# A ridiculous trail ride experience



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Unfortunately, loose dogs belonging to idiots is not uncommon for me, depending on what trails I ride on. 

But in terms of best funny moment.. that was all people.

I was training on a Saturday mid-morning in a state-owned park. I was riding down a marked trail that branched off the major trail around a lake - one commonly used by hikers and bikers. So wasn't I surprised to come around a corner not even 1/4 mile from the lake and come across a naked couple entangled on a blanket ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF THE TRAIL. Luckily for them, my mare handled the surprise better than I did and halted, her head dropping down to stare at them. I was already laughing, but the look on the man's face when he looked up to see Dream looking at him was priceless. Dream turned aside and quietly walked around the blanket before returning to the trail on the far side while I was laughing so hard I could barely stay in the saddle.

A lovely romantic encounter is all well and good.. but at 11am on a Saturday during the summer in the middle of the trail?! :rofl:


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## KigerQueen (Jun 16, 2013)

This has happened to me before. I was cantering my mare when i se a dog dart out in front of my horse. He snapped at her belly as she hoped over him. my horse, being a good girl, acted as in nothing happened. I turn to see 3 dogs fallowing us. so i stop her and spin her around and chase the dogs back. the owner shows up with 2 more dogs off leash and grabs the dogs. He said his dogs had never done that before and wonders off with the dogs -_-'


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## tinyliny (Oct 31, 2009)

I bet he was planning on beating that dog. no wonder it didn't want to stay with him.
you should have taken the dog. you were so kind to take it back.


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## clumsychelsea (Jul 9, 2014)

Not long ago myself and a few other people went for a trail ride, pretty slow since we had some beginners along. Nothing faster than a trot and on a quiet trail that I've never seen used by anyone but the riders at our barn. Everything was going great... Until the end when we turned a corner and suddenly at LEAST seven or eight four wheelers, motorcycles and dune buggy's went flying towards us! The worst part is that they SAW us and continued zooming through without slowing down or even moving to share the trail! We had to haul tail into the bushes. Thank god for good, trusty trail horses because they didn't even flick an ear at the commotion. 

Oh, and you know how things always happen at the worst possible time? Well, I had just dropped my stirrups to relax my legs! (Round stirrups are the worst.) Would have been an interesting test of balance if the horses had spooked. :lol:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

Now that I live in the city I have seen a lot of idiots out there. For some reason, they think that a well traveled horse trail is a good place to to to the bathroom. I try not to, but it is hard not to laugh.


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## Maryland Rider (Jul 2, 2013)

One day we came upon three cyclists at a joining of trails.
They asked if we wished to go down the trail first.
I explained we were traveling at a slower pace today and they should go first.

My horse sees them take off down the trail.
Now he is spinning and rearing wanting to follow.
I tell fellow riders I will be moving out a bit and I will tire him down in a mile or so.
My horse is pretty much unstoppable at this point unless I get really aggressive.
What the heck, racking down the trail, staying about 75' behind the bicycles, no problem.
These young'uns on the bikes kept speeding up, terrain getting rougher and more hills.
Now they put it in high gear, this turned into a quick five miles and stopped at the river.
We all stopped with my horse standing in the river, them on the bank heaving for breathe.

Other riders showed up shortly as we were all talking by rivers edge.
Poor cyclists were tired.
This was my 3rd ride on a new 5 year old six seasons ago.
By the 7th ride we were past the bicycle issues.

First encounter of the train is another story.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

*MR*: :rofl: (and for some reason reminds me of a time before my mare learnt to halt from the extended trot immediately when asked, and a show judge asked me to do X, Y, Z then return to her at the extended trot and halt... I was thinking, oh ******, during the whole programme before I had a lightbulb moment and, when the time came for the extended trot / halt manoeuvre, I steered my mare straight at the judge like I did at fences for halt cue practice at home - something that was thankfully not obvious to the onlookers, just a telepathic kind of exchange with my mare, who then, realising I wasn't letting her go around, halted textbook around 50cm from the judge looking innocent, haha! And won the class, with the judge commenting on her wonderful extension, impulsion and preciseness, and I laughed so much for the rest of the afternoon I got acidosis in my diaphragm...)

*Saranda*: I recommend for you the film _Idiocracy_. Have to say, here, with such an impermeable case we'd take the dog back with us and then call the ranger and explain, and then the owner would have to cough up money to reclaim the dog, meaning the nice husky would have a chance to get a proper owner if the fee wasn't paid. Poor dog, I bet the man beat him. Some people are so clueless that their IQ would actually have to be described with negative numbers - their very existence seems to suck sense out of the universe with the unrelenting manner of a medium-sized black hole...


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

Me? I'd have hoped the husky got along with my other 5 dogs... and kept him. Sounds like a great riding companion!


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## ponyboy (Jul 24, 2008)

phantomhorse13 said:


> Unfortunately, loose dogs belonging to idiots is not uncommon for me,


It's not uncommon for me either, and I live in the city. I can't count the number of times I've heard "don't worry, my dog really listens" right before said dog comes barreling towards me and my (leashed) dog.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Change said:


> Me? I'd have hoped the husky got along with my other 5 dogs... and kept him. Sounds like a great riding companion!


Second that! I can't instantly recall ever having ridden without anywhere from three to a dozen dogs along. And if you are going to be riding on trails where there may be dogs, you need to teach your horse to get along with dogs.

Of course the converse is true, too: any sensible person taking their dogs to places where there might be horses needs to teach the dog how to act around horses.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

As kids riding in the forests around Lake Arrowhead, CA, we were required to take our German Shepherd along for protection from coyotes, wolves, pumas, humans.... 

As a teen, in Mesa, AZ, I always had my Keeshond along. My sister always took her GSD. Both dogs were voice trained to "up" which meant get/stay on the sidewalk (or at least off the road) when there was traffic. 

The Keeshond wasn't much protection - when bigger dogs threatened, he'd jump from the ground to my foot to my lap and let the horse do work of chasing off the other dogs.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

I wouldn't have take the dog back the second time. He was warned. If the dog never found his way home, that wouldn't be my problem. 

But then loose dogs are a pet peeve of mine. They upset my green horse, who can be either afraid of them or aggressive towards them depending on his mood. Either way it puts me in danger as a rider and the dogs shouldn't be running loose. :evil:


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Change said:


> As kids riding in the forests around Lake Arrowhead, CA, we were required to take our German Shepherd along for protection from coyotes, wolves, pumas, humans....


We have all those animals and more and I never felt the need to take a dog along for protection. Usually, it's the dog that causes the problem with the wildlife, not the other way around. If I was afraid of the wildlife (which I'm not) I would carry a gun. I ride alone in the woods several times a week. Haven't had a problem with the wildlife yet. It's been, oh, probably 15 years of woodland trail riding now. 

We did have a javelina charge us the other day. That was a first. I treated it like it was a loose dog (yelled at it and faced my horse towards it) and it went away. Now what if I DID have a dog with me? That's not a fight I would want to get involved in.

To be fair to the dogs, I did have a Cocker Spaniel I rode with years ago, and she was a good companion. But I didn't have illusions of her protecting me and on a few occasions I had to jump off to keep her away from snakes and such.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

@Trailhorserider - my GSD chased off a puma that was stalking us, threatened a pedophile who was attempting to let us "pet the horse," and alerted us to other dangers as we were growing up. He never left our sight - or should I say - he never let us out of his sight. 45 years ago, the area we rode in didn't have a lot of hikers, bikers, or even other horse riders. But then again, it was perfectly okay and normal for a 12 year old and an 8 year old to be alone and wandering the wild woods from dawn til dusk.

Other kids might have had to be home by the time the street lights were on. We had to be home before the sun dipped behind the hills - and that meant the horses had to be back at the barn, groomed, fed, and a two mile bicycle ride home.

The horses and that dog were the equivalent of a babysitter.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

Change said:


> @Trailhorserider - my GSD chased off a puma that was stalking us, threatened a pedophile who was attempting to let us "pet the horse," and alerted us to other dangers as we were growing up. He never left our sight - or should I say - he never let us out of his sight. 45 years ago, the area we rode in didn't have a lot of hikers, bikers, or even other horse riders. But then again, it was perfectly okay and normal for a 12 year old and an 8 year old to be alone and wandering the wild woods from dawn til dusk.
> 
> Other kids might have had to be home by the time the street lights were on. We had to be home before the sun dipped behind the hills - and that meant the horses had to be back at the barn, groomed, fed, and a two mile bicycle ride home.
> 
> The horses and that dog were the equivalent of a babysitter.


It sounds like you had a wonderful dog. 

I guess I've just had more bad experiences than good with dogs on rides. Or rushing out after my horse when I ride through the neighborhood. It's left me with a bad feelings towards loose dogs.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

trailhorserider said:


> But then loose dogs are a pet peeve of mine. They upset my green horse, who can be either afraid of them or aggressive towards them depending on his mood. Either way it puts me in danger as a rider and the dogs shouldn't be running loose.


You're welcome to your opinion. Me, I think you shouldn't be riding your horse in places where there might be dogs (or other animals, bikes, quads, dirt bikes, etc) until you've trained it properly. YOU are the one choosing to put yourself in danger. Unless the place you ride has particular restrictions, the dogs and their owners have exactly the same rights to use it as you do.

As for dogs running loose, dogs, like humans and horses, need exercise to stay healthy. No dog (other than perhaps a toy breed) will ever get that exercise on the end of a leash.


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## trailhorserider (Oct 13, 2009)

jamesqf said:


> You're welcome to your opinion. Me, I think you shouldn't be riding your horse in places where there might be dogs (or other animals, bikes, quads, dirt bikes, etc) until you've trained it properly. YOU are the one choosing to put yourself in danger. Unless the place you ride has particular restrictions, the dogs and their owners have exactly the same rights to use it as you do.
> 
> As for dogs running loose, dogs, like humans and horses, need exercise to stay healthy. No dog (other than perhaps a toy breed) will ever get that exercise on the end of a leash.


What if I let my horse run around loose on a public trail, because he needs the exercise? Would that be okay? (He loves people!). I don't think that would go over well. So why would a dog be any different?

My biggest issue has been loose dogs in the neighborhood coming out and running up to my horses. They have no right to be loose! Luckily the worst offender got run over and had to be put to sleep (he also chased cars). So life has been better since that happened. 

I don't normally ride developed trails but rather the national forest and rarely encounter dogs out there. Elk, javelina, deer, even bears all run away from a horse. Yes, I've encountered bears and my horses are fine. The problem is that dogs run right up to you, which is threatening to a horse. 

If I did encounter dogs on a trail I would hope their owners would catch them up. I can understand people taking their dogs hiking. But there is no excuse for someone not leashing their dog if a horse is riding by. Or loose dogs threatening my safety in a neighborhood. Sorry, I have no sympathy for that. As a human I feel I have more right to ride the roads than the dog does to chase cars and horses. :evil:


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I have always ridden with dogs and on roads too.

They are trained. I tell them to "Come in" and they get behind the horses. On open ground they would run alongside the horses as long as they could, knowing we would wait at the gate for them to catch up. 

Other dogs were ignored.

Out with the dogs walking the other day I encountered two women on horses. My English Pointer, a rescue, had obviously never seen a horse up close. He was basically afraid, but when he saw the GSD sit close to one horse sniffing its leg, he decided that this could possibly be a good playmate and was inviting the horse to chase him. Had it, he would have run a mile! 

I train my dogs, they ignore any stock and as I train them to ignore so I trained the horses to ignore dogs.


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

I had a TBx who was a bit of a madam. I'd had a good lesson, and just wanted to plod around the block for a cool down.

Someones german shepherd came out of no where on charge. I just froze. She stood, waited for it to approach.. it jumped up at my leg and she bit it. Never heard such a yowl.

Didn't see it again, mind you :lol:


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## whisperbaby22 (Jan 25, 2013)

It's not the dogs. It's the owners. The ones that start off with Well he's a baby Well he's never done thes before and then start CHASING the dog in an effort to catch it.


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## Hang on Fi (Sep 22, 2007)

I think the naked couple in the middle of the trail takes the cake... Darn exhibitionists 

A horse eating baby carriage... Fiona about left me in midair like the cartoons. *shakes head* lol...


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

I have always taken a dog with me when long reining the youngsters out and about.

The dog would stay behind me unless something spooky was ahead, like a tractor and trailer with only a narrow gap to get through, then I would send the dog ahead. This gave the horse a lead and the confidence to follow without it really realising it was getting a lead.

As for adventurous rides there have been many. I too have come across naked bodies, funniest one was with a bomb proof horse that would not go past their clothes all neatly stacked as if for a kit inspection.

I have had dogs follow me home. Picked up many sea birds covered in oil and taken them back to try and save them. Even played John Wayne on one occasion when I found a half dead calf, just born that the mother never wanted anything to do with and brought that back about four miles over the front of the saddle. Not bad as the mare had only been broken a couple of months!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Hang on Fi said:


> I think the naked couple in the middle of the trail takes the cake... Darn exhibitionists


Maybe they weren't exhibitionists. Maybe they were City born and bred, and weren't expecting to meet other human beings in the wilderness. :rofl:


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Foxhunter said:


> I too have come across naked bodies, funniest one was with a bomb proof horse that would not go past their clothes all neatly stacked as if for a kit inspection.


This really made me laugh! I can just picture it! :rofl:

Maybe they met at an OCD dating site? :lol:

Or maybe it was part of the mating ritual - you know, show you have good organisational genes, and you will take good care of things!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

SueC said:


> This really made me laugh! I can just picture it! :rofl:
> 
> Maybe they met at an OCD dating site? :lol:
> 
> Or maybe it was part of the mating ritual - you know, show you have good organisational genes, and you will take good care of things!


 
Stop...STAAAHHHP.
I am crying with laughter in work!!


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

We saw a fresh-water shark last week. Actually, it was a plastic water bottle in a small lake, but if you ask my horse, she will tell you it was most definitely a fresh water shark :lol:


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

When running a busy riding school we had all sorts of people come to ride in the summer holidays. Most were honest about their riding experience and generally you could tell how horsey they were. Most were inexperienced and we would trek to the top of the downs, a short couple of trots and back, those that could rode were taken off in another direction for a canter and then would catch up with the novices.

We had one woman who said she was experienced but she didn't like rushing, she wanted to admire the scenery. That was fine. She had obviously ridden before but was very nervous. 

This lady would come to the Island every other weekend and book a ride. She could just about manage a trot so went out with the young novice children. She usually rode a very quiet cob, (lazy) and was happy to plod out on the trails telling us how when she was at home she had a really fast all cantering ride. 
One weekend she arrived with her hair. When I say 'hair' I mean extra hair! She had reed false pieces in her hair which was piled higher than anything Dolly Parton wears. Lots of silk flowers were interwoven into the pile. She was going to a wedding. 
She wanted to rode but couldn't wear her hat. The riding school owner said it would be OK so off we went. 
All was fine, my elderly boss went off to the left with the small children whilst I took the more capable ones for a canter. 
We then had to traverse down a steepish hill, nothing new, the horses grazed on these hills. The path we followed went at an angle down the hill, under some trees, across a rough track and down the last bit of hill. 

We were all walking down when I realised that the hair lady was some distance behind and told her to kick Murphy to catch up. His normal reaction would be to walk a tad faster but today was not normal. For some reason he raised his head and took off at a canter.
He only had about 100 yards to catch up but, he obviously ad the devil in him and he veered off the track, which I had turned my horse across to block, and went under the low trees and through some thick shrubs. He went straight down the hill and stopped at the bottom as if nothing had happened. 

Somehow the woman stayed on top, how I do not know as she came down the steep hill with her arms wrapped around his neck, bouncing all over the place.

Well there was hair and flowers all over the place. Two of the girls and I got off and collected hair and flowers pins and clips. It took us some time because we couldn't stop laughing.

Boss went in with the others whilst we gathered and we managed not to be laughing when we caught up.

I did feel sorry for the lady as she had spent all night sitting upright so as not to spoil her hair and it was ruined in a couple of minutes.

I don't know what the heck got into Murphy that day, he was back to his usual plodding self and never did it again!


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

trailhorserider said:


> What if I let my horse run around loose on a public trail, because he needs the exercise? Would that be okay? (He loves people!). I don't think that would go over well. So why would a dog be any different?


I'd have no problem with that, if I could just get the horse to come when she's called  (Seriously: I'd like to have a horse that was well enough trained that we could walk & run together without having her on a 'leash'.) 

But turn that around: why should you be out on your horse without having someone holding it on a lead rope, just in case?



> My biggest issue has been loose dogs in the neighborhood coming out and running up to my horses.


But we aren't talking about neighborhoods here, but about being out on trails. How about if your horse gets out and starts eating the neighbor's garden? 



> The problem is that dogs run right up to you, which is threatening to a horse.


Then you need to get your horse used to dogs, because you are eventually going to meet them out in the National Forest. Some of them might even be riding with us 



> But there is no excuse for someone not leashing their dog if a horse is riding by.


Why? (Again, out in the forest.) Of course it's just good sense, and good manners, to train both dogs and horses, but why one over the other?


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I have been dragging my memory for trail riding incidents that might entertain some people. I don't think that coming across a marijuana plantation when I was riding my mare as a teenager is that entertaining... I do, however, have one entertaining incident - it's just that it's going to come at a considerable cost to my personal dignity to tell it. 

I am remembering this because of the coffee thread that's currently on as well. Because coffee has a terrible diuretic effect and I do not recommend drinking a large mug of it before going on a 20km trail ride. I'd not tried to do that before. I mean, any endurance enthusiasts will surely have got toileting on the trail down pat. The men have a natural advantage - no squatting required, therefore less necessity for getting their warmed-up horses to stand very still, and less likely to get startled looks from their steeds. My Arabian mare was very polite about such stuff, clearly getting what was going on. But the day I had the coffee, I wasn't riding her...

No, I was riding my father's then-5yo stallion Chip as part of his multifaceted racing preparation. 20km was an hour's work for him, including warm-up and cool-down. This was a clown of a horse: Played with garden hoses, beach balls, any likely objects - retrieved sticks, and carried them around his paddock cantering in circles, with the big circus finish of standing on his hind legs, stick held aloft. He loved working with people and would neigh and run up to his paddock gate whenever any of us were in the vicinity. He'd fish for the lead rope end when walked and give you "Aren't I clever!" sideways glances when he had it. If you goose stepped next to him, he'd imitate you. Without any question, this horse had the most colourful personality of any horse we've ever worked with.

So in keeping with Murphy, it was _this_ horse I happened to ride after drinking a large mug of coffee. I got halfway into the forest, just 15 minutes down the road, when suddenly cantering along didn't feel so great. That was one heck of a quick diuretic effect... Trotting on the down-transition was, of course, worse. I barely made it off the horse, and performed my first and hopefully last simultaneous dismount/partial undress procedure, landing frog-like in front of the highly surprised horse: What was this rude training interruption - and what was that monkey doing on the forest floor? With great interest and attention, he began to investigate while I pushed his nose away and told him to mind his own business. However, breeches are elastic and I was kind of hog-tied and otherwise engaged, and my arm muscles from floor level are no match for a well-developed horse neck with 400kg behind it. So, I found myself having to move backwards crab-style while trying to avoid any icky splashes. Worse still for my sense of decorum, the horse was beginning to do the typical prolonged Flehmen thing that stallions do when sniffing the droppings or urine of mares.

Then a kangaroo appeared in the bushes, and now the horse, of course, reacted by taking his head right up and trying to swing around to face the new commotion, while I was hopping along on the forest floor below admonishing him and trying not to fall over. And then, of course, I needed to dry myself... I really think only the female riders reading can truly appreciate the predicament, it's such complicated business for us...

At this point, the horse's attention returned to me - I was now more interesting than the kangaroo. Thankfully, at this stage, I was quickly ready to get back on the horse, and we completed the training without further incident.

But, in the 17 years since, I have never drunk coffee again before riding a horse.

Chip is now 23. These photos was taken two weeks ago at my mother's 75th. I am including them in the hope of distracting everybody from having temporarily surrendered my dignity to give you all a good laugh.


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## Roadyy (Feb 9, 2013)

That was a real gasser Sue. Thanks for the read..lol


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## Luvs Horses (Jan 9, 2014)

Foxhunter, got a good laugh on the wig lady. Poor Murphy must have thought she had a monster on her head. ROFL
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

Many years ago I had neighbors with German Shepard's that responded to commands in German. I don't know how these idiots ever could afford, learn enough German or be approved to own such dogs. They had been there for years and had, obviously, not maintained the level of training. 
The one and only time I ponied a horse down the road, all three dogs charged out at us. The mare I was riding knew to turn and face or even chase attacking dogs, the mare I was ponying would actually attack dogs. But, this was a totally different situation! The dogs surrounded us and I was doing everything I could to hold on to both horses. The woman came out after we were surrounded and was screaming in German. The dogs were slow to respond, I was just glad that they finally did. 
Any and all interaction with those people and their kids, honestly, made me wonder if their IQs, combined, reached 100.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

KsKatt said:


> Any and all interaction with those people and their kids, honestly, made me wonder if their IQs, combined, reached 100.


This depends entirely on whether they had a parasite load or not! ;-)


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## RegularJoe (Aug 26, 2014)

SueC said:


> I am including them in the hope of distracting everybody from having temporarily surrendered my dignity to give you all a good laugh.


Hilarious as that was, it could easily have been much worse/better. 

Either way, you win the internets for today!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

I suppose it would have been _really_ bad/good, depending on your point of view, if a group of trail bike riders had chanced upon me mid-situation. Or the local church choir on their annual picnic. Or even if the horse had gotten loose and run away because of the kangaroo, and I'd had to walk all the way back and explain to my father why his precious, valuable horse (this was his stable star) had been left so irresponsibly unattended. ("You're not allowed to fall off this particular horse. What do you mean, you didn't fall off?")


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

This is for you, SueC...

On a camping trip trail ride, there are numerous occasions when a 'lady' must allow the group to ride on ahead so that she might take care of some business. So I told the group to go on ahead.

I pulled some toilet paper and a plastic baggy from my saddle bags, found a nice manzanita to hide behind, dropped my Wrangler's and squatted. About the time the flow started, I heard a bit of rattling from my right and sort of frog jumped to the left... right onto a jumping cactus... which promptly attached itself to my bared backside.

Horse heard the rattling as well, and as I was jumping to my left, she jumped to ~her~ left and took off to join the rest of our companions.

Now, my companions, being concerned that I'd been unhorsed came looking for me. I was the only girl on that particular ride and it was the really cute guy who had thought to bring pair of pliers...


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Oh, how embarrassing, Change!  I've never been sprung horse-riding, but we are also avid bushwalkers (hikers) and once I most mortifyingly got spung in the middle of nowhere in the Blue Mountains, where I thought I was safe and had actually checked the track in either direction and listened intently for any cues of approaching humans, and my walking buddy was actually shielding from one side of the tracks. This was next to a river bend, and suddenly heads appeared over the rushes mid-business. I kneejerk reacted by pulling my hiking pants up, but my directions to my body to stop flow _now_ unfortunately weren't immediately effective, and just as the other walkers were really starting to notice me, I dived in horror into the river fully clothed to restore hygienic conditions. 

It was the middle of the New South Wales winter and, while there was no ice or snow, winter in the Blue Mountains is very cold... the water was, shall we say, invigorating. I bathed in what I desperately hoped looked like an intentional, bonding-with-nature manner until the hiker group disappeared, but then my friend came around the bend, sized up the situation and expressed much amusement. 

I will now sing the praises of microfibre thermal hiking pants - you can wring them out and they will keep you nearly as warm damp as dry. It was a two hour walk to complete the loop, and doing that in wet jeans would not have been fun!


PS: ...I am curious, Change: Why the plastic baggy? And why is it called a _jumping_ cactus? And were your socialising opportunities with the cute guy improved by the experience?


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## rescuechick (Jun 8, 2014)

Ahaha these storys are great. I ride with my pit bulls and labs all the time. They are all trained to ignore people and other animals and do a great job, people are usually very impressed with them. But then again I love training animals to listen lol.

I have an embarrassing story about someone I went for a ride with. It was her first and last time on a horse. We were crossing a busy intersection when he decided to stop and do his business, right in the middle of the road. People were laughing, when he was done he decided to pee. Must have been there several minutes and I could NOT stop laughing. She said she would never get on another horse as long as she lived. :lol:


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

:lol: Some great laughs here! You guys are great! So many pictures in my mind now - doing it on the trail, crab walking backwards through the brush (what country-fied female hasn't done that?), hair, pins & flowers everywhere...:lol:

But the OP is a story I see over and over again. Why oh why are their animal owners think that if they punish their wandering animal once it arrives back home or at their side will make the animal want to return again the next time? Duh, ya, I'm gonna go back home - if I do I'll get punished. I can't wait. 

Wow...
No hilarious stories from me. Boring as all get out here, but I'll read more: give me more!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Trust me, NM, boring is great if you don't like getting into embarrassing situations. At the time it is really hard to see the plus side!  But it's good story fodder for around the campfire, real or cyber.


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## rescuechick (Jun 8, 2014)

Here are 2 funny stories. Sometimes we let the horses run free on the ranch, well my mom parked her truck and got out of a birthday party when Buddy, one of the horses, decided to steal her wallet, RIGHT OUT OF HER PURSE! With $500 in it my mom was chasing him all over the ranch to get it back lol. 

Another was when I came around a corner, dogs and horses, to find a family picking blackberries. I stopped and so did my dogs, who are trained to stay behind me. It took them a minute to see us and then they went running for their car like I had caught them stealing. Haha I laughed as they hauled butt down the road.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

SueC said:


> PS: ...I am curious, Change: Why the plastic baggy? And why is it called a _jumping_ cactus? And were your socialising opportunities with the cute guy improved by the experience?


The baggies are for the used paper - we don't leave it as trash.

As for the very cute guy, no. He was much more interested in telling my best friend (we rotated who drove the truck/trailer to the camp site each day - it was her day to drive) about the location of every spine and needle he had to pull, much to her delight. I just leaned against the horse trailer (no sitting for me, thank you), nursing my beer and my ego.


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

I was on a trail ride with a friend once up Granite Mountain. I was on her 13yo Peruvian paso gelding who was an absolute gem and she was on her 7yo neurotic appy/TB gelding. We were on our way back to the trailer and were following a fence line. Right before we got to the gate, we saw a pair of hikers (a man and a woman) come through the gate toward us. No big deal, right? Well, the man decided it would be a good idea to hide behind a huge juniper trees between us and the gate. My friend called out to him to move into the open so we could pass and he wouldn't scare the horses. He yelled back that he was terrified of horses and didn't want them to charge him (idiot). We had a standoff for a good ten minutes, with the man's companion trying to reason with him and get him out from behind the tree. 

Finally, my friend said to heck with it and sent me ahead. Charmer (the gelding I was riding) was absolutely perfect and just looked at the guy as we passed like "What are you doing back there?! Come say hi!" Seeing that I was at the gate safe and without incident, my friend urged her gelding, JJ, forward at a walk. The guy behind the tree made the brilliant decision at that point that maybe being behind the tree wasn't the greatest idea after all and popped out from behind the tree onto the trail about twenty feet ahead of JJ. Now, JJ was a nervous nelly to begin with and it didn't take much to spook him. So you can imagine his reaction when this random guy popped out in front of him from behind the tree (he didn't like passing big trees anyway). I swear that horse leapt four feet in the air and came down bucking. The guy bolted past JJ and my friend down the trail, and the woman just stood there staring in shock. 

It took my friend a good minute or two to get JJ to just stand still long enough for her to dismount. He absolutely REFUSED to ride by the tree and kept looking at it like "What's gonna pop out of there next? A mountain lion?!" The entire time my friend was leading JJ past the lady, the lady was frantically apologizing for the man (who was nowhere to be seen). 

What's sad is that this wasn't some young guy. It was a 50+ yo man. 

I also had a jogger run up behind my gelding on his third trail ride ever. Never said a word and didn't make hardly a sound. We were out on a flat open portion of trail and Aires started acting very looky and antsy. I couldn't turn to check behind me (physically couldn't) and he refused to turn around so I could look. Didn't even know the jogger was there until she went to pass us and Aires about jumped out of his skin (for him lol...which meant he side-stepped...once :lol: ). I'm just glad I was riding my level-headed boy and not some hot-headed horse who would have blown up.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Change said:


> The baggies are for the used paper - we don't leave it as trash.


Ah, of course! Obvious in hindsight - cactus = desert - probably no humus layer to speak of anywhere! ...Local etiquette here is to bury paper etc at least 10cm down in the leaf litter layer when you're riding or hiking in the forest. The fungi in that layer will have everything below the surface turned into humus by the end of the winter.




> As for the very cute guy, no. He was much more interested in telling my best friend (we rotated who drove the truck/trailer to the camp site each day - it was her day to drive) about the location of every spine and needle he had to pull, much to her delight. I just leaned against the horse trailer (no sitting for me, thank you), nursing my beer and my ego.


Oh dear, aren't we humans lovely!  The over-50s Bushwalkers group down here in Albany a while back had an incident with a lot of bull ants managing to sneak unnoticed up a walker's pants while they were all having lunch. Bull ants are an inch long, have horrific jaws and a wasp-like sting at the tip of their abdomens. Getting bitten or stung really, really hurts! And she had around 30 of them in her pants before she noticed and panicked, and then they started biting and stinging her, and she was ripping her pants off in front of the whole assembly. And what did her _best friend_ do? Laugh riotously and take photographs, which she then shared with the under-50s group at the next combined social event. :shock:


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

I do recall, talking of egos, being at a friend's BBQ. His daughter was a couple of years older and back from uni. 

My mother and I went round at 1500, and I was introduced to Pimms. Yum.

Except by the time I got home at 2100, 17 yo me was throwing up on the lawn, much to my mother's delight.

I had promised the daughter we'd go for a hack, with her on her father's carriage horse/pony/cob/thing who is an absolute beast, but short.

I barely managed to tack up my 17.2hh schoolmaster, let alone slide up him to get on board.

Half an hour in, I'm completely lost.

Both horses stop dead in their tracks. Mine takes off to the left, destroying a farmer's crop of wheat.

He's creating crop circles, bucking, bunnyhopping, turning and twisting. Carriage ponio thinks this is great fun and tries to join in.. the girl had it more together than me and pulled him up. I had to sit through the ride. He stopped.. and I proceeded to throw up down his side.

She never took me up on my offer to hack again, we had to turn around and go home. 


Have you ever tried to hose puke off a horse who doesn't like water, when you're actually dying? I felt very, very sorry for myself.


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

DuffyDuck said:


> Have you ever tried to hose puke off a horse who doesn't like water, when you're actually dying? I felt very, very sorry for myself.


Poor you? Poor horse!


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## Remali (Jul 22, 2008)

Oh the mental images I have! This thread is the best!!


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Many tales from when out Fox Hunting!

More than once I have siddled off to go potty, only for the hunt to come along. My attitude is "I have started so I will finish!" 

On one occasion hounds had been running hard. We ended up at the end of a track, forestry on one side and willow growing on the lower side where it was very boggy. Along the track someone had built a load of brush fences about 4' in height from cut off fir branches where they had done some felling.

I was at the front of the field and stopped at the end to see which way hounds were going to turn. Much to our surprise the fox had doubled back. Hounds were screaming and we all turned to go back along the track. I was on the lower side and a child on a pony on the higher. As he turned so the pony's rump was against my leg. I swung my leg back and the pony lifted me out the saddle. I ended up laying across the saddle and my mare took off jumping the brush and overtaking as many as she could. There wasn't a lot I could do about it as we were all close together. When we got into an open field I was able to swing my leg back and sit where I should have been!

I had brushed ribs for days.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

When running the riding school I had several children as liveries. 

One day three of these liveries, girls of 14-15 years came back to say that when they were going through a gate a man wearing only shoes came along (he was carrying his jeans and shirt) and said "What a wonderful day for sunbathing!" 
The girls never replied but cantered off. 
They were fascinated by the fact that he climbed _through _a tight and closely barb wired fence when there was a gate there!

I reported it to the police and basically that was the end of it until the following year when this same man kept appearing to riders, always the youngsters. 
We tried to catch him, there were basically four ways to leave the area but we never caught him.

Third year he was again out and about. No routine to him, he just appeared on random days. 
Then he made a mistake. He appeared one beautiful Sunday morning when I was escorting my 'Ladies Only' ride. 
He came through a wore fence from a small copse, walked towards us and said his usual greeting as he walked towards us. 

We saw him coming and one woman said "yes, it is a beautiful morning. What are you doing parading that thing? My boy is only four and he is bigger!" 
This started a barrage of laughter and very demeaning remarks.

I can honestly say that he blushed from his ankles up! 

He turned to walk away and I flicked him across his backside with a dressage whip. He went faster and we charged after him and he dived back through a fence. That must have been painful but the lesson was learned and we never saw him again!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

frlsgirl said:


> Poor you? Poor horse!


:lol::lol:

Yes, poor poor horse.

But I was suffering too! It wasn't a hangover.. I WAS dying!


On a more serious note, I was once charged by a wild boar.

Horse was acting up through a stretch we'd ridden many times. I pushed her on, when in hindsight I wish I had listened. Massive creature came in to our path and started creating. I just sat there with my mouth gaping open like an idiot, then it charged. My TB x(same one who bit a german shepherd who jumped up at me on a hack!) turned, and legged it whilst I was still frozen in place. I didn't look back, but managed to duck a few branches and let her run till I stopped shaking!


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Not a horse one.

I had taken my nephew back to the ferry and on my return stopped to give the dogs a walk in the New Forest (a lot of which is open ground with barely a tree in sight.)

Veering off a main track I walked for a couple of miles across this open ground on a track used by the feral ponies. The dogs were all running ahead hunting rabbits. All of a sudden I heard the Lab barking. It was a hysterical bark "I don't know but if you come near me I will run away" bark. Then the GSD started and she rarely ever barks. Hers was an alert bark. Then the terriers joined in with their terrier bark (yappy)
I thought I had better investigate, I did think it might be a mare foaling or some other wild life as we were well off the beaten track. I waded through high bracken on rising ground to where the GSD was - the other dogs were a few yards across a dip in the ground.

In the dip were two beached whales. A man and a woman both weighing well over 300lbs, sunbathing (well, that's all they were going when I got there) 
Both had trouble even sitting up and to stand they had to roll onto their fronts and then raise, with a struggle. Once standing I could see they both had thongs on which made me laugh.
As I turned I did warn them that they were turning bright red and it might be an idea to cover up! 

The dogs just followed me happy that it was just humans after all!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

DuffyDuck said:


> But I was suffering too! It wasn't a hangover.. I WAS dying!


:rofl: This is so interesting! Have we the pleasure of conversing with your ghost, then? I mean, on the Internet, how would we even know? ...I don't think I've ever interacted socially with a dead person before. Perhaps you could set up a special thread so we can ask you all sorts of philosophical and metaphysical questions!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

SueC said:


> :rofl: This is so interesting! Have we the pleasure of conversing with your ghost, then? I mean, on the Internet, how would we even know? ...I don't think I've ever interacted socially with a dead person before. Perhaps you could set up a special thread so we can ask you all sorts of philosophical and metaphysical questions!


 
I am indeed a ghost. I have died many times. Of fright, alcohol poisoning and laughing.

You may ask, young grasshopper, what you wish. But the mysteries of the universe may remain, you understand, mysteries.


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## Saranda (Apr 14, 2011)

Woah, this thread has really taken off well! Thanks for sharing, guys, and keep going!  

As much as I'd like to get a Husky, with a full-time job, a suburban apartment and four cats to live with (as well as a horse to visit) I'm in no situation to take up such a responsibility. Also, the dog seemed to be purebred, so taking him away could be considered theft. I am quite sure that the owner beat the poor hound after we left, but, sadly, animal welfare is practically nonexistent around these parts, and, unless the animal is killed, injured violently or visibly starved, the animal control people cannot do anything if all they have is someone's claims about an owner beating his dog in the forest. Besides, the Husky seemed to be well groomed and fed, so there would really be no proof. 

I have a couple of funny stories to share myself, but I'll do that a little later.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

DuffyDuck said:


> I am indeed a ghost. I have died many times. Of fright, alcohol poisoning and laughing.


Hmmm...*multiple* occasions of dying - perchance are you a feline ghost?


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

SueC said:


> Hmmm...*multiple* occasions of dying - perchance are you a feline ghost?


 
No, but like my mother says.. I can never get it right the first time :lol:


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

DD: :rofl:


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## Katz1411 (Jul 31, 2014)

jamesqf said:


> I'd have no problem with that, if I could just get the horse to come when she's called  (Seriously: I'd like to have a horse that was well enough trained that we could walk & run together without having her on a 'leash'.)
> 
> But turn that around: why should you be out on your horse without having someone holding it on a lead rope, just in case?
> 
> ...


We have some open space trails here that allow off-leash dogs; owners are supposed to demonstrate that their dog is under voice and sight command, and they get the tag to go off leash. But from many I've seen, they may be under voice and sight command at home but they get out on the trails and it all falls by the wayside - running up to horses and hikers, chasing wildlife, etc. It ruins it for the ones who are well trained, as people complain and fewer trails then allow dogs off leash.


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

Personally I've never had a problem on horseback caused by other people's dogs running up to me: My mare regarded them with boredom and the others, if the dog was being annoying, as a potential stomping opportunity. I guess all our horses were used to dogs from home, and if you get a yippy dog on a trail, turning and facing it and riding forward usually makes it back off.

These days I always ride out accompanied by our dog. The horse enjoys her company and is pretty fascinated by her bathing mania (jumps into any dam or stream with gusto while he leaps over a little stream as if it's the River Nile). They also like to have at least one match race per ride - and being a Kelpie, she is very competitive at speed.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

Two women would walk their dogs on the beach when the tide was out which was when we rode there. 
Shouldn't have been a problem but for two things. First, the women remained on the promenade letting the dogs race about the sands. Secondly they thought it funny when the dogs chased the horses. 
None of the horses minded and would ignore the dogs or, we would stop until the dogs went back to their owners. 
It became a pain that every time we were there these women let the dogs loose to 'play'. Repeated requests were ignored. 

I went down with a senior ride one afternoon and when the dogs came chasing after, I pulled up short and larruped them with my hunting whip. 
Those two dogs turned, tails between their legs yelping. 
Whenever we went back on the beach those dogs ran back to the owners.


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## RegularJoe (Aug 26, 2014)

Foxhunter said:


> Whenever we went back on the beach those dogs ran back to the owners.


Pretty smart dogs, as most dogs are. 

But I think maybe it was the owners that needed a taste of that whip.


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## KsKatt (Jun 2, 2014)

I had a very unusual experience. Both of my mares were totally dog wise, one would turn and face and/or move toward no problem. Mare #2 actually stomped a dog a neighbor brought over, without asking. Dog lived but was never the same. 
I had neighbors, then, that had specially trained German Shepards, that responded to commands in German. I have no idea how these people ever could afford or qualify to own such dogs. Obviously, through the years, they had not kept the dogs sharp. 
I had ridden past their house many times, it was just a quarter mile away. The one time I ponied, mare #2 off of mare #1, all three dogs charged us. By the time the woman got out and started calling the dogs, they had already circled us. Both horses were trying to position themselves, of course one wanted to face, the other wanted to kick. I had my hands full trying to keep hold of both! The dogs took their sweet time responding to the owner.:-x
I chose to simply ride each horse on their own after that. Of course the dogs never came out again.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I had a mare that actually looked forward to passing the place with the aggressive dog. We'd turn down that street, her ears would shoot forward and she'd start to jig a bit. When that dog would come racing out, she'd have made any high-stepping PRE proud! 

She enjoyed chasing it right up onto the porch. "This is MY street, by dhogs!" she seemed to be saying. Stupid dog never learned.


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## Foxhunter (Feb 5, 2012)

My sister, cousin and I decided to go out for a ride together. Sis, who was a brilliant rider hadn't ridden for some years. My cousin who wasn't as experienced as sis and me, was riding a 16.1 horse she knew well. Sister wanted to ride a lovely big young hunter I had in for schooling which left me with Murphy, a 14.3 heavyweight show cob.

Although we had learned at the same riding school we rarely rode together so this was a first.

All went well, great ride for several miles. I, being lower to the ground and on the most experienced horse, had the job of opening and closing most of the gates. We came to a gate where I had to dismount to open and close it. As I went to mount so the pair of them cantered off, this would have been OK but I was using my stirrup instead of vaulting and Murphy, being rather rotund, had a problem with a slipping saddle. I ended up catching up with them sitting on the right saddle flap, the seat being on his left side!

It caused great amusement to the pair watching me trying to stop Murphy from bucking and to regain some control.

We were heading home down a very steep track where the trees had overgrown and causing the, on taller horses had to lean forward onto the horses necks. That put me at an advantage! I just asked Murphy to go and he took off at a canter with the other two hard on his heels! 
At the bottom of the track Sis and Cousin had less wind in their sails.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

I'm glad that everybody else was thinking that the poor Husky was about to be beaten, UNNECCESSARILY. Good God, would YOU return to your owner if, when you messed up YOU were beaten?!?!?
I use my basement and isolation to punish my two dogs and the next day the punished dog behaves. They don't want to be shut up away from the fun. My dogs are loose every day on my 5 acres. Their leashes (w/choke chains) look brand new. Our driveway in on the westmost street of a tiny town and we have 8 houses on our street with neighbors. The dogs don't listen perfectly, but they do listen. It has taken me 25 years of dog ownership to learn how to handle my dogs. Most people that own dogs don't have a clue about what they are doing.
DD commented recently, that it is amazing the humans took a vicious predator, and trained it to live in our houses. THAT is dog. Our dog, Pyg, is a leaner and a lover. She has a jaw that would crack a femur. 
I believe that you need to intensely train a puppy before they are 6 mo. It is always easiest if the puppy is a 2nd dog and your first dog is trained as you like, bc the older dog will help you to train the puppy. Even though we have two 7yo dogs, we are getting dog#3 next year. I don't want my dogs to be too old to enjoy the new puppy. My dog, Xena (GS/Collie, 1998-2008, RIP) was getting sick soon after I got Rose (Husky/GSxBC) as a puppy.
My SIL has never had children, and won't let her 10yo male collie establish leadership over her 10 mo male collie. She and her DH always interfere, so they never resolve it, like my dogs did YEARS ago. Neither dog is vicious, but she has been bitten getting in between the two. =/
I say you need to practice defensive riding against other dogs and other people that you may meet on the trail. I guess I prefer trail riding in vacation areas bc there are so many riders and bikers and hikers that problem dogs are dealt with quicker. The local camps don't want to lose business bc of problems like this.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Corporal said:


> DD commented recently, that it is amazing the humans took a vicious predator, and trained it to live in our houses.


But consider how amazing it is that dogs manage to live in the houses of the world's most vicious predator, and have even managed to tame some of them


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

Last night we had a bonfire in the backyard - burning down the summer's worth of overgrowth. I sat down on the ground to relax and enjoy watching the flames for a bit, and two of my 70 lb pit bulls decided they could still fit in my lap. Yeah. Such vicious dogs.

I'm just glad the other three didn't try to join in. I'd have died of laughter and been squashed flat! Do they make pizza box shaped coffins?


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