Horses Are Supposed To Be Afraid Of Dogs, But This Horse Didn't Get That Memo
Out on the open prarries, wild dogs prey on wild horses. As a matter of fact, wild dogs have been known to ignore easy food targets like cattle in favor of a herd of wild horses.
So it comes as no surprise that domesticated horses tend to run from domesticated dogs - especially those that bark incessantly. However, the horse in the photo below just doesn’t seem to understand this…
This horse must have really been irritated by the dog with the goalpost ears. His ears are pinned back. He’s launching off his strong hind legs. And he’s in a posture that pretty much reminds me of the entire defensive line of the Chicago Bears.
Yep. This horse is really mad and he’s not going to take it anymore.
If you can think of a good caption for this photo, feel free to enter a comment below. The only one I can think of is “Banzai!”
Your for Better Horse Care,
Sierra Lynch
horse horse behaviorTags: Horse Facts
Reminds me of a mare mule I had named Honey.
She had a terrific disposition until a litter of aggravating beagle pups finally found her last straw.
Beagle pups scattered in 10 directions after Honey made her point.
I’ve got a number of horses that go after dogs like this. They just don’t like yappy dogs! What a great picture though.
Awesome picture! That horse looks pretty angry. I hate dogs that bark all the time. Oh, wait, that would be almost every dog in the world…
Some dogs are okay. Where I board there is a VERY annoying rott who I have to tell to shut up a lot. My horse gets irritated too. Poor Lena. She has kicked at and tried to bite that dumb dog a lot already. She chases her too! It’s funny.
He looks like he’s gonna grab the dog and pinch it to death. Let’s hope he does.
“Run, Fido, run.”
That dog doesn’t stand a chance :). Though I have a miniture Daschund that tried to take on my Arabian mare. Thankfully the dog just gave him a warning kick. He ran away yelping but no real harm.
On our rides we often ride by a really little dog that runs our and tries to terrorize us and the horses with his vicious barking. This dog can’t weigh more than 5 pounds. The horses get a certain look that says, “just what does he think he’s trying to do?”
I have three mares that will do exactly the same as this horse is doing, two of them are the daughters of the third one LOL. They hate little animals and arent scared to show it. This was brought about by our neighbors dogs incessantly terrorising them at the fence of their field where they knew they were just out of reach.
Great picture did you take this?
Lori
Most wild horses I know will attack dogs. We’ve currently got two mustangs here. One goes after the dogs, the other just stands and could care less if they’re barking in her face. Guess my horses never got the memo, either!