I think its how they are trained personally, my 4 Border Collies are great round the horses/livestock they stay well away the rear end and seem to know not to get around their feet, and Mojo (JRT) being so small I did worry so I have spent alot of time with her training her to ''come away'' now she goes into the fields just as the BC's do and is smart enough to know they can do her damage if they wanted so she stands to the side or moves well away
The field adjacent to our horses has cattle with calves and none of the dogs venture into there

I have to admit my dog is a pain around horses.

Its not the breed but lack of consistency. if they don,t see them every day they get scared, and when Jasper gets scared he runs up to them and barks. He does n,t chase them though.

if I see a horse i call him back and put him on the lead, I make him sit while they pass, when he is on the lead he ignores them and the horse riders always say " what a good dog ".
I did ring up a dog trainer about his problem and she said "very hard problem to stop just avoid horses."
Any training tips greatly appreciated.

I have to try and avoid bridle paths, but saying that sometimes horses riders don,t alway stick to the paths.

I think it is more down to the individual dog and how they are introduced etc, than the breed.

My weim was brought up from a pup around horses (and a pet sheep!) and he was fab.
My GSD has also met horses quite alot and she is fine around them.
Where i used to work, the owner had event horses and also 5 ridgebacks which were fine around the horses.
Also know of a dobermann which again is fine around the yard and horses.

My Dobermann is fine off lead around horses. There was a horse in the field next to where he did his training as a puppy which I think helped alot as the trainer used to have us work with the dogs in front of the fence (until she got told off by the owner who said we were trampling her grass ).

We regularly walk through a field with about 30 horses in there and he isn't interested in them at all, even when they are only several feet away. He is fascinated at what comes out the other end of them though .

My lot dont bother with horses. I dont have any myself (only like horses if they are behind a fence!) but we are surrounded by them where I live so the dogs have always been used to seeing them. If we are out walking and come across horseriders then I make my dogs sit out of the way and they automatically know the drill now. They've had horses galloping past them at quite a pace and they hardly even glance at them.

As people have said, I think it's all about any dog you get being accustomed to your horse and other livestock and getting to know what is expected of it when out hacking.

I have a gsd and a collie and both are fine around my horses.
Almost everyone on the yard has dogs, from a Scottie to boxers and even a **** tzu and they are all fine running free on the yard. It's great company to have dogs there on winter mornings when it's freezing at 6am!

The only problem I have is when riding. My gsd is very clingy and cries when he can't be at my side. And collie runs away when another dog comes in sight and he knows I can't grab him!!

There are certain breeds that have been bred to "work" around and with horses..but that does not necessarily mean they "will be" , unless they have been socialized around them.

Any dog , breed, xbred can be accustomed to be around and even go hacking(if its safe\) with your horse, its will be no different than any other socialization exersice.. you get them used to the horse, they learn not to chase, get under foot and stay away from the front and back end of the said horse.


Most of the most common dogs you will see around horses are JRT , they kind of go hand in hand with the surroundings.

thanks for the replies everyone. been interesting reading