 Dogs and riding horses
#350240 - 11/29/2011 10:48 AM |
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What do you do with your dog while you ride?
Yesterday for the first time I let Harley stay with me while I rode my most calm and predictable horse. I had brouth Harley's favorit ball.
Harley has been very good while I teach. He stay with me or he will calmly fetch his ball. I was kind of expecting him to play with the ball but he stayed at the horse heel for almost 40min. He never tryed to chase my horse or tug his tail. He use to do that when he first came to me. Not even a bark!
He could not find me at first so he search the barn then once he found me on to of the horse he just heeled on the horse left hind leg. He did ley yeild, walk pirouette, canter circle both directions and all sort of trot work and a rein back.
I was very suprised by that. I would not try that with my young explosive horse. It was kind of fun and boy did he sleep later on.
I am mostly a ring rider, I don't go for trail ride very often, we were in the indoor arena.
So what does your dog do while you ride?
Lucifer! |
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 Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Ariane Gauthier ]
#350249 - 11/29/2011 11:37 AM |
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I leave two at home, as they are just not trained well in an off leash environment when I'm not fully available (and Tanner is no off leash ever outside a fence). When we arena ride, I crate Haz next to the arena, as he's still a little frightened of the big horses. He can be loose when my 8 yr old is riding her horse or the littler ones are on their ponies because he just sticks by me in the middle and watches. I take my in-laws Border Collie cross riding and he just has free time to explore the ditches and things, but heels next to my foot about 3 feet out when we encounter cars. That is his "here" command and it took him a bit to "get it" but that works well for us. We have all older bomb proof horses though since I will likely have lifelong "issues" with injuries sustained from a fall from my young show horse 5 years ago.
Eventually, my goal is a down stay outside the arena for Haz and the stirrup heel for roads and trails. Sounds like your guy has it down already 
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Amy VandeWeerd ]
#350264 - 11/29/2011 04:32 PM |
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We have a rule about no dogs in the arena at all. It is fenced, so we just teach it as a boundary. My Arab could care less about the dogs being there, but if there is anyone else riding or if the horse or dog gets distracted there could be major problems... After sitting at the gate for a minute, they usually go lay in the shade somewhere... Hav likes to lay at the gate...
That said, I LOVE to take my boys on trail rides. The dog wears an e-collar and I keep a ten foot long line with us at all times, just in case. When we hack out, the dogs tend to stick near since they don't want to have to catch up later and we settle into a nice routine. The dogs are not allowed to pass the cinch and are expected to down when asked (like for animals, bikes or other riders). I have also taught them to place their front feet on my leg so I can hook the leash up if needed.
Jessica
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: JessicaKromer ]
#350293 - 11/30/2011 09:59 AM |
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I'm with Jessica. We had a "No dogs in the arena" policy too, but trail rides are a blast once the dog is well-trained and conditioned to the e-collar.
I didn't mind if the dog ran ahead of me on a familiar trail as long as he stayed in sight.
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Ariane Gauthier ]
#350319 - 11/30/2011 03:12 PM |
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Reg: 03-24-2011
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Loc: Indianapolis
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I've been wondering how I would train my dogs to go along with my horse on a trail ride. Any pointers? I'd be using an ecollar to keep control, and bring a long leash, but I have a hard time believing my dogs would take me seriously when I'm up on a horse. I can picture them ignoring me when I tell them to down!
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Ariane Gauthier ]
#350320 - 11/30/2011 03:21 PM |
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I figured out that Harley self taught himself to heel with the horse. We have been doing a lot of touch and target work for agility.
So he follow my riding stick (dressage). He move to the right side when I had to change my stick side. Smart dog
Lucifer! |
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Ariane Gauthier ]
#350330 - 11/30/2011 09:25 PM |
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When I used to ride I always tried to keep the dog visible. Sometimes if the dog moved from one eye to the other, it would cause the horse to shy.
Some days a horse is just looking for an excuse to act foolish.
If the dog becomes a problem I would ride my horse right at the dog --- use the horse to make the dog get out of the arena. The horse seemed to enjoy that.
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#350338 - 12/01/2011 12:14 AM |
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Reg: 10-02-2011
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Loc: Gulf-side Florida
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I've been wondering how I would train my dogs to go along with my horse on a trail ride. Any pointers? I'd be using an ecollar to keep control, and bring a long leash, but I have a hard time believing my dogs would take me seriously when I'm up on a horse. I can picture them ignoring me when I tell them to down!
I think you'd be surprised as to how well they'd go with you, but I would never use as leash while on a horse. Even a long-line just screams dangerous to me. Aside from the tangling potential, I really don't want my dog getting comfortable enough to get that close to a horse. I encourage the respect= a healthy distance angle. I've also currently got a dog who would get bored/ballsy/stupid enough to try to grab a nip. I don't want the vet bills. The e-collar should be more than enough to just keep them in view.
Try the dog on a bike first and see if they'll just come with you. If you've got a dog who will follow a bike, they'll follow a horse.
That being said 'no dogs in the area' has been true everywhere I've ridden. It's varied but dogs get the tack room, an empty stall, are crated or tied at the front entrance. There's always been at least one horse who seemed either personally offended that dogs existed or would be too foolish to handle a distraction with teeth.
"I can't read this. It has silent E's." |
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: Ariane Gauthier ]
#350351 - 12/01/2011 09:40 AM |
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Reg: 03-24-2011
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Loc: Indianapolis
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I'm excited to try this. There's a 20 foot wide strip of grass along the canal behind the barn property that goes on for about a mile and a half until it hits a road. I've taken the horses out there to let them graze on the tall stuff while the dogs play in the canal, and everyone got along fine. I'll tack up the more steadfast gelding and have my husband walk with us to see how it goes with me on top.
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Re: Dogs and riding horses
[Re: SamanthaTopper ]
#350475 - 12/02/2011 06:51 AM |
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Reg: 11-10-2011
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Loc: Canada (Ontario)
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Samantha,
You may be interested to see the exercises used in preparation for a "Road Trial" on the Dalmatian Club of America website. The Road Trial is a test of a dog's capability to accompany either a horse and rider or horse and carriage over a given course with some obedience tests followed by an endurance phase. While the Road Test is designed to demonstrate the many qualities of the Dalmatian breed that are required in a working dog you can see that the exercises are equally applicable to many other dogs that have been socialized with horses and have developed a relationship with them.
Dalmatian Club Of America Road Trial
Where the dog runs in relation to the horse seems to be more dependent on both the size and temperament of the dog (and possibly too of the horse). The Dal should run at hock, but a smaller breed like a Jack Russell will likely want more distance.
I hope you have a lot of fun: I can't think of a better way for you to combine your love of horses and dogs!
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