Horse & rider in dog attack

A woman, who was thrown onto a busy road on the evening of Wednesday 14th May when a vicious dog attacked her horse, has been left badly bruised. Lindsay Rusack, an experienced rider, and her horse, were set upon by the Staffordshire bull terrier as the hacked across fields near her home in Wendens Ambo, Newport.

Mrs Rusack said: "It was a terrifying experience and I was screaming at the dog's owner to try and get it under control. My horse was panicking and leaping closer and closer to the busy road. I hit the ground hard and I'm very bruised and sore, but it could have been a lot more serious."

Husband Andrew Rusack said: "We need to make dog owners more aware of people on horseback - there could have been horrific consequences. The dog was out of control and biting Lindsay's horse on the legs. The horse was bucking and rearing and eventually jumped from the field onto the busy main road.

"She was thrown from her horse and has painful bruising to her leg, arm and side, but luckily she missed the oncoming traffic." Lindsay’s 16hh horse suffered bite wounds to his legs.

After Lindsay was thrown from the saddle, her horse bolted up the road, still being chased by the dog.

"A number of cars stopped to help me," said Mrs Rusack. "I was given a lift back to the stables where I had come from, and fortunately the horse had made his way back home."

Mr Rusack said: "Once the man had got control of the dog he ran off without even saying sorry. We called the police and hopefully they can track him down.”