Give me your opinion on the best breed of dog to take with you on your rides and why? 
 and half mystery - I think it was some sort of Great Dane/Lab.
Honestly, as long as the dog is obedient, very obedient, and can keep up, there is no best breed.
Personally I prefer a short hair/smooth coated dog. Less maintenance and easier to locate the ticks. I also like my dogs to be tall enough that I donāt have to bend over to pat.
hereās a shot of my old girl
[IMG]http://thumbp2.mail.re4.yahoo.com/tn?sid=691582994&mid=AKswvs4AAINZRR0Jpw5%2fXxQNVQE&partid=2&f=524&fid=Inbox)
I have labs- they love to go and find any waterhole on the trail.
I donāt trail ride for miles and miles, maybe a 3 mile ride or so and my Jack Russell is perfect. Smart around the horses, plenty of energy and endurance to keep up, and if he gets tired or we are riding by or crossing a busy road I can pick him up put him on the saddle or in a saddle bag and he rides with me! A very portable ābigā little dog! 
English pointers are great, they are bred for some stamina, are usually non dog agressive if you encounter one on a trail, smooth coated, not overly barky, are used around horses alot in england and field trialing around hereā¦a nice overall farm and riding dog.
Not to be a wet blanket, but please re-read the posts on landowner rights. If you are riding on other peopleās property, its best not to take the dog along - especially if they have a dog. You would be invading that dogās territory and even if your dog is completely obedient, you canāt guarantee the other one. If you are riding on public land, your dog should probably be leashed, which isnāt the best when riding.
I remember reading of a large property closed to riders because of this issue. The riders had a dog with them that challenged a dog walker - turned out to be the landowner who wasnāt best pleased.
Ditto what DriveNJ said. If hacking on private land, leave Fido at home. If hacking on public land, better follow the leash laws to the max.
Otherwise ā¦ the best dog to take with you is one that sticks with you! 
i personally hate dogs on the trail. one more thing to worry about, they pop out right in front of you when you least expect it, and are usually in the way when you want to canter. i am not fond of all that.
The best dog is one that is very, very obedient, completely and absolutely non-aggressive with people, dogs, cats, horses, etc., and naturally stays by you. I prefer shelter dogs myself
Where I live, we do not have much, if any, private land to ride across, just public land, State Park, State Trust, etc. Of course, there are leash laws but these are areas with very few people around and I do like to take one of my dogs with me- he fits the above description perfectly. I actually think that dogs popping out in front of you, jumping out of the bushes, etc., is a wonderful way to desensitize your horse to all sorts of trail conditions that you canāt control, although it is a hairy thing to do in the beginning with a greenie. We have trail riders around here that hate to see dogs on the trail, no matter how well behaved they are. They are afraid of their horses being spooked and then there are the ones who say there horses will go ape and kill the dog if it gets next to them.
On the other hand, being a horse owner I believe it is up to me when and where to desensitize my pony. NO, I donāt want to be riding along on a loose rein looking at wildlife and have your dog coming charging out of the bushes. :mad: I want to make it a good experience for her. Not a frightening one.
When I was working on desensitizing my pony, I was very aware of my surroundings, and kept a bit of contact on the reins, just in case she spooked.
Dalmation was bred for this.
You might have to go through a lot of breeders before you find one that is still breeding for this trait.
Iāve seen only 1 dalmation horse trail combo but the riders & dogs had fun.
Eeeek! Mixed feelings here: I love dogs (have 3), but I certainly agree with the posters who say you need permission or your own property. I donāt think you should be doing that on public property. Your dog may be fine, but what if it runs into another dog who isnāt? Sure, your dog loves to go, but how would you feel if another dog tore it up because it came charging up, all friendly, off-leash to a dog-aggressive dog?
Just something to consider.
My ātrail dog of choiceā is an Australian Cattle Dog (ACD, also known as a Blue or Red heeler, depending on the color).
Hank is a rescue ACD and heās great on the trail. He sticks close and can keep up with no problems, even at a gallop he goes as fast as he can to stick around. He doesnāt bark or bite at the horses on the trail (in the arena is a different story :mad: ). He also doesnāt jump out or scare them, just trails along behind happy as a clam.
Of course Iām riding on my own property, so no worries about leash laws/whatever.
I have dalmatiansā¦you wonāt find a better dog with the instinct to ācoachā along side a horse. We have a foster that came in last nightā¦OMG, this young lady would be a top road trial dogā¦she comes by the coaching instinct automatically.
Check this out!!!
Iām amazed more endurance folks donāt do this stuff. Itās perfect for both arabs and dogs.
http://www.thedca.org/distancelog.html
and
Well, you asked a simple question, best breed of dog and why.
My goldens were always great on the trail. I wouldnāt take my current terrier because he thinks he needs to chew on the horsesā back legs, which is not a prudent idea for him. Nor the Great Dane- the terrain currently at my disposal would probably cook him before too long. Border collies are great in my experience, too.
Any of the āhoundā breeds would, Iām sure, love to accompany you, but never any guarantee that they wonāt just start hunting something, beagles especially!
Since you didnāt ask āwhetherā you should take your dog on the trails, those who presumed to weigh in on that should maybe start their own threadā¦ .
Iām a Dal lover too. Smooth haired, so they donāt collect trash in their coats, bred for horses and for endurance. A trotting Dal can go for hours. :yes:
Good Dals are wonderful dogs.
I have a wolf/husky cross that has turned out to be the very best trail dog I, or anyone whoās met him, has ever known. Extremely sensitive to whatās going on around him, and can run FOREVER, lol. He loves to be out in front, but is always tuned in to what the horses are doing, so as soon as he hears the hoofbeats speed up when we start trotting or cantering, he jumps off the trail and lets everyone go by and falls in behind. When we slow down, he waits till there is sufficient clearance around the horses, then he trots up to the front again. The nice thing with him up front is that he scares off all the pheasants, deer, grouse, turkeys, ect that would otherwise startle the horses. He even moved a bear off the trail one time!
He does not ever leave the horses for more than a minute or two, heās had wildlife jump out right in front of himā¦heāll chase it for a minute, thenā¦he canāt stand it, lol, heās got to get back to the horses. Itās the RIDE he loves, the wildlife he encounters is just extra. If heās up ahead and we stop, he comes back within a few seconds to see where we are. I NEVER worry that he will get distracted and run off. He canāt stand it
That dog LIVES to trail ride. Luckily, we live smack in the National Forest and there are no leash laws, ect.
The only problem with his breeding is that he has a mind-boggling coat of hair with an undercoat that literally doesnāt get wet (we canāt give him a bath!). So we shave him every spring. 
Hereās a picture of him and my daughter (so you can see his size). Heās still not got his full coat back, only about two-thirds of it. When he has his full coat, he looks even bigger, lol.
http://www.thewomensplace.ca/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=18060&d=1159741003
Weāve speculated that it is both the Husky and the wolf background that makes him such a good travelling companion. When trail riding, he travels as wolfpacks are seen to on wildlife documentaries; very aware of each other and what each one is doing and where. Both wolves and Huskies are bred to work as a team and travel as a coherent group, I suppose that is why he ended up working out so well as a trail dog.
[QUOTE=3fatponies;1905384]
Eeeek! Mixed feelings here: I love dogs (have 3), but I certainly agree with the posters who say you need permission or your own property. I donāt think you should be doing that on public property. Your dog may be fine, but what if it runs into another dog who isnāt? Sure, your dog loves to go, but how would you feel if another dog tore it up because it came charging up, all friendly, off-leash to a dog-aggressive dog?
Just something to consider. :)[/QUOTE]
There are 2 nasty rottweiler type dogs that live down the street from me- the lady keeps the gate open (?) and they often do charge out and go after my dog. They have never actually āattackedā him but are very aggresive. The dog I take with me is very non-aggressive and minds his own business- he really doesnāt even go up to other dogs at all, just does his own thing. He also ignores coyotes and other wildlife. Getting attacked by another dog is something that could happen, but there are so many risks in life that I donāt want to be afraid to live.
Also, for the person who doesnāt want my dog charging out of the bushes near her, the chance of him doing it pretty slim. he stays very, very close to me and if I see another person coming, will call him even closer. I have encountered some disobedient dogs on the trail, but I think deer are by far the scariest things and you canāt control them, of course.
My vote is for a Great Dane. They naturally want to follow you everywhere(mine has great stamina even though sheās black). I never once had to yell at the Dane for running off. Sheās also big enough that should I come into an area that is a little more populated and I want her to wear a leash I donāt have to hop off the horse to clip the leash on. I just ask her to āhop upā and she puts her paws up on my legs and I can clip the leash on right from there.
And she is great with people but she is also very protective of me so I know that if need be she wouldnāt let any boogie man get me. Iām young (24) and I ride by myself so I want a dog that I know who will āhave my backā should I need it. And she is so obedient that she wouldnāt do anything w/o my say. Alot of people see her size and are intimidated anyways and leave us alone which is nice I then donāt have to worry as much about unreputable people.
She doesnāt bother the horses and she even eats the grain they spill. Sheās my little pony
Niceā¦very responsibleā¦ :no:
