Pensioner "lucky to be alive" after dog attacks his horse

UNITED KINGDOM -- A horse rider who was flung ten feet in the air following a dog attack in Ashdown Forest says he could easily have been killed.

John Ince required hospital treatment after being bucked from his horse, who continued to kick out as he lay helplessly beside her.

The 67-year-old suffered major swelling to his back as a result of the fall and a lacerated finger as he attempted to keep hold of the animal's reins.

He said the horse turned into "an unbroken bucking bronco" after it was clawed by a dog, believed to be a Doberman, near Kingstanding on Monday of last week.

Now he is pleading with dog owners to take care in ensuring their pets are not dangerously out of control in the area of outstanding natural beauty.

"Suddenly I was up in the air with hands and feet above my body, and I was above my horse five feet in the air," he said.

"I landed hard on my back and still my horse was kicking out inches from me on the ground. I could have been killed."

Mr Ince returned to his home nearby in The Warren, but was advised by his wife to attend A&E at Crowborough Hospital for his finger injury.

He later complained of increasing discomfort in his back and was directed by doctors to attend Pembury Hospital, where he had a CT scan to ensure he had not suffered any internal injuries.

"I was battered but in one piece," he said.

Mr Ince, who walks his horse alongside his beloved border collie Teddington, said he has never experienced such an attack during two decades of riding in the forest.

"It was only when my wife brought my horse in later that we understood just what had actually happened," he added.

"It had claw marks on both sides of its hind quarters. That dog had not just annoyed my horse, it had attacked it by jumping on its back – its jaws inches from my back.

"A dog that attacks a horse by jumping on its back is not safe in the forest and probably not safe anywhere. I don't know why people keep dangerous dogs, but I would plead for a more safety-aware approach. When things go wrong on a horse, they go wrong in seconds."

Mr Ince suggested notices could be erected in the forest, stressing that dangerous and out of control dogs must not be let loose.

(This is Sussex - Sept 1 2013)