On Sunday night right around dusk one of my friends came over on her four wheeler and we decided to take it out on the lease land to see what Chrome would do. He's only been exposed to them driving by on the road outside his pasture. When he was younger he was terrified of them and in fact almost went through a fence. He's gotten calmer about them, but still doesn't love them. So it was interesting to see his reaction.
He was curious, but nervous. See the ears?
He did reach out and touch our hands though.
Looking cute. We put the four wheeler in neutral and revved the engine gently a few times. When he stood his ground we turned it off as a reward.
Then he proceeded to fully check it out.
The pictures aren't fantastic because it was getting dark, but you can see how gorgeous he is hehe.
When he was finished checking it out we started the four wheeler and drove around the pasture a while. He chased it a little and then ran off to chase the donkey. I think he actually had a lot of fun. :)
Below is my absolute favorite shot of the night!
I wish it had been brighter so I didn't have to use the flash, but still awesome in my completely and totally biased opinion. :D So what do you think? Did he pass with flying colors? I have video too, but it's very grainy because of the low light. I might post some of it later when I have time to edit out the long horseless parts. :)
I'm exhausted and ready for bed, but wanted to show you some quick pictures and video of Chrome playing with the destroyed tarp. This was his first time ever having the tarp put on his back. The first time I put it on there he cantered off, but I didn't catch that on tape unfortunately (got a couple of pictures). The second time (same day) is what is in the video. He did so well!!
The next five pictures were with continuous shooting so they are in sequence.
Only the second time (same day) to have a tarp on his back. We'll keep working on it until I can put it over his head. He's claustrophobic with his head so I'll take it very slowly.
And here is the video.
Watching that back he looks like he's a little off on his injured leg, but it may have simply been the tarp because I haven't noticed it any other time. I'll keep a close eye on him. The puncture wound is just a scab now. :)
Date: 4-19-11 Age: 23 months Height: 15hh ¾in (60.75inches) Height Gain: So apparently he grew half an inch. :) So he's a quarter of an inch from being 15.1hh tall. :D Weight: Approximately 850lbs. Weight Gain: According to the weight tape he gained twenty five pounds. I really don't know how accurate that is. I actually cut out his beet pulp and timothy pellets this month because the grass came in and he had put on too much weight. I think he's at the perfect weight now. :) What do you think?
Progress: I didn't realize how much he'd shed out until I compared this picture to last month lol. He looks so sleek and gorgeous. :D As I mentioned above all I'm feeding him now is his two pounds of Enrich 32 a day and free choice grass. He's not even getting any hay. Well occasionally during a cold snap I'll throw out a square bale for him, but that's all. I finally have his weight where I want it.
We didn't do any training because of the puncture wound on his hock. I was afraid of him doing something to make it worse. I needed a break too I think. I was working a lot of extra hours and was very stressed. Now that my boss is back and my hours are going back to normal things should return to normal. His puncture wound looks great. It's completely scabbed over now and getting smaller. His hock is starting to look bony again like it's supposed too instead of rounded as if it were swollen. :) I'm glad he's better. He had me so worried.
Also on another good note his hooves are looking much better! They hardly look clubby at all anymore. Check out the picture above and the ones below and let me know what you think. Are we on the right track?
Goals: For this month I just want to get back into clicker training and walking him on the roads again. I do need to start working on the trailer again. It's too late to geld him this spring. The flies and ticks are out really bad already, so unfortunately it looks like it's put off again. This is getting so frustrating. Why do things keep happening to put it off?? If something comes up this fall then I'm just having it done smack dab in the winter because I'm sick of waiting lol. Sorry to get riled up there. I guess that's all I have for now. I just have to get back into a routine of training.
Here are the other pictures I got. He has a bad expression in the one above because it was just starting to rain.
This one he had a great expression, but he was standing weird. He does not normally stand this way.
This one is a good body shot, but his head is turned away. At this point the camera was getting wet so I gave up. You can see the blurry rain drops streaks in the picture lol.
One more month and my boy will be two years old!! Yay!
Due to the wind damage I've blocked off the front pasture so Chrome and Zep can't get to the barn or feed shed. There is just too much chance they could hurt themselves. The insurance adjuster still hasn't been out and probably won't be until Monday so we can't clean anything up. That means I've been going out to the lease land and feeding them out of buckets.
Chrome's puncture wound has finally scabbed over and is no longer draining. He finished his third week of antibiotics yesterday. I don't think I'm going to get any more unless it starts to look bad. Here is a close up of the scab.
It's right where the bone on the inside of the hock is, so I still can't feel the bone. It is still a little bigger than the other hock, but only in the tiny area where the wound is. The hock isn't swollen. It still feels warm directly around the scab. Here are some shots of his legs. I don't know if you can see the difference between the two hocks in pictures, but it's worth a try.
He stands so cow hocked so I have to show it in two pictures. The above picture shows the right hind hock from directly in front. It also shows the location of the wound on the left hind.
This shows the injured hock from directly in front. It's closer and the angle is different so it's hard to tell. Can you see how it still looks puffy directly around the wound? You can click to enlarge the pictures. So do you think it's healing up okay and I should leave it alone? Should I keep him on antibiotics?
Getting a drink after his supper.
Looking cute!
Threatening to kick my husband's cane lol! He sure can flex when he wants to. :)
I love my colt.
Oh and he's gaining himself a fan club among my friends hehe. I'm finally getting in touch with some horse people in my area and they all love him. :) One of my new friends was over the other day and she was playing peek a boo with him behind a tree. At first he was confused, but he quickly realized she was going from one side to the other of the tree and he would meet her. It was adorable! I would post pictures, but I don't have permission to post pictures of my friend. Well, night guys!
. . . and now I'll show you a video of how great he is about taking his antibiotics. :)
I don't have to halter him or have him in a stall. He does that well with his dewormer too. :) He's such a good boy. Also check out Zeppelin! He's doing so well with letting me pet him. I feel like we've really turned a corner with him. I just need to get back to the training with both of them.
Oh and yeah I know they are way too close and are basically mugging me . . . oh well. :D
Did I mention I love my continuous shooting option on my camera?
Is bragging wrong? Because I really want to brag on my colt. After all, what is a horse blog for if not bragging about your awesome horse?
A tarp! He's seen tarps before, but hasn't interacted with them before (except for the torn pieces out on the lease land). He walked right up to it and started playing with it. Unfortunately I missed the best parts because my camera was saving, but below is a cute video.
If I dragged it too close behind him he'd move away, but he really wasn't acting scared at all.
He was actually more interested in grazing (as you'll see in the video) . . .
. . . but he did play some.
Isn't he just so cute?!
Anyway here is the video.
Sorry this was a day late. I went fishing with friends last night after work and stayed out too late haha. I have something else to post tomorrow that shows how laid back Chrome is. :)
Today is my day off and it's around eighty degrees outside so I decided to give Chrome a bath. I want to try to do better about washing his mane this summer and see if I can keep him from rubbing it out. So of course I took tons of pictures, so I hope you have fast internet lol. Enjoy!
"You are not getting that water near me!"
I love this picture. This was only his second real bath ever (first this year) and he did so great. :) I hosed him off a few times last year and he stood in the sprinklers to cool off last summer, so he's not a stranger to water, but for his first bath of the year I thought the did fantastic. He didn't try to pull back although he did move around some. I can't blame him though, that water is cold!
Zep is curious, but staying clear of the water. :)
I felt bad here, but couldn't help laughing. I was washing his tail and got his dock (tailbone) in the cold water and he hunched up. Poor guy. He didn't try to touch the fence though, just tucked his tail trying to get away from the cold water. Nice back stretch hehe.
"Hey mom, don't do that again please! I like to have feeling in my tail!"
Bath time is not his favorite activity. Poor guy. He was so patient though.
It was really windy too! Love my laid back guy. Also want to mention the hideous green paint over the grout of my house was done by the people we bought it from, we just haven't had the time/money to sand blast the paint off. So ugly!
Playing with his mane. Look how dirty it was! I don't know if you can see it but the shampoo was turning brown. Ick!
I don't think he likes his new hair do lol.
His head popped up when I poured the bucket of water over him. He never pulled back though.
Yawning while I rinse his tail. Silly boy.
Look how shiny, clean and black he is. :) He's getting a nice crest too.
Pretty, clean, shiny boy.
Rubbing his face on his leg, but the rope got in the way so . . .
. . . he rubs it on the gate.
Wind blowing his mane to the wrong side of his neck.
Walking out to the lease land with me.
I have my very own black horse! Until he dries at least. :D
Took off his halter so he can look all 'wild' stallion with his wind blown mane lol.
All he cared about was having some grass. He deserved a nice graze.
I love the lease land. Being able to take pictures of him with no man-made objects in the picture is so great. :D
Time for a roll. Thank goodness he was in the grass and not the dirt.
Right side done. Time to switch.
Going down on the left side.
I didn't manage to get one with his feet in the air, but I though this was cute. :)
Getting up. Love this picture. He's so cute!
Coming to see me.
And gets sidetracked by the yummy grass again lol.
This is after I took him back to the barn to brush him (got LOTS of hair off of him) and fly spray him. He's already looking so sleek, but he still has a lot to shed out. He has an almost non existent summer coat. Very thin.
I love that he's not bleached out yet. He gets so brown in the summer.
His mane is so thin and uneven and ugly. I hope it grows back in or I'll have to give up and pull it short like a dressage horse . . . :(
Last but not least here is a video of me rinsing the shampoo out of his mane. He is so calm about it. The mare I had growing up hated water, so I love that he's cool with it. :)
That's all for today. I have more fun pictures and video for tomorrow though. :D
On Sunday night right around dusk one of my friends came over on her four wheeler and we decided to take it out on the lease land to see what Chrome would do. He's only been exposed to them driving by on the road outside his pasture. When he was younger he was terrified of them and in fact almost went through a fence. He's gotten calmer about them, but still doesn't love them. So it was interesting to see his reaction.
He was curious, but nervous. See the ears?
He did reach out and touch our hands though.
Looking cute. We put the four wheeler in neutral and revved the engine gently a few times. When he stood his ground we turned it off as a reward.
Then he proceeded to fully check it out.
The pictures aren't fantastic because it was getting dark, but you can see how gorgeous he is hehe.
When he was finished checking it out we started the four wheeler and drove around the pasture a while. He chased it a little and then ran off to chase the donkey. I think he actually had a lot of fun. :)
I wish it had been brighter so I didn't have to use the flash, but still awesome in my completely and totally biased opinion. :D So what do you think? Did he pass with flying colors? I have video too, but it's very grainy because of the low light. I might post some of it later when I have time to edit out the long horseless parts. :)
