did not like dogs, and she did not heed those warnings.

And IMO, also not your fault because the dog attacked the horse, rather than the horse attacking the dog. Horse acted in defence.

[threedogpack]

are there any barn rules about dogs at the barn? If so, and dogs are not welcome, you are covered.

[Kairi]

Lady took dog to vet and it turns out dog lost an eye and now she is calling me saying she wants me to pay for his medical bills and for me to put Tank down due to him being dangerous and me being an incompetent owner. Does she have grounds for this? I warned her many times that Tank did not like strange dogs and asked her to keep him away. Is my responsibility that he got kicked? I am very worried/anxious about this because I've never dealt with it before. I really don't feel like it was my or Tank's fault but I'm willing to face the light if it was. Just seeing what you guys think

Nope its not your fault. She should have had her dog on a leash. You warned her, and she didn't listen.
And she has the nerve to call you an incompetent owner? She's the one who slapped someone else's horse that she thought was her own!

[Whitfield Farm Hanoverians]

Goodness gracious! That "lady" needs to get over herself. Hope she leaves her horse for another 8 months right?
She is in the wrong for sure of course that's just my opinion but, come on...she's living in dream land.

[cnvh]

Wow...

I'm assuming this is a boarding facility? What does your BO say?

Around my neck of the woods (PA), dogs are expected to be on-leash if they're off their owners' property; if your dog is loose and gets hurt, it's on you (the dog's owner). If I was in your shoes, no way would I pay a dime of this person's vet bills-- if they wanted it, they'd have to come get it through a court of law.

With that being said, are you and your horse going to be safe, remaining at your current facility? If this woman is calling for your horse to be euthed due to being dangerous (?!?!), what are the chances she'll do something stupid?

My very next conversation would be with the BO, and after that, quite possibly a lawyer. Not a WORD to the rottie owner-- no way, no how.

Again... just wow.

[tec890]

are there any barn rules about dogs at the barn? If so, and dogs are not welcome, you are covered.

Dogs are allowed, but most of the ones who accompany their owners are well watched AND well trained.I've never had a dog run up to Tank and I growling like this one did. The one other time a beagle came running up to Tank barking, its owner grabbed it immediately because she knew I had mentioned he wasn't a huge fan. I left a message for my BO in order to discuss it with her, but her own dog has been kicked by a horse on the property and she seemed to recognize it as the dog's fault so I am thinking she'll agree with me on this situation.

Lady claims that a "competent" owner would have jumped on their horse's back, and ridden them past the lunging, growling dog. She said this to me over the phone in what I call a "duh, obviously" voice.

I had already moved Tank far from the barn area over by a fence when she first pulled up, so when dog came lunging, we were pinned by fence in back and dog in front. If not jumping on and galloping over the dog makes me an incompetent owner in her world, guess I am then! ha

[tec890]

Goodness gracious! That "lady" needs to get over herself. Hope she leaves her horse for another 8 months right?
She is in the wrong for sure of course that's just my opinion but, come on...she's living in dream land.

Off topic but now only had she left her gelding Cruiser for 8 months, she had left a 37 year old horse named Fred. BO and I have been feeding him during her abscence because he literally dropped down to skin and bones. BO once tried to get a hold of her, and she finally called BO back from a payphone and exclaimed 'I am so sorry you're having to feed Fred! I figured he would die before you felt like you needed to become responsible" I am interested to see what BO will say to her when I am able to get a hold of her and tell her she's back, because I am pretty certain BO has obtained ownership (by filing for neglect) of both Cruiser and Fred because a girl was looking at Cruiser the other day. So this lady just has all sorts of problems and now she's trying to catch me up in them

[CatOnLap]

Poor dog. He was just doing what dogs do, when they have not been properly trained! He suffered a tragic injury BECAUSE HIS STUPID OWNER COULDN'T BE ARSED TO TRAIN AND CONTAIN HIM.

Completely her fault.

Too bad the dog suffered because of her pigheaded stupidity.

Tank is forgiven for being a prey animal and reacting to a menacing wolf creature. Presumably you did not train him to do that.

[Kairi]

Lady claims that a "competent" owner would have jumped on their horse's back, and ridden them past the lunging, growling dog. She said this to me over the phone in what I call a "duh, obviously" voice.

I had already moved Tank far from the barn area over by a fence when she first pulled up, so when dog came lunging, we were pinned by fence in back and dog in front. If not jumping on and galloping over the dog makes me an incompetent owner in her world, guess I am then! ha

My mare is 15.3 and I would need a mounting block to hop on bareback. Besides even if you did manage to get on, that dog would have chased you. This lady is crazy, I'm so sorry you have to deal with her.

[Alagirl]

Dogs are allowed, but most of the ones who accompany their owners are well watched AND well trained.I've never had a dog run up to Tank and I growling like this one did. The one other time a beagle came running up to Tank barking, its owner grabbed it immediately because she knew I had mentioned he wasn't a huge fan. I left a message for my BO in order to discuss it with her, but her own dog has been kicked by a horse on the property and she seemed to recognize it as the dog's fault so I am thinking she'll agree with me on this situation.

Lady claims that a "competent" owner would have jumped on their horse's back, and ridden them past the lunging, growling dog. She said this to me over the phone in what I call a "duh, obviously" voice.

I had already moved Tank far from the barn area over by a fence when she first pulled up, so when dog came lunging, we were pinned by fence in back and dog in front. If not jumping on and galloping over the dog makes me an incompetent owner in her world, guess I am then! ha

I am really sorry but that made me lol.

I hate it for the dog, but the dogs was growling at you? Good horsy.

I don't see where she has a leg to stand on, letting a Rottweiler out of the car to charge at you and your horse....as much as I think the breed is getting a bad rep, I can't believe she is going to get a lot of sympathy.

[paulaedwina]

She was a thorough idiot and her poor dog paid the price. You asked her to call off her dog and she didn't and Tank defended himself. It doesn't make him dangerous or you incompetent.

Paula

[tec890]

My mare is 15.3 and I would need a mounting block to hop on bareback. Besides even if you did manage to get on, that dog would have chased you. This lady is crazy, I'm so sorry you have to deal with her.

Yes Tank is 17h and I'm only 5'2 ... so there was no chance of me JUMPING on his back and galloping off. Mounting him while he's bareback usually requires me to climb on top of a fence. He's trained to walk up and stand while I swing a leg over him when he sees me do this, but he wasnt about to pull it off while the dog was growling at him.

I'm just glad I'm not crazy for believing that Tank and I aren't at fault. Or a bad owner because galloping off into the sunset didn't occur to me. Good to know

[cyriz's mom]

I agree with the others that it wasn't your nor Tank's fault. It was the dog and dog owner. In many (if not most) states, Rotties are considered "dangerous" (legal term may be different) along with a number of other protection-type breeds. That typically puts more of the onus on the owner to control the dog.

Additionally, does your area have leash laws? In many areas, dogs aren't allowed out of a fenced yard except on a leash.

I would definitely talk to the BO and then I would be talking to a lawyer or at least the police to file a report in case she does try to take any action. If after those conversations you have any concerns about her attempting to injure your horse, then I'd see if there's some kind of restraining order you could get. Not sure if there's anything that would cover an animal...a strong letter from an attorney might do just as well.

If any animal in this situation could be put down, it's the dog which is clearly aggressive. The dog owner should be wetting her pants for fear of being sued IMO. Wouldn't be to hard to prove, given the injuries, that YOU and Tank were attacked. At least that's the argument I'd make should she give you any more grief.

And if I were the BO, I'd be telling her to leave...don't think a 30-day notice would be required when her dog put the well being of a human in jeopardy.

Turn the tables on her. She was waaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyy out of line.

[PeteyPie]

I assume your horse was out of the arena but on a lead rope? Her dog was loose, away from her control, and you had moved your horse away. The fact that you warned her is the only problem, because she might deny it, but I would let her sue. I doubt that she will, because she would lose and she knows it. The sad thing is that if she had been a little kinder, you might have offered to help pay the costs. As for putting down your horse, that is just nonsense. You could say the same thing about her dog.

[Miss J]

Wow wow wow! Sounds pretty tragic for everyone involved, but her. Tell her to go to hell in a hand basket. Do not let her bully or intimidate you because of her stupidity.

I just dont know what to say, that's so crazy!!! But myself personally I would blow on her and have to be restrained.

[RainyDayRide]

I'm still absorbing the bit about her not recognizing her own horse.

[tec890]

So I just looked at my phone to see I had missed another call from her and that she had left me a voicemail.

In it she rants about my dangerous big horse, how the huge scar on his left hip is proof he fights (not true, he got it from an abusive owner) and that if I do not do something about his blatant aggressiveness she and her husband will make sure to go to the barn, catch him and teach him a lesson very soon that he will not forget because NOBODY (she literally yelled/spit this word out) hurts her precious baby. That a few smacks would fix him. She also said she would teach him to not be scared of dogs by tying him and having another one of her rotties next to him, and that she would hobble him if need be to keep this other dog safe in the event that I am a stupid enough person to not euthanize him immediately because he is a threat to all people, all dogs, and all children.

Honestly my first thoughts on this are WTH?!?!!??!

That is a threat to Tank's well being right? Because if it comes to her threatening him, or her hurting him in ANY way I will not play games with this woman. I will go straight to law enforcement. I rescued Tank recently from a HORRIBLE situation and I promised him the day I bought him that no one would ever lay hands on him again, and I'm keeping that promise.

Is that voicemail grounds enough to go to the police or someone? Or would they just think I'm crazy? I'm a pretty laid back person, but I am pretty sure she just threatened to physically harm my boy which really ticks me off!!

[MelantheLLC]

Wow. Call the police and tell them at least. You have it recorded, that will help.

Sounds like she's having some sort of breakdown. Maybe the police know about her.

Does your barn/state have one of those signs about how horses kick and etc?

[Dreamwalker]

Keep the recording. Visit the police. Talk to your lawyer and definitely get hold of BO urgently.