The carriage horse which crashed through a fence into Pembroke Canal and had to be rescued by a crane will make a full recovery, the owner said yesterday.

But Dee Charles, wife of carriage veteran Howard (Hobby) Charles, said the horse, five-year-old Benny, was lucky to be alive after being panicked by a barking dog into the canal.

And she called for road users and dog owners to be more aware of horses as they travel their routes in town.

Mrs. Charles said: "We were very lucky -- somebody could have got badly hurt.'' Benny bolted after a dog in a house bordering Laffan Street threw itself against a fence and barked at the horse.

The driver lost control of startled Benny, who ran straight across Hamilton's Woodbourne Avenue, through a heavy wooden fence and plunged into the water and thick mud of the canal.

Mrs. Charles said: "The horse just jumped and took off -- the driver couldn't control him. It could easily have killed someone going down the main road.

"And thankfully, there weren't any passengers in the buggy at the time -- that was my first thought when I heard the news, that somebody might have been badly hurt.

"Horses are horses, but people are more important -- but Benny could easily have broken a leg going through that fence and that would have been an entirely different story.'' Mrs. Charles said horses being startled by careless drivers and riders, as well as barking dogs, was a common event.

She said: "Maybe they should have stricter laws on dogs -- but it was in its own yard, so that's a different thing.

"But the SPCA and the Government vet were going up there to speak to the owners and see if the dog could be moved.'' Mrs. Charles thanked Island Construction crane driver Craig Curtis, who pulled Benny out after he became stuck in the mud and Firefighter Raynei Boyles, who spent nearly two hours in the water encouraging and comforting Benny.

Mrs. Charles added that the vet had said Benny could be fit for work in three of four days.

But she said: "My husband said he's going to take the shoes off and put him out to pasture for the rest of the season.

"And -- with the kind of scare he's had -- Benny might only be driven by my husband when he goes back next season.'' Helping hand: Firefighter Raynel Boyles, right, is given a hand by onlookers as he tries to help carriage horse Benny stay out of the waters of Pembroke Canal on Tuesday night.