Does anyone take their dog hacking with them?

Captain Bridget said:
The lady who keeps her horses next door takes her dog out with her. We are very lucky than we have a lot of off road hacking and need not touch a road for a good hour at least, and the roads are quiet lanes.

Her dog wanders about, trots alongside sometimes but most of the time he hoons across the fields and sometimes chases rabbits. Unfortunately he's getting a bit deaf so hard to get him to come back! But he knows his way around incredibly well so we don't worry unless he's gone for a particularly long time.

The lady's sharer also brings her dog up but only if she's going off road. Her dog trots along behind, but not too close as she had a bit of a scare at one point. She loves a good run as she's lurcher cross but she has to wear a muzzle otherwise she'd catch the things she chases!

I sometimes see a lady ride past my house with her dog on a lead beside her. Our road is not very quiet. I dread to think what might happen if they got tangled up.
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If this dog is running around fields next to bridleways (ie that you dont have permission to be in), it is tresspass.
 
I take my two working spaniels with me on hacks they are however very well behaved and are at the heel of the horse all of time until I tell them to go on, we do however have a very large estate we ride on so very rarely meet any kind of traffic.

The dogs and horses love it and I get to spend quality time with them all at once :) xx
 
My lab used to come everywhere with me, he trotted along doing his own thing and when he heard a car he tucked himself in out of the way until they'd past. His hips aren't great now in his more senior years but he'll still come for the occasional potter.

My mare is a pathetic wimp out hacking and my dog was a real god send, if he was prepared to go past it then so was she!! That or she thought the pony eating monsters behind every hedge, gate, corner etc might settle for a lump of Labrador instead...

I now have a 7 month old lurcher too but I don't think he will be hacking out with us, he is far too interested in hunting!! If you are able to do it, there are little things in life more enjoyable than being in the countryside with all your animals.
 
I hack out with my lab and collie every day along a fairly busy road and then onto a offroad path - I have trained them both, initially by having them on a lunge line, to "get in" behind the horse when a car comes or, once we are offroad, whenever we meet people and other dogs, horses, etc. I am really glad that both horses and dogs are well used to each other as, should a dog jump up at us - whilst being held on a lead and trying to be restrained by its owner - my horse is so used to dogs that he didn't bat an eyelid!! Additionally, because the dogs run around and through the undergrowth - sometimes appearing out of nowhere from the side, front or back, my once spooky horse doesnt bat an eyelid at birds flying out, deer or fox running out or even the occasional sheep appearing on the track in front of us!! Like everything else well behaved/trained horses, dogs and humans can all live and hack happily ever after.
 
Yes I do if I take them to the beach and to a local forest where I ride .
They are very well trained and know to come and sit by the horse if anyone comes but it's very quiet where I go so often you never meet anyone else .
I stay off the beach in summer unless it very early .
They are loose I don't have them on a rope .
 
Yes, my GSD used to always come hacking with me - unfortunately she is getting old and now only comes on short hacks.

She is very well trained and I can position her in front, behind, or inside (so to the left of horses' shoulder unless turning right in which case I move her to the right, particularly at roundabouts). She will stop, go, wait, run on ahead (useful if horse is scared!). She will go on the pavement and use crossing points / grass verges unless I move her onto the road. We often go in heavy traffic, but those roads all have pavements and barriers / crossings so she is not actually on the road so much in this instance.

I trained on foot, then on foot beside horse, then worked up to the routes we do now.
 
I passed two riders a few weeks ago with dogs at foot, on the verge side with no leads.

All looked controlled, but my fear was the horses spooking and leaping on the dogs, or the dogs spotting something and legging it across the road...even the most obedient dogs can have a lapse occasionally.

Would be nice if I had miles of off road hacking, I'd take my dog then. :D
 
I'm impressed that most of the posters who take their dogs out hacking with them, have them under close control. You clearly don't come from round these parts, then!

It's common to see a dog up to a hundred yards away from the rider, under no semblance of control and randomly zig zagging across the road (country lane).

Nuts.
 
My border collie comes out with me if we're not going on roads (I'm right on a TROT route so very lucky) and she walks next to the horse. She also keeps up in trot and canter and for a short gallop if we feel the need! If another horse comes into sight (very rarely) I ask my boy to stop and then Roxy (collie) goes to the opposite side the horse is approaching on and knows to lay down and wait until the horse has gone past. But she's very obedient and thinks my horse is a sheep. She tries to herd him up when I'm grooming or if he's out and I'm poo picking. Doesn't go near another horse though. If the dogs not obedient and controllable I wouldn't take it as you're factoring in 2 animals with minds of their own under your control. My nans collie occasionally comes out with us too, but she's a nightmare if there's a river/puddle/stream as HAS to jump in it and paddle/swim...
 
I've taken my springer/poodle cross out twice now, he usually follows a few yards behind and occasionally goes a little way in front. The first time, he spooked my (nelly) horse a couple of times, once by splashing in a puddle and once by sneezing! He's very good, with excellent recall, and it's all off road. He doesn't chase, either.

My lurcher stays at home - he'd be gone after the many hares, deer, and pheasants we have.
 
Tiddlypom said:
I'm impressed that most of the posters who take their dogs out hacking with them, have them under close control. You clearly don't come from round these parts, then!

It's common to see a dog up to a hundred yards away from the rider, under no semblance of control and randomly zig zagging across the road (country lane).

Nuts.
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On a previous yard who owned all the farm land for miles around and had deliberatly left tracks round the edges of fields which we were allowed to ride out on, dogs complete with us (no livestock on them) and, provided there were no crops to be damaged, they used to hare all over the fields BUT they come back when called - it's the same now if we go out on the cross country fields here in that they run all over but if needed they will come back to us and walk at heel as needed. It's very useful to have the dogs running through the undergrowth ahead of us as they scared any birds up before the horses got too close so reduces spooks :-)
 
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