Taking dogs on trail rides

From the beginning of our journey with horses, or better to say with farm animals, we had dogs. Currently, we have four.

Almas is the oldest. He is 4 years old now and has been around since he was 40 days old. Everyone loves him, and he makes very good connections with humans.

Bahar joins us in winter and spring every year. She comes when the sheep don't go outside grazing. When they go grazing in summer and fall, she goes with the sheep to protect them from predators.

Hamoun and Sareen are close to 1 year old and are our next generation dogs.

Guard by night, Companion by day

They guard the farm from predators day and night. We let the chickens outside depending on them to keep the chickens safe from predators like foxes. I saw a dead fox probably killed by Sareen couple of days ago. There are also wolves around especially in winter which might come closer to the farm at night.

They are also very friendly and lovable. All of us have made sort of relationship with them. Each time we go to the farm it's joyful seeing and playing with them.

I take the dogs on most of my walks, and we also take them on almost all the horseback riding trips we go on.

Dogs on horse trail rides

Dogs are fun and good company on trail rides. Horses feel more confident when there are familiar dogs around. They can protect you from predators and other dogs, and you can count on them to take watch if you are going to stay out the night outside.

If you have a dog that comes with you when you go on a walk there is a good chance that it will follow you on horseback riding to. If it won't I will share some of my experiences on encouraging dogs to accompany you on horseback riding you go plus other tips that come to my mind regarding horse and dog relationship.

Before starting to give some tips I want to emphasize that I'm not an expert or veteran. These are just my 5 years or more experience being close to farming out of passion (it's not my job).

Keeping dogs on a farm

Let me start with the good news. Dogs are the easiest. At least on our farm, it was like that until now. If you vaccinate them and feed them appropriately there will be mostly joy than any other trouble. Saying this I'm comparing them to horses, chickens, trees, and plants.

They don't get sick that much except sometimes hurting their legs or getting stomach issues which isn't that much a problem. I'm saying this although we had at least 2 surgery for Almas. In comparison to horses and chickens keeping dogs isn't that costly.

Tips on taking your dogs on horse trail ride

First of all the dog and horse need to get familiar, used to each other. So start with keeping them in a place so they see each other a lot. Give them time to know each other before going out.

The second step before going out with horses is going out on a walk with yourself. As I said if they follow you on a walk they will follow you riding the horse too. So take them out for a walk and treat them nicely. When this step will be completed? When you can bet that the dogs will follow you easily only by just calling their name. When you see that they have to some extent learned the path back home and if they get lost they can find a way back.

Now you can start taking the dogs out on trail rides. Start with short trails and you will probably need to shout their name and call them from time to time. Don't go fast so they get behind and might even go back home. Don't let them go back home, They might get used to it.

Step by step, trail ride by trail ride they get faster and better overall in following. Long trail rides need stamina, So you should work on them. One of my problems was the dogs getting behind a lot when we went canter and galloped. They still get behind, but they are much faster now and even after getting behind and even us (riders & horses) getting out of sight they find the way to reach us again. Sometimes by following my sound, sometimes just by following the trail.

Remember to pick food for the dogs when you go on long rides. If you pick something for yourself you might want to pick something for them too. Also always take a leash for each dog. You may need it. Maybe you get into a crowded place or maybe you want to camp in a place where people or other dogs come and go and you don't want your dog to engage.

Problems you might face taking dogs on trail rides

Now let's get to common problems that we have faced regarding taking dogs on our horseback riding.

First note that taking any extra being with yourself adds up to the complexity. Especially if any problem comes up. So it doesn't matter whether taking a foal, a horse without a rider, a new rider, or a dog. It adds complexity. So first you have to get better at horse riding, and horse trail riding and gain some experience.

One of the common issues I've seen with dogs that don't have trail riding experience is that they get close to the horse a lot and they get kicked, bitten, or accidentally stepped on their feet by the horse. I always try to create a space between the horse and the dog but sometimes it just has to happen so the dog learns the lesson. Be aware of it, especially if you see that the dog doesn't keep an appropriate distance.

Hamoun is a very good dog that walks just 0.5 meters behind the horse he won't go playing around a bit far from us as Almas does. I knew that it would happen and it did a couple of months ago. He was following behind the foal on one of our trail rides and the foal had a good relationship with him, But for god sake, it's a horse. Suddenly we didn't know why the foal kicked Hamoun and he started howling. Fortunately, it wasn't serious and Hamoun didn't learn a lesson that much 😄. He still comes behind the horse with less than 1 meter distance.

Another problem you might face is the dogs getting into trouble like they go inside a surrounding place and they can't find a way out. You should go back and maybe even come down from your horse and help them get out. They might hurt themselves to the extent that they can not walk. Or maybe eat something bad.

The other common problem we face is getting into a fight with other dogs, Especially sheepdogs. What we do is train our dogs to control their wild behaviors and avoid starting a fight. But sometimes is unavoidable you have to mind your dog and separate them.

These were most of the points that came to my mind regarding dogs and horse trail riding. Going out on a trail ride with dogs is one of my joyful experiences, and I hope you can experience it too.