Jack russells and ponies

pistolpete

pistolpete

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Thinking of taking on a rescue jack Russell and plan to take him to the field with me. Not something I have good experience of. Had a fatal accident with a dog and a pony years ago. Best tips and advice for this appreciated.
 
Ours have all grown up with the ponies are are still silly round then.
Always tied up if anywhere near a horse
 
IMHO if the JRT or indeed any other breed of dog has already learned to chase stock, it may never work. We’ve had a couple of older fosters which had the chase thing ingrained into them, and it was never going to work long term here. (We can contain them in the garden, but the resident dogs also potter freely round our 7 acres with the neds).
 
Just to add another angle, My JRT has been in with my horses from day 1, just pottered around poo picking with me/in my coat to begin with. She is perfect around them! Has never chased - will stand outside the field when asked and knows to give them a wide birth.

But i know she isn't the norm and its taken alot of work with both the dogs and horses also - I keep the dogs in the stables during feed/haying up time.
 
Never had a problem with my dogs in the field , apart from once when my elderly terrier wore a hi viz rain jacket on a cold, rainy day. The herd massively objected to this unidentifiable yellow blob and the poor girl had to run for the gate.
 
I think it very much depends on the horse and dog in question - one of my dogs is brilliant at the yard, sits at my feet if I'm lunging, comes out on hacks (no roadwork) and has a blast, the other is definitely not allowed!

I have to say, going for a hooley across a field with my little dog hurtling along flat-out next to me with a massive grin on her face is possibly the happiest time of my life.
 
It's a hard one to answer unless you've met/know the dog. Some will pay no attention to horses, some will chase. A dog with an ingrained chase instinct will be hard to turn around as it is a very self-satisfying thing to do and the thrill it gives to fulfill the primal prey instinct, means more to a lot of dogs than anything a human can offer in return for stopping/is worth bearing the level of correction most owners are willing to dole out. So to be on the safe side, keep them apart/put the dog on a lead.
 
Like everyone else has said, it really does depend on the dog. Our Husky stays well out of the horses way, whereas our collie, who really has the herding instinct will nip at the horses heels to the point he’s had a couple of kicks, but will still keep going back again and again. If I just have Luna with me, I let her out of the car whilst I’m poo picking etc, but if I have them both, they either wait in the car and we go for our walk after, or Bo is attached to me via a belt. If he’s on the belt, it’s only when the horses are in a different paddock to where we are as not worth the risk of the horses coming over and something happening.
 
We have a jrt, 2 springers and 1 highland. I dont take any of the dogs to the yard with me as I firmly believe that you cant watch both at the same time. That said, the jrt is our little lorry dog and comes out hacking with us when hubby comes along too. Hubs watches the dog and I watch the pony, works a treat and they do actually get on really well, I just wouldnt want to be in charge of both on my own!
 
I have JRT she is 7 had her since a puppy was around my horses from day 1, she is very good if but a little bit too confident around them, I don't let her in the field with them very often I just think it's s big risk, she will sometimes run after them if they run but she will stop if I call her, it just wouldn't take much for her to get hurt she is tiny compared to them so I am very careful.
 
Two of mine are fine with the JRT, he just mooches around eating poo! But the sec a pony makes a bee line for him every time he sees him. JRT is wise enough to duck under a gate, or mum when pony approaches and pony gets told off, dog has never attacked pony, or indeed any other horse, pony is just a toad!
 
Dad's JRTs have never chased the horses. The horses are far too curious and one in particular tries to lick the terriers. The terriers then run, the horse follows flopping his tongue around....
 
I wouldn’t risk it, especially as he is a small breed. Also depends on the horse/s. Some like to chase dogs. I personally keep the dogs & horses separate.
 
I don't have JRTs, have had three BTs though. I have never let any of them in a field with our horses, our first BT when a puppy, accidently got into a huge field with our horses and startled them, they ran, he followed and ended up with 6 teeth being removed by a kick. he was darn lucky to have survived. however, dogs and horses do share the courtyard as our stables are part of the house. I have trained dogs to stay away from the horses and they are never allowed into the stables. TBH I don't think dogs andhorses (particularly terriers) are a good mix.
 
I took on a rescue lurcher years ago, he had only three legs after having been kicked by a horse when a puppy, I expect he couldn`t resist chasing them. Had him for years, he was still fast at the gallop though I kept him well away from any horses. He was lucky not to have been much more seriously injured or killed IMO.
 
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