dogs and trail riding

[Bogie]

I used to ride with a Standard Poodle and he always stayed right with me. But I did do a lot of obedience work from the ground first. WHen I first got him, he used to “surf” by running behind my horse holding onto his tail . . . but once he got over that he was great. He’s the only dog I’ve ever had who could (and liked) to jump cross country fences with me. Sometimes he’d go first and then turn around to see if we’d follow!

I ride on public trails all the time. I always slow to a walk when approaching or passing a pedestrian. Many of the people who I see are scared of horses and most of the people who have off-leash dogs like to have a chance to call them in. Only once have I had a dog try to chase my horse. It was when I encountered a dog walker who had maybe 10 dogs milling around. Luckily, I was on a horse that has no fear of dogs so I merely turned to face the dog and “drove” it back to the walker.

[LookinSouth]

@joe21;2922468

This fall I was riding the trail. There is a nice long flat spot which is great for running. As I was coming down the trail at a rather brisk pace, I saw a man with his off-lead dog. Both had their back to me.

I started yelling “horse! give way.” Must have screamed this 5 or six times. The guy (and his dog) kept looking the other way to see who was coming. It was about 5 feet away when both turned around and finally saw me. The dog missed being trampled by inches. With any luck, I scared this twit off the horse trails for good.

.

I’m sorry but it is rider’s such as yourself that give the rest of us a bad name. Not only is galloping/cantering at speed past pedestrians/dogs dangerous for those you are whizzing past but it also rather dangerous for yourself if your horse were to spook/shy at that speed etc…
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good gallop/canter too. But I would NEVER gallop/canter past a hiker,biker, dog etc… That is just down right inconsiderate.

If you want others to treat you with respect on the trails then please treat them with respect as well while enjoying your ride.

[Auventera_Two]

@rmh;2940874

I ride in quite a few organized trail rides on mostly private lands. Dogs are welcome. I amazes me how many people know this and bring horses who are not safe or good around dogs. A good trail horse needs to be sound around so many distractions. You can’t always blame the dog.

I agree with you to a point. You’re absolutely right that a good trail horse has to handle pretty much everything in stride. If dogs did the usual trot around and bark routine, things would be fine. It’s agressive or territorial dogs on the loose that scare me. No amount of training is going to guarantee your horse will stay safe and sane if a dog is biting at its flanks and belly and acting agressive with bared teeth. And some dogs, even if they really “wouldn’t” harm you or the horse, like to put on a big show, and the horse doesn’t know the difference.

[LookinSouth]

@promlightshine;2928764

IT is so hard to balance it all when you have animals . THis is such a nice option. We often feel guilty when we leave them at home .

So true. My young golden retriever loves going for walks in the state forest across the street. Unfortunately I usually had to choose to leave her behind and just go riding because I was concerned she would get in the horses way (which she DID when she was younger) She is a little over 1.5 years now and is really getting the hang of going out with horses. My horse has foxhunted a few times and has gone out regularly with other dogs. It took him awhile to get used to them but now he can deal with nearly anything. Even a friend’s dog following him an entire ride with her nose sniffing the end of his tail and another dog we ride with popping out of the bushes/brush.

He has been extremely forgiving of my dog the times she does get in his way. He will come to a screeching halt if she stops to sniff in his path of travel and wait till she moves. They also like to play together in the paddock now. My boarder’s horse follows her everywhere.

It is great to be able to go out with both horse and dog though. It’s especially cute to watch my dog follow us by jumping over logs. My husband gets a big kick out of it and he actually doesn’t mind coming out on foot or on a mtn. bike when I’m ridiing now if our dog comes along, apparently it makes it more interesting for him. It makes for a nice “family” outing.

Our dog goes off leash in the state forests and conservation land in our town but these are places that we rarely encounter other riders or hikers. We usually have the place to ourselves. If we go to a more traveled place to ride the dog either goes on leash with my husband on foot OR she stays home.

[rmh]

Out of the other side of my mouth it is also the responsibilty of the dog owner to have a well behaved animal when it is out around other people, dogs, & horses.

Not very good with the quote option. This was the other part oft the equation A2. Dogs out roaming around without any supervision is another thing. You are right that will tax even the most savy trail horse. Not much you can do about that senario except hold on and hope for the best. I have carried a plastic bb gun that shoots large plastic balls for teaching my dogs to stay out from the four wheeler and from under my horse. Probably woldn’t hurt or scare an agressive dog much.

[katarine]

I enjoy riding with my dogs but they do NOT go to public lands, campgrounds, organized rides, etc… with us…unless it’s somewhere I am really confident we won’t encounter any other traffic, human or otherwise. Too much risk some goofy horse will kick one, or another dog will jump on them, or my female BC might jump one of them. Why risk any or all of that?

As for taking dogs along to ‘camp’ again- unless it’s a remote place you’re going, please think it through. Yappy dogs left in a busy camp area while you’re gone riding are like nails on a chalkboard to anyone still in camp. Please. Don’t. Do. It.

[rmh]

I have seen a lot of yappy dogs at dog field trials, truck dogs not the retrievers. I have seen very few at horse rides. Usually those people are politely asked to take care of the problem or don’t come back. I wish organizers were as concerned about generators making noise as much as they care about dogs barking. I don’t take my dogs on public grounds except to a state park in SC where there is no leash law and the dogs are welcome. The private grounds we ride are dog friendly also. I haven’t seen but a couple of problem dogs and they were herding type dogs. Most people where I ride are respectful about how their dogs act. In camp is another story sometimes. I think more people should get them closer. Food and dogs can be a bad combo. I take them a lot less than I used to, mainly for their own safety. Too many horses are not dog “broke” as they used to be. When I ride alone I like to take one for the company. Sooner than later that will be history as more if our freedoms and places to ride disappear. Plus I go for fun. I see enough rude behavior from people with out throwing in the dog situation. So I mainly ride at home with them where there is no worry. When I win the lottery and have my several thousands acres it will be bliss. LOL