A rider whose horse suffered catastrophic injuries after being scared by a group of dogs has called for better public awareness of the danger dogs pose to horses and their riders. It comes after a petition was created asking for an amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act to better protect horses.

Leanne Bathurst, who trains and produces horses at her yard JMB Equestrian in Shobdon, Herefordshire, was hacking with another rider on Saturday 1 February when the incident took place.

She was on her grey mare Rainey and the rider (who Leanne does not want to name) was on Theo, a bay gelding whom Leanne planned to event this summer before selling in the autumn.

Theo bolted onto a main road and was in a collision with a pick-up truck, causing him multiple broken bones and other injuries. He had to be put down at the scene.

Theo is pictured. Credit: Leanne Bathurst

‘The dog owners walked away’

Leanne explained: “We were on a country road at the back of my yard and I could hear dogs in a field behind a fence and a hedge, it’s a training field where they do dog agility. The people were standing on the mound and they could see the horses coming.

“The horses have been past these dogs before but they were acting a bit spooky this day and four or five dogs were going at the fence, jumping, barking, going up and down the fence and rustling in the bushes.

“I said to my rider, let’s cross to the other verge. We did so and carried on a bit further and then the horse behind [Theo] bolted for home and into the road. This was because the dogs were still going and the people had not recalled them.

“I didn’t hear Theo bolting because we were on a grass verge, but when I turned round in the saddle to suggest we trotted on to get away from the dogs they were gone. I saw the pick-up truck impact with something but could not see what had happened at first and then I got a glimpse through the hedge.

“Then my horse [Rainey] spun and jumped the hedge away from the dogs, out of sheer panic due to the noise of the impact.

“I was absolutely helpless, being cantered off with into a field away from the incident. I threw myself off whilst screaming for my rider to see if he was OK. It was the worst feeling not being able to get to my rider and the horse.

“As I turned round I could see the dog owners round up their dogs and walk away. They did not come to help.”

Dog owners not deemed responsible

Theo’s rider was thrown onto the truck windscreen but escaped without serious injury, as did the driver of the pick-up, but Theo’s injuries were not survivable.

“I won’t forget the injuries I witnesses,” said Leanne, who is undergoing counselling to deal with the trauma of the incident.

“The horses are my pride and joy, but I could not get on a horse for seven days after this. I’ve ridden for some of the world’s top eventers, so I’m not a nervous rider, but it has had a massive impact upon me.”

Police attended the scene but as the dogs did not leave the field their owners are not deemed responsible for the accident, says Leanne.

However, she feels it should stand as a lesson in how important it is to have your dog under control around horses.

“I want it to create awareness of how horses are big animals and they are dangerous. I want people with dogs to be aware of the consequences they can cause, not only to the horse but it could have been a million times worse — my rider could have died.

“That’s a human life. Imagine me having to tell his mum and dad that he’d been involved in an accident.”

Leanne’s story is just one of a number recently where dogs have caused injuries to or the death of horses.

In January, Loki, a palomino pony, bolted into the road and was hit by a car, shattering all four legs, after being frightened by a dog that was off the lead.

To view the petition asking for an amendment to the Dangerous Dogs Act, click here.

Main image © Shutterstock (stock image)

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