A SCOTTISH riding school has been ordered to pay £7500 in damages after a girl fell off a pony "spooked" by a dog.

Schoolgirl Megan Robertson, who was aged nine at the time, broke her right arm after she was thrown during a riding lesson.

A judge ruled that Horses in Scotland Ltd was liable for the injury she suffered at the Wester Deanhead Riding School, in Dunfermline, Fife.

The case comes as figures show that some 650 British riding schools including around 70 in Scotland have closed in the past four years because of the rising numbers of personal injury claims and insurance premiums.

Membership of the Association of British Riding Schools has dropped from 2500 to 1850.

The accident victim's father firefighter Clayton Robertson, of St Madoes, in Perthshire, raised an action against the firm as legal representative of his daughter at the Court of Session.

It was claimed that two Jack Russell terriers were in the training arena during the lesson in November 2004 and that prior to Megan's accident they harried another horse whose rider managed to bring it under control.

It was alleged the dogs were not removed from the area and then caused Megan's mount to become upset and it reared up, resulting in her fall.

But the riding firm maintained that there were no dogs in the arena.

It said that the accident happened when her pony turned sharply and she fell off.

It denied liability.

Lord Macphail said he found after hearing evidence in the action that "dogs were regularly in the training arena during lessons prior to the accident".

The judge said he found that the instructor, Elaine Marshall, failed to take reasonable care to see that there were no dogs in the arena during the lesson, or to remove them after the earlier disturbance.