When I was a young adult riding in Ridgefield, CT., on weekends, I would take my city-dwelling Saluki up with me and for two days, we would cover miles of trails after our lessons, down the dirt roads, through the fields, galloping, trotting, walking. It was enough to keep her happy for the remainder of her apartment-bound week.
Alas, I would fear to do this now due to the increase in automobile traffic and the sheer number of new houses.
But it was pure delight!
I have the following breeds that go on trail rides with me -
Rat Terrier- Easy to clean (short hair) drys off quickly very loyal, listens well, small enough to cross rivers in my lap on horse back (15lbs) and can jump up there herself by command, can keep up, Never wears out. Easily fits in pickup
Doberman- Very easy to clean,(very short hair) drys off quickly, very loyal, (even though he is harmless he frightens people with his size) listens well, great with horses, friendly to everyone (afraid of frogs and centipedes) Takes up an entire seat plus some in a pickup.
Lab- takes a little longer to dry than the doberman and rat terrier, will stop to play in ANY water you cross, loyal, listens well, not as easy to keep clean. Happiest riding in the back.
Giant Schnauzer- Giant velcro will pick up leaves, sticks trigs, briars, burs, etc in coat and you have to pick out unless you keep it cut short. (plus side they do not shed) Takes about as long as the lab to dry. Incredibly loyal and sticks to us like glue. Does not leave me for any reason. Very protective not a dog for everyone.
centaur…for you dalmatian fix…:lol: yes, this one belongs to me.
What a beautiful Dalmation, my good friend in Virginia had a lovey old girl, the only really sound temperamented one I have known though. My dogs thought this was a most interesting duet, riveting, in fact.
The best dog for trail riding is the one who enjoys doing it and more importantly obeys the rules you set down. 
Any dog that rides with me MUST have a recall even if they are in a dead run after sighting a critter or brain locked on some delicious scent. This is something that I work on before introducing the horse.
That said, I ride on private land, so other than the pipeline workers, there really is no traffic and no one with other dogs on the property that might cause trouble.
My Czech/DDR German shepherd back in VA years ago was a super trail dog. He kept the killer squirrels and deadly deer away so there was nothing to spook the pony.
I am starting over with new dogs now and my Mastiff is never going to make a trail dog. She would rather guard the property and wait for me to return. Now we have an Aussie youngster that adores the pony and wants to work with us all the time, so he is in training to ride along. So far, he is great.
This thread is seven years old. Was it really necessary to bring it up just to comment on an (adorable) howling dalmatian?
Oops!!! I never notice that age of the thread thing!! lol
I can’t say a specific breed, but my Shetland Sheepdog was awesome! She was a 4-H Grad Novice Dog and a had a da_m good off leash recall and stay!! I would say a dog that is trained as well as your horse should fit the bill.
jmo,
KH
We live in a VERY rural area, and I ride alone a lot.
But I’m not really alone because my border collie goes with me. I love having her because she always senses things out of the ordinary. Both myself and my horses have learned to watch her. If she senses something, we pay attention. No one has ever sneaked up on us. My dog always lets us know about them before they know about us.
any healthy dog will make a good trail companion - if they like that sort of thing.
ime, the intense breed dogs do it best - herding type, hound type, retriever type dogs. the dogs bred to be very watchful and waiting with baited breath for every command.
that being said my family had a rhodesian that was not the best trail dog… more interested in sniffing the sights than accompanying us. my GSD is another story. loves it, always wants to do it, will be very sad if you go without him. trained very well too – always patiently stops at any road crossing (he was smart enough to figure out he was always told “halt” before a road and now just does it automatically!), doesn’t care for the people if he passes them he ignores them (unless they want to pet him) and can be called off of anything. truly born to trail ride.
ime you just need to teach them to be very responsive to vocal commands. a very well trained/indoctrinated “halt/stop” needs to be put in, as well as a recall “come/heel”. “sit/stay” is also useful, at times.
atm i have a small pack of mutts, and all of them are great on the trail. one is a large cane corso/newfie-type dog (slightly brindled, huge, very intimidating looking) and he is an angel in every retrospect. gentleman on the trail - always behind you, never out ahead or chasing things. the rest sometimes followed his lead - my staffie is always underfoot (but in a good way). the husky/bully cross is okay. will listen to you but wants to do other things. and then the dingo-type dog is certified a few marbles short but will listen as well.
as long as you have a dog that will listen to you no matter the situation, and likes to go out into “outside-land”, you will have a good trail dog no matter the breed!
[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 don’t think you should be doing that on public property. Your dog may be fine, but what if it runs into another dog who isn’t? 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]
A good pointing breed dog will ignore others while it is working. Mine will not pay any attention to other dogs while she is in the field. If the dog is aggressive enough that it wants to give chase, I would not doubt my horse and I would be in trouble as well.
[QUOTE=RegentLion;1905419]
My “trail dog of choice” is an Australian Cattle Dog (ACD, also known as a Blue or Red heeler, depending on the color).
Hank is a rescue ACD and he’s 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 doesn’t bark or bite at the horses on the trail (in the arena is a different story :mad: ). He also doesn’t jump out or scare them, just trails along behind happy as a clam.
Of course I’m riding on my own property, so no worries about leash laws/whatever.[/QUOTE]
We have a blue heeler named Hank!! 
I have an Australian Shepherd and an Aussie/ACD mix. The Aussie is absolutely the best trail dog because she’ll stay right with us the entire time. The Aussie/ACD mix tends to run around chasing squirrels. Our horses our fine with it, but I wouldn’t want to take her on public land because she would wind up chasing a squirrel and spooking someone else’s horse.
[QUOTE=Sabovee;1906678]
Border Collie!
Attentive, obedient and BOUNDLESS energy! :)[/QUOTE]
I would have to agree- if you can get over the fact that you will have to pull burrs and debris out of the coat- or get a smooth coat.
My BC lives to run with the horses and will go all day and still have energy to run with me at the end of the day. I work as a polo groom and she runs with the horses while we exercise them all day long. She is not herdy towards them at all while we run which is great because that is some times a worry with herding dogs.
When I worked in Wyoming as a trail guide we had an AMAZING Border Collie/Aussie mix who was known to run off grizzlies.
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