Perhaps if you have the dog around while the horse is tied if you are
working around her, and offer her treats when the dog approaches. Anything to
associate positive reinforcement. On the other hand, it might not be such a bad
thing. My horse is a tremendous dog bully. I think mostly in part because he
tends to be on the bottom of the pecking order, and he knows he can throw his
weight around with dogs, if not with other horses. My poor unsuspecting Doberman
follows me into the pasture regularly and has learned the hard way to stick
close to me, or either give Loki a wide berth, as Loki will actually go out of
his way to charge dogs and trample and strike at them with his front feet.
To be honest, I don't discourage this behavior. I don't like him going after my
dogs obviously, but at the same time,this is a VERY handy source of
confidence when we're out riding and are approached by roaming dogs. It really
aggravates me when I have to deal with other people's dogs. Even if they are
barking and charging, Loki will bow up and move towards them. I keep him under
check, but I allow him to drive them off. If the dog's owner happens to be
around, which is usually not the case, I will let them know my horse is
intolerant of dogs. I never have to worry about dogs startling him and freaking
him out.
