Most people would say to use an attack dog, but what if the intruder is armed? Chances are, the dog would be dead. Then that got me into thinking: according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, there were 82 animal-related deaths since 1791. Those are as follows:

68 by horses/mules

6 by rabid dogs

3 by bees/yellow jackets

2 by cows

1 by a cat

1 by a lion

1 by a brown recluse spider

Since most officer-related deaths were by horses, I wonder if a horse would actually make a good attack animal? Obviously, a rabid dog wouldn’t make too good a self-defense animal, since it would be dead within about a week and the animal could just as easily infect you as well as any other person (unless you’re vaccinated), so I don’t se that serving any purpose other than at a protest/riot during clashes with other protesters/police. Maybe as a psychological warfare tactic to scare the police/enemy.

When I come to think about it, horses actually would make a pretty good home defense animal (and maybe even public defense too, if you ride them around). As for if the subject is armed, that probably wouldn’t be too big of a problem, since they’re big animals, and they have very small brains that are located at the top, so it would be very hard to kill them with a headshot if they were charging directly towards you. You might be able to debilitate it, but if there’s multiple horses stampeding your way, then you’re fucked. If, on the other hand, somebody is trying to get inside through the back inside the fence where all the horses are or is trying to steal a horse, a kick to the head or chest would be fatal for any adult human.

Is this even a thing? Has anybody ever used a horse as an attack animal before? And if so, how would you set up these large animals in your home for an intruder? How would you even train them?