Drake vs. Galluping Horse

[Newf Lover]

We had a bit of a scare the other day.  While walking down one of our favorite trails with Drake, a woman came flying up the trail on her horse in a full gallup(sp?).  As soon as Drake saw the horse flying up on us, he tucked tail and ran.  At first we laughed because we thought he might be playing, but we soon realized he was totally freaked out.  The woman did not slow down a bit as she approached us and then proceeded to chase Drake.  We were screaming for her to stop but she couldn't hear us.  Poor Drake was running faster than I have ever seen a Newf run.  We began to give chase but he was already off the trail, out in the Parking Lot and heading towards the road.  The woman on the horse finally stopped chasing him because a group of people were on the trail.  Sarah caught up with her and began to chew her out, she thought it was funny to chase a dog on her horse I guess.  Now we were freaking out because Drake had run out in the road where there are lots of blind corners and cars going way too fast.  Luckily he stopped and we found him on the side of the road, completely exhausted and freaked out.  POOR BUDDY!!!  We thought it was really irresponsible for the horse rider to have her horse in a full gallup on a public trail full of people, horses are so strong and someone could have gotten injured.  Fortunately it wasn't a tragic ending.  I know there aren't always a lot of places to exercise your horse, but on a public trail?  Hmmm...  What do you horse people think?

[newflvr]

That scares the living bejesus out of me!  We live in 'horse country' and I'm always worried about the confrontation between a horse and Chester.   Cowboy doesn't give a flying hoot about the horses going by but Chester stands his ground to defend us.  I can only imagine how scary that was!!!  I'm glad that Sarah yelled at that woman!  It is SO irresponsible!!!

When Chester was a tiny pup (I could still carry him) I took him down the road to meet some horses and I thought that would desensitize him.  Nope!  When ever horses go by our house, he stands at the bottom of the drive with his hackles up and barks like mad!

Poor, poor Drake!!!  I'm glad it was okay in the end though!

[Bosmum]

THAT'S OUTRAGEOUS!  Like driving a Mack truck through a playground. 

[Perdi's Mom]

As a horse owner that loves to go on trails if we had any, I say SHAME on that woman.  She gives responsible horse riders a really bad name and leaves a negative impact on the other trail users as well as the trails themselves.  We are not supposed to be tearing around the trails, it leaves holes in the ground and there is potential to harm as in your case!  I would have chewed her ear off and also called the rangers to report her.  I always carry the number to the park rangers with me just in case...if it's a public city type park then call the cops.  It was way uncalled for, for her to do that to your poor dog.

[aggghgmom]

What an idiot!!  She would be the first one to complain and yell if one of our dogs dared bark or scare her horse in anyway.  Also, how irresonsible what if the dog turned on her and the horse??  Then she would be singing a different tune!!

So sorry poor Drake had to be subjected to that!!!

[Blair]

Awe poor Drake  I cant believe that lady chased him like that. She seems like a MORON 

[Newf Lover]

I'm glad you guys are sympathizing with me so far.  Drake isn't scared of horses, he sees them all the time and has actually kissed a few of their noses.  He's just a bit skittish of other animals running up on him, ESPECIALLY big horses.  There's a bit of horse snobbery here in Marin, where people expect you to get out of the way and/or stand still if they approach you on a horse.  The last thing I want to do is spook a horse, but they are intimidating animals and scare people and dogs.  The woman I had this encounter with was just not thinking.  Why would you go tearing around a public park on a horse, chasing dogs and ripping up the trail?  I like the fact that there's horses there, but this is the kind of thing that happens sometimes.  We'll be more aware of this in the future and thank goodness Drake wasn't hurt.  I don't know what I would have done had that happened...

[Anky]

Under normal circumstances I defend the horse rider, as I've been chased on public and private trails by dogs just let to run loose.  But what that woman did is TOTALLY irresponsible.  Maybe she could use the excuse that she didn't see you when she was coming up at a gallop (Which should never be done on a public trail, EVER) but when she saw Drake in front of her...... I'm shaking right now i'm so PO'd.  Did she actually say it was funny to chase him?  Would it have been funny if her horse tripped or shied and hurt itself or her? (Horses don't like to step on things, they're afraid they'll hurt their feet.  The only time you really have to worry about a horse is if it's scared then it acts irrationally)  Would it have been funny if, God forbid, she actually caught Drake?  I hope you got her info as she can be fined for galloping on a public trail.  At least here you can.  You can't go any faster than a canter.  I hope poor Drake is OK.

[ambullwuv]

How incredibly rude! Poor Jake, something like that would be a nightmare for Abby and I. Abby's has a pretty high prey-drive as they were bred to bait down bull/cattle and so her and horses just wouldn't mix unless I trained her really well with them. But I don't own horses so I can't and horses aren't really common around here, there are some but not many. I bet Jake got a pretty good work out though, you could look at it that way lol 

[chaos270]

    That was extremely irresponsible of the rider.  I take my horses out to the State Forest to ride occasionally.  We never go above a trot because the possibilities of a spook or conditions makes it unsafe.  If she wasn't in control of the horse it shouldn't be out in public. 
     But I've seen the disrespect of others toward the horse people. One almost led to serious injuries on both my and my mom's part.  Someone set of a rocket as we were walking by on our horses.  My mom was on my horse who's nervous and flighty to begin with, needless to say my mom got thrown and I just managed to keep Gabby from bolting.  I shudder to think what would have happened to less experienced riders.  It took us 20 minutes to calm the horses enough to continue and it wrecked the reason we went to relax the horses.  Plus I've been attacked while on horses by loose dogs. 
   I'd suggest keeping Drake near you or on leash and keep an eye out for horses. 

[Newf Lover]

We went home and he slept like a log the rest of the day.  He was exhausted, poor guy.  He was still a little jumpy the next few days, that experience really shook him up.

[NoDogNow]

Stupid woman.  She's just lucky Newfies are lovers more than fighters.

You should absolutely contact whatever agency is responsible for overseeing the trail and file an incident report with them.  If she did it to Drake, she's probably done it and will do it to other dogs.  Sooner or later, she's going to 'chase' the wrong dog, and someone's going to be hurt.  It wouldn't be a bad thing to leave some kind of paper trail. 

[Newf Lover]

I'd suggest keeping Drake near you or on leash and keep an eye out for horses. 

The rules of the park are that dogs can go "off-leash" on the main trail.  Once you go up the mountain and onto the single-track trails, dogs must be on a leash.  We like going on this trail for that very reason, Drake can run and play in the trees and in the creeks and be a happy, unrestrained dog.  We shouldn't have to be looking out for horses running full speed, it's not the appropriate venue that level of horse riding.  I totally respect horse riders and try to be careful around them, but like I said before, the woman was totally out of line, running her horse at a full gallup, on a heavy traffic hiking trail.  Drake was right beside us as she came barrelling down the trail, with no regard for anybody around her.  It is somewhat intimidating to have a huge horse running at you and you barely have any room to get out of the way.  She had to be breaking the rules by doing that.  I will have to check the "rules" sign at the trailhead next time we're out there.  Like dog parks, I'm not going to let one bad experience effect my enjoyment of that wonderful outdoor area.

[chaosndestruction]

Utterly irresponsible!!!! To have claimed not to see you would have been one thing...but to allow the horse to stay at a gallop and chase after Drake...that's totally uncalled for...She shouldn't have been galloping on the public trails in the first place but to continue chasing Drake...poor guy:(

[nostaw]

You have my sympathy and congatulations on keeping your temper. I know with my two they are part of my family - to me it would have been like chasing my children.

Andy Bell and Hovis