Horses and Huskies
When Predator and Prey Share the Trail... ...and Why Horses are Not Thousand Pound Dogs...
I've had horses for about 55 years. Huskies for a couple of decades. I've trained my own horses (including a mustang who had run wild in southeastern Oregon for the first eight years of her life), worked with trainers, and after my first husky ran into my backyard and tried to eat my goat (the goat lived and was re-homed, I kept the dog) trained my own small recreational teams.
And I have learned they are completely different beasts, and not at all compatible.
Huskies weigh about half a hundred pounds, and are, pound for pound, the strongest draft animal on earth. Northern breeds are a primitive group of domestic dogs with a high prey drive and great survival instincts. Unlike most dogs who come when called, northern dogs take a message and get back to you, after running the Siberian 500 and eating the neighbor's livestock.
Horses weigh about half a ton, can run 40 mph, and have great survival instincts... which means teleporting, kicking in the warp drive and vanishing into the next country if they meet something which might be a predator... which is anything they have not been personally introduced to. This includes plastic bags blowing in the wind, the nice lady on the Rail Trail with the baby stroller (with or without flag), a suspiciously sawed off log (too straight to be natural, therefore Equus Munchus Justawfulus), bikers (with or without motors), the moron sailing his boat right up to the trailhead your horse is coming out of, sudden noises, and that weird wolfpack with the rattly thing bumping behind them.
Equus Munchus Justawfulus
A rider might say “OH, my horse is fine with dogs...” He means fine with a guy jogging with a Golden Retriever. He means fine with the Jack Russel at the barn. He means fine with the curious Shih Tzu sniffing around his horse's feet. He does NOT mean fine with a pack of screaming Siberians dragging a bumpity bumpity thing behind them.
There is a marked difference between Round-Eared Dogs and Northern/Herding breeds, at least, in the opinion of horses. It is as deeply instinctual as some humans' reactions to snakes (they climbed trees and ate our distant ancestors). Pricked ears and high prey drive spell WOLFPACK!!! to the thousand pound prey item dawdling down the trail. Whether it's one dog, or a big team, it's still Equus Munchus Justawfulus.
Control Panel
You control your team with voice, and good brakes. You are also bigger than your dogs and can physically control a single dog by size and weight alone.
Nothing can actually physically control a thousand pound horse. A rider directs the horse with weight, leg, and reins (as well as voice, horses are smart, and can learn a lot of the stuff dogs do). The reins are the main control. On its most basic level, a bridle does what a predator does: grabs a horse by the nose and controls it, more or less. Of course we use long, careful training to teach the horse to follow our lead, to follow the slightest twitch of rein or leg muscle or shift of weight. But in a situation where the horse is freaking out and reverting to basic instinct (run away!), physically controlling the direction the nose points helps.
It is not, however, foolproof.
A rider cannot necessarily stop a thousand pound tantrum, but one can direct the energy, point it in a safe direction. Here is where a rider needs room, lots of it, to maneuver.
And one of my biggest go-ahead-make-my-day irritations with the equine impaired is that they assume horses are like big dogs or like cars, and they often do completely moronic things in the presence of horses... like the sailor I talked to who didn't understand why a horse coming out of a trail head freaked at his small sailboat sailing right up to the beach....
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! YOU MORON! LOCK PHOTON TORPEDOES MR. SULU!!!
His actions might have caused an injured rider, a loose (and potentially injured) horse, as well as potential injuries to bystanders or others on the trail.
You cannot pass horses the same way you'd pass a team of dogs.
If you follow horses down the trail, you'll probably get a burst of speed out of your team (after they've done the scratch and sniff tour, checking out the prey items' tracks and poop).
If you pass dogs, you'll have practiced on-bys till you can think it real loud and your dogs will do it. Those things, there, dogs, on-by, no problem. Even if there is a stop and sniff and even a tangle, it is fixable. Dogs are usually team players and probably won't try to kill each other. Probably.
If you pass horses, your dogs will be thinking; “I can take that... I can, I know I can, we can take'em down, that'll feed the pack for a week!”
The horse will be thinking: “ %^$^@$#@!!!!! RUNAWAYYYYY!!!!!!” Perhaps ridiculously well trained Iditarod dogs (or a team of Golden Retrievers) will go on-by. Perhaps an old seasoned trail horse who doesn't bat an eye at Civil War battle re-enactments might not bolt. Perhaps a really good rider can control an uncertain horse.
Or not.
Horse Superpowers:
They can fling you across the trail with their teeth, cave in various parts of your anatomy with a tap, and seem to have the ability to teleport (they can leap out from under you and be down the trail before you hit the ground). They hate having their feet trapped or tangled, that means Certain Death (can't....run....away).
The good news is horses are creatures of flight, not fight. They will generally try to run if threatened. If they are smart (like my mustang mare) they will eyeball a potential threat, not wasting energy until it is within their flight radius (close enough to be a certain danger). Then they will teleport and vanish.
Some horses will issue a warning to a predator (mares especially do this): by striking with a front foot, or stomping. Some will swing their butts toward a threat. And since most horses' butts are about at your eye level, this means they can reach threats six to ten feet away in one swell foop with a quick step and a well aimed kick.
Approaching Horses...
As you approach horses from behind (with the concept of passing), keep a safe distance in mind. Talk to the riders (some will assure you it's fine to pass, or they will pull over). Watch the body language of horse and rider. A well seated, experienced rider is part of the horse, not bouncing around. A relaxed horse is moving forward in a steady rhythm the way your dogs do. Any change in that rhythm is a sign the horse may be thinking stuff like “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH $&^%*&^%!!!! RUNAWAY”. The ditzy dancy sideways jig is a clear sign of a horse about to shy or bolt. A shy can be anything from a brief sideways couple of steps to a leap of epic proportions. Bolting is leaping out from under the potential predator and running like H-E double toothpicks. The horse may start by giving you the hairy eyeball, cocking his head toward you, raising the head, arching the neck a bit. He may flatten his ears or just tilt them toward you like radar (watching, waiting, ready to bolt). Any change in the horse is cause for you to back off, have a conversation with the rider and figure out a way for them to get well out of your way so you can go by.
I once made the rather horrendous mistake of leading a horse past a tethered dog (a big easy going Golden Retriever cross), the horse misstepped, the dog jogged left, and suddenly we were in a Dance of Death and Destruction as the horse's legs got tangled in the dog's line. For about 60 seconds I was in heart attack central... then the horse kicked the line loose and the dog retreated. Nobody was injured, fortunately.
If you get a horse in the middle of your team it will be more like Susan Butcher's moose encounter on the Iditarod Trail back in the 80's. She held the moose off with an axe and several dogs were killed. The horse WILL freak, and there will be a huge horrible mess of death and destruction.
So steer clear.
Having riders pass you is easy, pull over, get a death grip on your dogs, and let the equines go by. The last thing you need is an enthusiastic husky diving at a horse's legs as it passes. Even a glancing kick can spell Dead Dog.
A head-on pass is easy... pull over, get a death grip on the team, and let the horses pass.
The rig, bike, or scooter (or sled, if you're lucky enough to have snow) is as scary to most horses (unless they've been trained to a cart) as the dogs. So your dogs have passed, but there's this weird thing on wheels...
Horse: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
A group of horses will probably have equines of various attitudes, skill levels, personalities, and experience (as well as potentially some green riders). Pay special attention when faced with groups. Horses, like Siberians do groupthink, they work as a herd, what one thinks/does spreads to the others. If one freaks out, he will either be calmed by the other horses... or he will freak out the whole herd. Just watch their body language.
Keep your distance.
Talk to the riders.
Watch the horses' body language (they should be moving forward in a relaxed rhythm).
Think of the worst possible reaction from the horse and avoid it.
Don't assume the rider has total control (weighs half a ton, runs 40mph, is controlled by a little string called a rein). Give them room to maneuver.
Control your dogs, and know their reactions to other animals.
Don't crowd horses with multiple teams.
Keep your distance.
I've shown you the worst case scenarios. Your dogs may, in fact, be quite obedient around horses, and the horses you meet may be quite experienced and easy-going, but make no assumptions. Be prepared for predator and prey reactions and prevent them before they happen. Horses and huskies can share the trail, if everyone understands how these two different species think and react.
When Predator and Prey Share the Trail... ...and Why Horses are Not Thousand Pound Dogs...
I've had horses for about 55 years. Huskies for a couple of decades. I've trained my own horses (including a mustang who had run wild in southeastern Oregon for the first eight years of her life), worked with trainers, and after my first husky ran into my backyard and tried to eat my goat (the goat lived and was re-homed, I kept the dog) trained my own small recreational teams.
And I have learned they are completely different beasts, and not at all compatible.
Huskies weigh about half a hundred pounds, and are, pound for pound, the strongest draft animal on earth. Northern breeds are a primitive group of domestic dogs with a high prey drive and great survival instincts. Unlike most dogs who come when called, northern dogs take a message and get back to you, after running the Siberian 500 and eating the neighbor's livestock.
Horses weigh about half a ton, can run 40 mph, and have great survival instincts... which means teleporting, kicking in the warp drive and vanishing into the next country if they meet something which might be a predator... which is anything they have not been personally introduced to. This includes plastic bags blowing in the wind, the nice lady on the Rail Trail with the baby stroller (with or without flag), a suspiciously sawed off log (too straight to be natural, therefore Equus Munchus Justawfulus), bikers (with or without motors), the moron sailing his boat right up to the trailhead your horse is coming out of, sudden noises, and that weird wolfpack with the rattly thing bumping behind them.
Equus Munchus Justawfulus
A rider might say “OH, my horse is fine with dogs...” He means fine with a guy jogging with a Golden Retriever. He means fine with the Jack Russel at the barn. He means fine with the curious Shih Tzu sniffing around his horse's feet. He does NOT mean fine with a pack of screaming Siberians dragging a bumpity bumpity thing behind them.
There is a marked difference between Round-Eared Dogs and Northern/Herding breeds, at least, in the opinion of horses. It is as deeply instinctual as some humans' reactions to snakes (they climbed trees and ate our distant ancestors). Pricked ears and high prey drive spell WOLFPACK!!! to the thousand pound prey item dawdling down the trail. Whether it's one dog, or a big team, it's still Equus Munchus Justawfulus.
Control Panel
You control your team with voice, and good brakes. You are also bigger than your dogs and can physically control a single dog by size and weight alone.
Nothing can actually physically control a thousand pound horse. A rider directs the horse with weight, leg, and reins (as well as voice, horses are smart, and can learn a lot of the stuff dogs do). The reins are the main control. On its most basic level, a bridle does what a predator does: grabs a horse by the nose and controls it, more or less. Of course we use long, careful training to teach the horse to follow our lead, to follow the slightest twitch of rein or leg muscle or shift of weight. But in a situation where the horse is freaking out and reverting to basic instinct (run away!), physically controlling the direction the nose points helps.
It is not, however, foolproof.
A rider cannot necessarily stop a thousand pound tantrum, but one can direct the energy, point it in a safe direction. Here is where a rider needs room, lots of it, to maneuver.
And one of my biggest go-ahead-make-my-day irritations with the equine impaired is that they assume horses are like big dogs or like cars, and they often do completely moronic things in the presence of horses... like the sailor I talked to who didn't understand why a horse coming out of a trail head freaked at his small sailboat sailing right up to the beach....
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! YOU MORON! LOCK PHOTON TORPEDOES MR. SULU!!!
His actions might have caused an injured rider, a loose (and potentially injured) horse, as well as potential injuries to bystanders or others on the trail.
You cannot pass horses the same way you'd pass a team of dogs.
If you follow horses down the trail, you'll probably get a burst of speed out of your team (after they've done the scratch and sniff tour, checking out the prey items' tracks and poop).
If you pass dogs, you'll have practiced on-bys till you can think it real loud and your dogs will do it. Those things, there, dogs, on-by, no problem. Even if there is a stop and sniff and even a tangle, it is fixable. Dogs are usually team players and probably won't try to kill each other. Probably.
If you pass horses, your dogs will be thinking; “I can take that... I can, I know I can, we can take'em down, that'll feed the pack for a week!”
The horse will be thinking: “ %^$^@$#@!!!!! RUNAWAYYYYY!!!!!!” Perhaps ridiculously well trained Iditarod dogs (or a team of Golden Retrievers) will go on-by. Perhaps an old seasoned trail horse who doesn't bat an eye at Civil War battle re-enactments might not bolt. Perhaps a really good rider can control an uncertain horse.
Or not.
Horse Superpowers:
They can fling you across the trail with their teeth, cave in various parts of your anatomy with a tap, and seem to have the ability to teleport (they can leap out from under you and be down the trail before you hit the ground). They hate having their feet trapped or tangled, that means Certain Death (can't....run....away).
The good news is horses are creatures of flight, not fight. They will generally try to run if threatened. If they are smart (like my mustang mare) they will eyeball a potential threat, not wasting energy until it is within their flight radius (close enough to be a certain danger). Then they will teleport and vanish.
Some horses will issue a warning to a predator (mares especially do this): by striking with a front foot, or stomping. Some will swing their butts toward a threat. And since most horses' butts are about at your eye level, this means they can reach threats six to ten feet away in one swell foop with a quick step and a well aimed kick.
Approaching Horses...
As you approach horses from behind (with the concept of passing), keep a safe distance in mind. Talk to the riders (some will assure you it's fine to pass, or they will pull over). Watch the body language of horse and rider. A well seated, experienced rider is part of the horse, not bouncing around. A relaxed horse is moving forward in a steady rhythm the way your dogs do. Any change in that rhythm is a sign the horse may be thinking stuff like “GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH $&^%*&^%!!!! RUNAWAY”. The ditzy dancy sideways jig is a clear sign of a horse about to shy or bolt. A shy can be anything from a brief sideways couple of steps to a leap of epic proportions. Bolting is leaping out from under the potential predator and running like H-E double toothpicks. The horse may start by giving you the hairy eyeball, cocking his head toward you, raising the head, arching the neck a bit. He may flatten his ears or just tilt them toward you like radar (watching, waiting, ready to bolt). Any change in the horse is cause for you to back off, have a conversation with the rider and figure out a way for them to get well out of your way so you can go by.
I once made the rather horrendous mistake of leading a horse past a tethered dog (a big easy going Golden Retriever cross), the horse misstepped, the dog jogged left, and suddenly we were in a Dance of Death and Destruction as the horse's legs got tangled in the dog's line. For about 60 seconds I was in heart attack central... then the horse kicked the line loose and the dog retreated. Nobody was injured, fortunately.
If you get a horse in the middle of your team it will be more like Susan Butcher's moose encounter on the Iditarod Trail back in the 80's. She held the moose off with an axe and several dogs were killed. The horse WILL freak, and there will be a huge horrible mess of death and destruction.
So steer clear.
Having riders pass you is easy, pull over, get a death grip on your dogs, and let the equines go by. The last thing you need is an enthusiastic husky diving at a horse's legs as it passes. Even a glancing kick can spell Dead Dog.
A head-on pass is easy... pull over, get a death grip on the team, and let the horses pass.
The rig, bike, or scooter (or sled, if you're lucky enough to have snow) is as scary to most horses (unless they've been trained to a cart) as the dogs. So your dogs have passed, but there's this weird thing on wheels...
Horse: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
A group of horses will probably have equines of various attitudes, skill levels, personalities, and experience (as well as potentially some green riders). Pay special attention when faced with groups. Horses, like Siberians do groupthink, they work as a herd, what one thinks/does spreads to the others. If one freaks out, he will either be calmed by the other horses... or he will freak out the whole herd. Just watch their body language.
Keep your distance.
Talk to the riders.
Watch the horses' body language (they should be moving forward in a relaxed rhythm).
Think of the worst possible reaction from the horse and avoid it.
Don't assume the rider has total control (weighs half a ton, runs 40mph, is controlled by a little string called a rein). Give them room to maneuver.
Control your dogs, and know their reactions to other animals.
Don't crowd horses with multiple teams.
Keep your distance.
I've shown you the worst case scenarios. Your dogs may, in fact, be quite obedient around horses, and the horses you meet may be quite experienced and easy-going, but make no assumptions. Be prepared for predator and prey reactions and prevent them before they happen. Horses and huskies can share the trail, if everyone understands how these two different species think and react.
