Chrome's Monthly Progress Report & Ninth Ride

 
Date: 6-19-12
Age: 3 Years 1 Month
Height: 15.2hh (technically he's 1/16th of an inch shy of 15.2hh but who's counting?)
Height Gain: Approx. 1/8th of an inch.
Weight: His heart girth measurement is 70 and his length measurement is 72, so according to the Equine Weight Calculator he weighs 1069lbs.
Weight Gain: He didn't gain any weight.  That's the same as last month.

Progress: Chrome has had nine rides!  All of them were fabulous.  We got confused and a little frustrated during a couple of them, but they still all went really well.  I know nine rides in a month isn't a lot, but he's still growing and he's still so narrow and gawky that I can't make myself ride him more.  I'm just going to continue to take it slow and let him figure things out and grow and build the muscles he needs to support his back under my weight.  :)  We also finally started cordeo training!!!  Read about it here (http://rdxhorses.blogspot.com/2012/06/exciting-chrome-cordeo-training-video.html).

 Goals: I'm still going to ride him approximately twice a week, but I'm also planning on borrowing a horse from a friend (that already knows how to trail ride) so that I can start ponying him on his days off.  He needs more exercise and experience.  Riding him twice a week at the walk isn't enough to build the muscles he needs and since I don't want to stress his back too much while he's growing, ponying him is the perfect solution.  Having my friend's horse here also means that my husband can ride some (if his back feels up to it) and means that my friend can ride with me and Chrome on our first trail ride!!  I don't know when that will be (I want more steering first), but it's a step in the right direction.  When we're not riding or ponying I also want to keep clicker training and working with the cordeo on the ground.  :D  Lot's of fun!!

Now for our yearly pictures:

2010

 2011

 2012

 

 

 Smiling!

 

 

 

 Trying to sneak into the house lol.

Now we have the video.  Keep in mind while shooting this video I was not using clicker training, we were just goofing off.  :D  I did some clicker work with him after I put the camera away (since I only have two hands lol).  He did fantastic.  He offered a long and low frame the entire time.  He was walking out really well and only got stuck once I think.  Almost as soon as I put my leg on him and said walk on he started walking again.  Good boy!  We also chased the donkey (at a walk of course), ran into Faran and ran into the round pen (didn't hurt my leg thank goodness lol).  We still have to work on steering eventually lol.  For now I'm focusing on forward, forward, forward!  Here's the video:




And here are some pictures from the ride!

 

 Getting a drink.

 Licking the salt block.  Notice it isn't in the tub it belongs in?  They won't leave it in there lol.

 

 Sniffing my foot.  And yeah I'm in pajama pants. 

 I figured it would be more comfortable for both of us because the seam on jeans can be painful lol.

 Now for a very serious question!  Here's a couple of pictures of Chrome's mane . . . notice anything?

 

We were in the shade so it's a little hard to see.  Here I'll help you out a little . . .

Look how uneven his mane is!!!  It's long and beautiful up front (several inches past his neck, kind of hard to see because it's so thin), but very short and uneven toward his withers because that's where they like to grab each other when playing.  So what do I do?  Try to grow it out or pull it so it's all the same length??  I LOVE a long mane (duh dream horse is the Friesian/his dad's mane is gorgeous!), but it looks so dumb and I don't know how to keep them from tearing it out.  I'm afraid to braid it because I would cry (not literally) if they tore a whole chunk out . . . so what to do?

Oh and you can click to enlarge the pictures.  Also his neck is a little twisted because he's playing with his rope, but you get the idea lol.