A show jumper suffered a terrifying ordeal when a dog attacked her horse on Irvine beach.

The 22-year-old described her horror at being thrown off the saddle after an un-leaded dog ran over and started barking and jumping up at the horse.

The Troon woman said the Staffordshire Bull Terrier was even hanging from her poor horse Willow’s neck at one point, before she ran towards the water and threw her off in the process.

Speaking to the Irvine Times, Catriona Balish said: “I was screaming for help and people started to come over and try and stop the dog.

“It was dangling from her neck the only way to get it off was for my horse to throw herself into the water, throwing me off and bolting along Irvine beach.

“I couldn’t catch the horse for a good 10 or 15 minutes as she was that frightened she was just galloping in panic.

She said during this time the dog’s owner was nowhere to be seen.

She added: “Once I had been thrown from the horse and the horse had bolted the dog-owner, an older man, showed up I screamed at him and he just looked at me and said nothing.

“I had to run after my horse so that was the last I saw him. “Numerous people had crowded round and tried to help catch my horse and once caught many stayed to help me back on and ensure both myself and my horse were okay. I was very lucky.

“All my horses are fantastic with dogs and usually wee dogs will run over and bark and if I just make the horse stand still they usually go away or the owner gets them away.

“But this was totally different the dog was repeatedly jumping up on my horses legs and neck, barking and growling at her.

“She wasn’t injured when the dog jumped at her neck she reared up and span around into the water to get away from it. She has grazed her leg but I think that’s from running away from the dog.

“My horse has been jumping really well recently and after winning her last competition I thought going to the beach would be a nice change for her. I certainly won’t be going to the beach alone again.

Catriona added that her and the horse are okay following the incident, but Willow is now scared of dogs.