I haven't talked about this on the web before, but I noticed that Ed has a video on horses getting along with dogs, one that I hope comes up for auction someday soon, if not, than one I intend to buy.
I love horses, as many dog people do. Although I now train standardbreds, my love has always been Arabians. The day I saw an Arab Stallion come up for sale, was one of the most exciting days of my life,,, that was 6 years ago. At the time I bought the stud (Brave) I also had the best dog I've ever had the pleasure of owning, Zor.

Here he is

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj4/Kujomk/Zoronlawn.jpg
The both of them are also in my sig.

Zor was fascinated with Brave, came on most of my rides, and spent alot of time in the field with him. They were both my dream come true, and I have many pictures of the two of them together.

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj4/Kujomk/2005_0116Image0022.jpg

http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj4/Kujomk/2005_0116Image0026.jpg

Brave tolerated Zor for the most part, but eventually would be the cause of his death(at age 6). That was three years ago. It broke my heart. I grew up on a dairy farm, always had riding horses, and always had dogs, but never had nor heard of a horse killing a dog, than again, never had a stud before either. I look back now, and even in my pictures, can see how foolish I was to let Zor in the field and risk that happening, isn't hindsight wonderful?

I was just wondering if anyone else on this website has gone through something similar.

My husband has put two GSD to sleep because of horse kicks.

When we dated I never understood why he said a stables was no place for dogs. I now see his point on how dangerous it can be for horse, rider and dog.

Our place does not allow clients to bring their dogs. If they do then they must stay in the car.

I got the Leerburg Dvd. I sent you a pm.

My older female Rott and Mojo (my arab) kinda grew up together and are GREAT with each other. The barn I kept him at for the first few years of his life owned four or five dogs and did allow border's dogs out there. All of our horses just learned to be tolerant of dogs (and it was great for the horses from a de-sensitization point of view), but then all of the dogs were very respectful of the horses; no chasing, no nipping, no barking etc. If they ever tried it, they were banned from the barn.

We would regularly take a dog or two out on trail rides and never had a problem. And even caught some super cute pictures of Rox and Mo sharing a water trough. The dogs all learned the "Get Out!" command, as in get out of the arena.

At the time I thought it was great, until a new horse came in. Big Irish Warmblood (18 hh bare foot). He hated dogs. One day while cross-tied at the wash rack, he pulled back and snapped his halter and chased a dog down and stomped him to death. The dog was a 13 year old collie.

That was an eye-opener to us all. We may have the greatest dogs in the world with the horses, but some horses just HATE dogs. It was unfair to Cowboy (the collie). From that day on the barn dogs were penned up and borders dogs had to be kept off the property.

Then came Quinn, my high drive, somewhat dominant male Rott. He loves horses! He sees great big rabbits that like to run! We tried many different ways to get him to ignore the horses, but opportunities were limited as he had to stay in the car. That was when I learned that crates in the car are mandatory. (Left him in the car with the windows down while I turned Mojo out. Quinn ate my headrest in his frustration to get the horse.) He is fine with them walking around, but add some trotting, he starts whining, some cantering, and it's stimulus overload.

Long story short, some dogs LOVE horses, and will do anything to get at them. That is just unfair to the horse (and the other owners who don't know what kind of dog you have).

If you have your horses at home and all parties, both equine and canine, are content, well then use your judgment and common sense.

I have seen many horses (mares and geldings) try to run over and stomp dogs in the field. It is always something I watch out for. My stallion is very mild mannered and I don't believe he would kill a dog. I have one mare that will try to run over dogs if they come near her.
Donkeys can be very hard on dogs.

I haven't seen the 'Horses and Dogs' DVD yet, so I'm not sure what Ed's advice would be, but here we have horses raised around dogs, and dogs raised around horses. Most of the time everyone gets along and all is well, but there's a common sense thing here too. I would allow a trained dog to follow me out on a hack; I would NOT allow a dog to go frolic in the pasture with horses. I've cleaned stalls with a pup tethered to me, but would NOT handle the horses this way. Pup would go in an empty stall. I'm not a fan of the idea of dogs running loose in and around a barn, especially when the horses tend to be on the hot (spirited) side. Some horses get nervous having dogs running around them while they are on cross ties and may kick out. Even getting stepped on by accident can do a lot of damage to a dog.

Horses are like anything else. They have very strong likes and dislikes, and if they've been harassed by dogs at some point in their lives they may now not have any tolerance for dogs. I would watch all horses around dogs, ESPECIALLY stallions. I've had the pleasure to work with some very wonderful studs, but they have an element of unpredictability and sometimes even violence that can be intense, though mares can be a close second sometimes.

I don't know much about training horses, but I suppose one could train horses and dogs to tolerate and maybe even to respect each other. However, aren't these two animals pretty much hardwired as mortal enemies.

If I'm not learning, I'm not paying attention.
Randy

I've always had horses and dogs, together. As Kristel said, my dogs can come on rides with me, follow the horses while I lead them, hang out in the barn while I groom or clean stalls, they simply leave the horses alone and the horses, being around dogs all the time, don't bother the dogs (ignore them). But my dogs are NEVER allowed in the pasture with the livestock (horses and sheep) - NEVER. My dogs wouldn't chase the horses, and the horses probably wouldn't go after the dogs, but you just never know. If a horse gets startled or frightened, or the dog gets a bug up it's rear and decides on a short chase because the horse just farted and bucked a little - then it only takes one well-placed kick or strike and the dog can be history, or huge vet bills to mend a broken body. Not worth the risk, for sure. But accidents will happen, I can see in a public setting that it would be smart to have a "no dogs in the area" policy, for the safety of both dogs and horses.

molly

I have a large Standardbred farm in Florida (about 60 head total) and I don't allow my dogs to go into open pastures or paddocks with any of the horses. My experience is that the dogs generally frighten the horses and my dogs will chase anything that is running away from them. Protective mares will run down the dogs and attempt to kill them if they fear that the dog will harm the foal. My Weimaraner and my Labrador suffered a few kicks by horses over the years and they steer clear of the horses because they must remember the pain from the kicks. My stallions would definitely kill any dog. Mine are breeding stallions and I wouldn't think of letting the dogs in with them. One of my studs loves goats to keep him company. The other two killed one goat each that we put in with them to keep them company. They picked the goats up by the scruff of the neck and slammed them into trees. I guess it's safe to say that my boys are not social creatures. They are good with people and they're easy to handle but studs tend to be very territorial and they definitely don't like my dogs.

I have a 6 mos. old GSD pup who is interested in horses (must be his herding instinct), but I won't let him in with the horses. I'm afraid that he will get kicked.

I suppose if you have a very gentle gelding that is bomb-proof it would be safe to ride with the dog following along. I've seen folks do this on riding trails with dogs. The horses looked to be rather elderly and probably wouldn't have the ambition to hurt a dog. Dogs and horses are completely different animals and horses of all breeds spook at the most innocent things so they really can't be trusted to be alone with dogs in my opinion. My Lab is so afraid of the horses that he won't put one paw in the paddocks any more. He learned his lesson!

I'm very sorry about the loss of your dog.

I have been a professional horse trainer for over 10 years and I'm would say it's not a good idea, to say the least!
dogs, like any shepherd or other herding dogs love to herd, run nip. Da" thats what thay do best and you never know when your dog blood will start pumping. If you have a dog that was a breed that was not so in to herding (but some times it's the dog and not the breed, so you just need to feel it out),than I think it's better but I would still say "no dogs".
89% of all horses are eather afraid or agrgressive to dogs. I have seens both. I have seen many dogs killed by horses ( when it's a matter of fear. You may not think your horse is afraid of your dog but if you horse kicks even 1 of 2 times than he/she is afraid of the dog. The horse kicks not out of plane fear of the dog, but out of fear of not having his/her owen space. When you think "oh, my horse dose great with dog and he's not afread of them but he will kick them if thay come to close to his feet, tail, face ext". When thats what your thinking than your horse os afraid of the dog. Your horse has fear of being bit. It's a state of panic that go's into your horses head at the moment your dog is less than about 12in (some horses fell this at 3ft, some not till the dog is licking them). This mental state of a horse can change from day to day. lot's of things can change this, like food, stress, people, being sick, living with another horse and so on.

Long stary short, you may not know what your horse is feeling or what mood he/she is in that day, so please don't risk it one. You, your dog and your horse may pay the price for your horse not getting a good night sleep.

Even horses that generally like dogs can have dogs that they don't like. You never know. My daughter's event horse (a gelding) was visiting another farm that had Border Collies. This horse has always been fantastic around dogs (though he's very hot and FAR from bomb-proof), but one of the Border Collies tried to 'herd' him by nipping at his heels and ended up flying about 20 feet. She didn't get hurt, but she still kept on chasing the other horses. It wasn't her fault; she shouldn't have been out there with them. The horse still liked 'his' dogs when he came home, but it may not have happened that way. We were lucky.
I still wonder about how that dog is doing though.