Ride 73 - Another Awesome Ride (video!)!

I had another great ride on Chrome!!  We went down a dead end road where he's never been before and he did great.  There isn't much to say so I'll let the pictures and videos say it for me.  :D  The ride was an hour and a half... well that's how much time I was in the saddle.  I walked the last half mile home because I was about to freeze to death and had to warm up.  I forgot to look at the clock when I got home, but we were booking it, so it wasn't much longer.  The distance we covered was 4.75 miles.  :D

 Hubby came along on the bike.

 Gawking at the neighbor horses.

 Gawking at the cows.

This is why we can't walk a straight line LOL!

 Hubby took the rest of these from his bicycle, including the videos!  I call the one above his artistic shot hehe.

 We've been on this part of the road only once!

 Dapples!

We've never been on this road and he's never seen those horses before..... and he's on the buckle!!!!!

 

 

 Standing on the buckle in the middle of the road by horses he's never seen before and he did not budge!  Check out the video below for proof.  :D

Even when the horse trotted after him he didn't move!  I love this horse!

Here is the video.  It shows an adorable foal and the little pony that I have a picture of him sniffing noses with on our July fourth ride (you will also see how he likes to just stop randomly, but he was quick to walk on this time yay).  It also shows him standing on the buckle without budging (taken right after the last photos above).  It's not very long so I hope you can watch it!  Sorry it's shaky.  Hubby took it while riding the bike.  :)


I know I didn't write much, but it's because he was so good!  It was freezing cold and windy and he was perfect!  I love that I can jump on this horse no matter the day or weather or temperature and he's always the same, reliable horse.  :D  Oh I almost forgot to mention on the way home when going by the pasture with the mules and the foal and pony we trotted!  At one point we were trotting and hubby was riding his bike next to us so close we could have held hands.  It was the coolest thing ever!  I wish I had a video of it.  Chrome is not bothered by the bike at all!  We trotted over half a mile all combined (in the grass, not on asphalt).  Another great ride!  I'm so happy we have finally conquered our fear and we're able to get out and enjoy ourselves.  I'm also so very grateful for hubby for coming along and taking pictures.  :D

P.S.  I forgot to mention when we were about a mile from home he balked after passing the last of the neighbor horses (that he's seen a million times).  He did not want to go, so I popped him on the neck with my reins and he jumped in the air he was so startled.  He did not balk again, so I'm hoping I got my point across and he will stop doing that.  I'm still going to try the clicker training, but it was way too cold to hold a clicker for this ride.  :/  That's my only complaint though.  He was perfect for everything else!

P.P.S.  I also forgot to say we got in 18.49 miles on the road this month!  That doesn't include how far we went on rides in the yard since I have no way of tracking that.  I'm so proud of him!  I hope we can keep up the progress during Coldvember as they are calling next month!

Giveaway Winner!

I'm so sorry it took me so long to get the results of the giveaway!  I had a really cute plan to carve your names in apple slices and let Chrome pick the winner, but I've been too busy and it's getting dark too early, so I just used random.org like everyone else does.  :)

So the winner of this awesome plate...

is...

Appydoesdressage from Musings from LogDog Acres!  Congrats Appy!!!!!!  Please email me (myfarmerlife  @  gmail  .  com) with your address and I'll get it sent to you as soon as possible.  :D

I listed the names in order that I received the comments and then used random.org.  Here is the screenshot.  :)

I'm surprised no one was interested in the endurance plate.  I guess I get to put it on my car and Chrome will have to become an endurance horse LOL!

Ride 72 - It just keeps getting better!

 I love my horse!!!  He just continues to exceed my expectations every time I turn around!  Today was a fantastic ride full of firsts.  The girl keeping her horses next door (we will call her B) had agreed to ride today after I got off work, so I tacked up and rode over there.  There was another girl there and we all three sat around talking for forty five minutes or so.  Chrome was very excited, giraffe necking over the fence to see the horses and pawing impatiently at first... then he did this!

Yep he took a nap!!  The other girl wanted to ride so B put her on the dark bay mare and she got on her chestnut gelding bareback with only a halter and lead rope because she didn't have a spare saddle or bridle with her!  Girl has guts!  So we trooped off down the road.

 Note the halter and lead rope?

Chrome was back to being very excited and up.  He wanted to constantly sniff the other horses, but I kept him away from them (for the most part).  Nobody got grouchy and no one got bit or kicked.  Yay!  For his first time ever riding on the road with other horses (and second time ever riding with other horses at all) I am so proud of him!  I can forgive his excitement because I was actually pretty excited to have someone to ride with too LOL!

The next thing I know Chrome is striding out, walking way faster than the other two!!!!  He totally left them behind!  We got so far ahead we had to yell to talk (I eventually circled him when we got too far ahead because part of the fun of riding with other people is talking and laughing)!  The chestnut gelding is about the same height as Chrome and is an Appendix, so I was blown away that Chrome out walked him like that!  The dark bay Quarter horse mare was a total slow poke, but her rider stayed on her phone (on the internet, not talking) most of the time so it wasn't a big deal lol.  Now I seriously want to ride with some Tennessee Walkers to see if Chrome can keep up!  They used to smoke us when I was a kid out on the trails.  :D

Another first!  Alpacas!!!  There were about seven to ten of them.

We were riding along and all of a sudden I remembered that there was a field of Alpacas around the next turn.  I asked B if they were still there because it had been a long time since I drove that way and she said yes.  I said, "Oh no!  Chrome has never seen Alpacas!  I'm going to die!"  She said, "My horse has never seen them either so I'm going to die!!"  We were laughing soooo hard!  Chrome stopped and stared, but then he spotted the horse in the pasture next door and totally ignored the Alpacas.  I'm glad he doesn't know they spit, because one was seriously giving us the stink eye LOL!

Crappy cell phone group photo!

The other first is that we rode in the dark for the first time!!!

It's hard to tell, but that's his head and neck in the above picture.  :D  He was not in the least worried about it being dark and luckily we didn't have any traffic.  I'm totally getting some reflective gear and blinking lights in case we get caught out after dark again.

This was the first time we'd taken this loop and it has a huge hill on it.  He was great going up and even trotted once, but I got off to go downhill because I had no idea if he would get too much momentum going and start trotting or trip.  He was great and it gave me a chance to stretch out my painful knee.  The hilarious thing is that even with me on foot we were walking twice as fast as the other two!!

The last bit of this loop shares the same road with the field of bulldozers as our other loop.  We did some trotting out there!  He trotted with two other horses trotting!!!  He was very strong and I could tell he wanted to go, but he stayed at a trot.  :D  He even stood still next to the bay mare while B loped some circles on her gelding.  He watched them, but never moved an inch.  So proud of him!  There were even times during the ride when the bay mare would be behind us and B would ride into the ditch and lope away on her gelding.  Chrome wanted to go, but he kept walking!!!!

He only spooked twice.  Once was on my way to her field at the very beginning of the ride.  I have no idea what it was over (but we were going by the "Junk Lady's" house so there was plenty to spook at), but it was just an in place spook.  The second time was more like a flinch and I don't know what it was either.  He did look at some stuff like signs, trailers and a yard full of crap for a yard sale.

I'll be honest and tell you he was NOT on the buckle for this ride and he was very strong at times, but he was never unmanageable or dangerous and my arms are not sore so it's not like he was pulling on me.  He was just an excited giraffe almost the whole time.  Toward the end of the ride when it was dark he did finally drop his head and slow down to walk behind the other two.  :)

The total ride with us sitting around talking and the ride itself was almost two hours.  Also we went a total of 4.24 miles and he was walking as fast down our driveway when we got home as he did when we left.  He didn't sweat and didn't seem tired or sore at all.  :D  I'm so glad that Chrome is proving my pessimistic, paranoid self wrong hehe.  He's such a great horse!

Ride 71 - Balky Boy!

I didn't get a single picture of today's ride!  Oops!  Hubby came along on his bicycle.  I went around the block again, but in the other direction.  Chrome was balky from the second I mounted.  I figured he was a little sore or maybe even a little sour since this being ridden frequently is a new thing for him.  He gawked at the horses across the street as they galloped to him from across the field, but he didn't try to trot.  When we rode by the horses they didn't follow us so he went right back to balking.  So annoying!!!!  Time to carry a crop!

He was balky for probably half the ride.  We had a bunch of guys on two four wheelers pass us, coming from behind and he was fine.  They slowed down because hubby rode his bike down the middle of the road.  Then after half a mile or so they were coming back, but they came down a hill and then turned back toward us.  Apparently them coming down a hill first or maybe coming from in front of us made them scarier, because Chrome's head shot into the sky and he froze.  He flinched when they went by, but he didn't spook.  Weird.

At the halfway point he could smell some horses he's never seen before (we stayed by the road instead of cutting across the middle of the field this time).  He started neighing and trotting (we were headed downhill so he was able to use the momentum of his fast walk to get into the trot before I could stop him).  I was able to wrestle him back into a walk.  He tried to break gait a few more times, but he eventually gave up since I had a death grip on him.  It's sooooo annoying that he did so amazing and now he's pulling every single green horse stunt he can think of.  Oh well, that's life with baby horses.

We rode by the horses and I got him back into a field (we spent probably half the ride in fields because I don't like him being on the pavement constantly).  I asked him to trot for the first time of the ride and he launched eagerly into a forward trot.  We trotted the length of the field and then I walked him to the water crossing where he balked last time.  He walked down the ruts, through the mud and by the water with no hesitation.  Then he turned around and walked back through!  Good boy!  Then I trotted him back to the road and he got so floaty it felt like he wanted to canter for a second.

I walked him for a while down the road (on the buckle) before I was able to get off in a field again.  I walked through the boggy part, but when we got to the field where the dozer was (video in a previous post) I trotted the full length of it which turned out to be a quarter of a mile.  :D  There was a second dozer too that was bigger than the first one and he glanced at it because it was different, but he wasn't worried.  Oh I forgot, in the boggy part we walked by a stump where he either tripped over a root or spooked because it felt like he went straight up in the air lol.  I have no idea what he was doing.  Silly horse.

Once back on the road I walked him the rest of the way home, then I bypassed our driveway and went around the corner to where the girl was feeding the horses across the street.  He started balking again when I went by the driveway.  We talked a minute and then turned and walked back home (big, happy walk again).  I got off at the driveway and hand walked him back to my car to untack (I keep my saddles in my car) and he was out walking me!!  I couldn't keep up, so he apparently isn't horribly sore.  His walk feels a lot faster when leading him (and I'm a fast walker) then when riding him for some reason.  I think he's just over the "new" of it and it's "work" now!  Spoiled, baby horse!  The total ride was 4 miles and took one hour and twenty minutes.  We're a lot slower when he's balking!

So does anyone have any advice for a balky horse riding out alone?  He was using any excuse he could think of to try to turn around, including when hubby would get too far ahead and turned to come back to us.  The bike coming toward us was apparently a signal for him to turn around too.  Ugh!  Do I just need to carry a crop and insist?  When we passed the driveway to go talk to the neighbor he flat out put on the brakes and would not move!  I had to kick him as hard as I could as far back on his flank as I could reach to get him to go...  what a turd!

Anyway please don't think I'm upset or complaining.  I'm just keeping records of his behavior so I can look back on this someday and see how far he's come.  I'm not angry at him or anything.  I know he's a spoiled, out of shape, green baby horse and he needs miles and experience.  I just don't want him to dread going out riding.  He used to love it so much.  Will that pass when he's stronger and not so tired and sore?  Walking a horse four miles isn't that far... even out of shape I can do that... I hope I'm not pushing him too hard.  Anyway I accept any advice or tips you guys care to share.  Thanks for reading this loooooong, boring, wordy post.  :D

P.S.  I'm still super proud of him for mostly keeping his cool around other horses and that I felt confident enough to ride it out instead of dismounting.  It's nice to not have to get off all the time anymore.  I'm also super proud of him for trotting the entire distance of the field calmly and for walking on the buckle whenever he couldn't see or smell horses.  I'm proud of him for walking through the ditch that we got stuck at last time.  So there are still a lot of positives about the ride!  Mostly our confidence.  I think he'll be better next time since we've gone both directions now and he knows they both lead home.  :)  This was also the third day in a row I've ridden him even though yesterday was bareback and only fifteen minutes.  He is definitely getting tomorrow off!!  I'll do the giveaway tomorrow too.  I got way too busy today to do it, sorry!  If you haven't entered yet there is a link in the previous post!

P.P.S.  Also so you don't feel sorry for him, I did a 5.75 mile bike ride in 35 minutes with a friend only a couple of hours before the ride.  So he's not the only one getting his butt worked!

Ride 70 - First bareback canter (video)!!

 After working my butt off all day I decided to hop on Chrome for a few minutes just to see if he was sore after trotting so much yesterday.  He wasn't!  Yay!  The ride was only fifteen minutes long because I noticed a bloody spot between his cheekbones on his throat and I freaked out!  Luckily it was just a swollen tick that he had squished.  Hubby removed it and we cleaned and treated it.  Poor guy!  I need to coat him in fly spray apparently.  I forget that just because the flies are gone doesn't mean the ticks are.... sigh.

Anyway, back to the ride.  I just hopped on him bareback with a halter and lead rope since it was going to be a short ride.

Wanna know what the yellow and white thing is?  Check out this video...


Yep they are huge hay tarps.  He had never seen them before (we got them today and put them out to dry before covering the hay), but he had no problem at all.  In fact I was only asking him to walk between them. He's the one who wanted to walk on them!!  At the end of the video when I started to talk I was saying I hope he didn't make a hole in them lol.  He didn't.  Chrome is going to be an awesome CTR horse!!

After that I was riding him around, then started trotting him to make sure he wasn't sore and then I did this...


Sorry the video is crap.  It's from a cell phone and it totally messed up in my video editor.  I tried twice to fix it before I gave up.  Oh well.  You can see that he cantered with me on him bareback and in only a halter and lead rope!  We have come a long way with my confidence!  I'm so proud of him.  I actually cantered him twice.  Hubby didn't get video the first time so we did it again.  :)  He was ducking his head and I reverted back to pulling him up... oops... I have to stop doing that.  I have to chant to myself, he is not bucking, he is not bucking lol.  For some reason it really feels like he is because his head is normally up so high.  The feeling is even worse bareback!  Oh well, we had fun!

After that I let him lick on the salt block, while I enjoyed the gorgeous weather and warm breeze.

 One of the things I love about bareback lol.

He is soooo cute when he gets zoned out over his salt block.  :D

LOVE those white eyelashes!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  I'm going to draw winners tomorrow.  No one has requested the endurance plate, so if someone doesn't snatch it up I'm putting it on my car lol.

Also please check out the Ponies in Pink contest over at Racing to Ride and vote for your favorite!!!

Ride 69 - Video!

 Another great ride!!!!  I'm so excited!  Hubby went along on his bike and got this short video.  You have to check it out...


Chrome is such a rock star.  He wasn't even looking at the dozer.  He was looking for horses that he knows are in the pasture in the distance.  When he is gawking he can not trot a straight line!  It's hilarious.  My leg is swinging and he's looking around, but what I love about this video is that I'm trotting my horse in an open and unfamiliar pasture and laughing!!!  I wasn't scared!  Even when I had to pull him head around to stop him at the end because he wanted to keep going (to those other horses), I wasn't scared.  That is so huge to me!  He wasn't scared either.  If you can't watch videos look at this screenshot.

There are some horses that would have at least been concerned about this thing, but it didn't bother him at all.  He didn't even look at it (he's staring at horses in this screenshot)!

The ride was only two miles, but I think we trotted half of it!  I've never trotted him such a long distance before on a road ride, but he was just ready to go today!  I don't think I've ever felt him so forward and eager on the road before.  I hope that means he's starting to feel more confident.  The only time he spooked is when my husband lost his balance and swerved his bike sharply at Chrome.  Chrome jerked away like he thought the bike would hit him, but luckily hubby caught himself and we kept going.  :)  Nothing else scared him.  He was alert and gawking at horses (they are everywhere!), but he was never hard to handle.  I'm so glad he's finally figuring out this horse thing.  Oh he did try to neigh once but he stopped himself.  I don't think he knows he can neigh with a bit LOL!!!  The best part is after we trot I can ask him to walk, drop the reins completely and he's perfectly calm!

When we got back he did this.

It was getting dark so hubby used flash.  Chrome was so in the zone that he never even noticed.  That horse loves his salt!  I left him at the salt block and went to my parent's house to tell them about my ride.  When I came out he was grazing and he happily followed me to the pasture for his supper.  Such a good boy!

Tarp Fun

 I was worried about Chrome's stifles after our three and a half mile ride yesterday (even though we only walked, we did walk up some decent slopes), so I went out to check on him this morning.  I didn't see him anywhere so I whistled for him.  He let out a huge neigh and then came galloping full speed toward me.  When he spotted me hiding behind the tree he slowed to a big, floating trot.  Not sore at all!!  Good boy!  He still got today off though.  I figured I'd share some pictures from the other day (the day we rode with the neighbor girl).

We had some tarps out while Chrome was grazing in the yard so of course I had to put it on his back.  He skittered away from me at first because of the sound of it running across the grass.  I just followed him deliberately at a walk, dragging the tarp with me.  At one point he trotted away.  Then he decided it was too much work being a dork and stood still while I put it over his back.  :)

At first it was folded, then I straightened it with both sides hanging down equally.

He startled himself once, but then was totally fine...

Even when I did this lol.  He was better with it all spread out because he recognized it as a tarp.  I had never put one on him folded up so I don't think he knew for sure what it was at first.  It was a good desensitization all done without a halter or lead rope.  :)

P.S.  Today the goats wouldn't come within sixty feet of Chrome while he ate hehe.  The brown goat is walking fine today too so that's a relief!

Ride 68 - We did it!!

I finally rode Chrome all the way around the block (3.5 miles)!!!  We even did the first half all alone.  :D  I led him up the driveway because he was excited and looking around for the dun mare, then I led him to the neighbor's driveway before I mounted up because the horses across the street were no longer visible there.  Then I did not have to dismount again until we got home!!  Dang my knee was killing me by then because I forgot to lengthen my stirrups back out.  The ride took an hour and six minutes with about ten minutes of standing still at the halfway point.  I'll explain.

Above was our nemesis!!  Not the water, but the mud right in front of his feet in the picture!!!!  He would NOT walk through it.  He walked down a slope with ten inch deep ruts in it, but then refused to walk through half an inch of mud lol.  We stood there for probably ten minutes because I was too stubborn to let him turn around and he was too stubborn to walk forward.  I sent my hubby a text telling him we were in a stalemate.

To my surprise he showed up on his bicycle seconds after I sent the text (when I had about decided to dismount and lead him through it-glad I didn't!)!  He had decided to join us on our ride.  :D  He took the lead rope and led Chrome through the mud and water.  Chrome walked through with no hesitation whatsoever!!  What the heck??  I guess he didn't want to drown alone lol.  That was the only time he acted like a baby.  The rest of the time he was such a good boy!!!

He was very looky and he spooked in place a few times at birds and squirrels, but he didn't even glance at the vehicles speeding by and I even rode him by the three neighbor horses as they galloped up to the fence!!!!!!!  Good boy!!  I'm so proud of him.  I'm proud of myself too for not chickening out and dismounting.  :)

Chrome was completely cool with my hubby riding his bike beside him, behind him and even in circles around him.  In fact when he got too far ahead Chrome started trotting to catch up.  So cute!!  I'm so excited!  This feels like a huge milestone for us.  I was tense and scared, but I worked through it and we both survived.  I can't wait to go again so I can hopefully relax now that I know what to expect.  :)

When we got home Zep walked over and it's like he was asking, "Where have you been for the last hour?!"

Then I fed Chrome... the brown goat ran up to his bucket... Chrome threatened him away... he came back... and Chrome trampled him!  The goat kind of deserved it for not listening the first time, but I still feel bad for him.  He was limping on his opposite back leg from the one Chrome stepped on the first day.  He's going to be fine and hopefully he has learned his lesson.  I've never seen Chrome threaten and attack another animal like that over food.  I hope he isn't getting food aggressive.  I walked right up to him and pet him all over without him pinning his ears at all, so I think it's just a personal thing with the goats.  Hopefully brown goat has learned his lesson and things will be smooth sailing from here on out.  The white goat has already learned and he hasn't even been hurt!  Oh by the way both goats have taken persimmons out of my hand finally.  They are getting slowly more tame and trusting.  :)

October's Ten Questions

L. at Viva Carlos asks some great questions!

1. How many pairs of breeches/jods do you own? Two... seriously.  I ride in jeans and sweat pants a lot lol.  Shorts sometimes too!

2. How many horses have you ridden? This one was hard!!!  I thought of as many as I can, but I probably missed some.  Beware lots of pictures and info!

I don't remember anything before I was five, but I might have ridden fair ponies or something.... not sure.  Here are the ones I do remember...

Horses I've owned and ridden include: Tony, a pinto pony gelding (sorry no pics, before I owned a camera).  Whopper Stopper, a big (like 17hh+) bay OTTB gelding (sorry no pics, before I owned a camera).  Lady, my Appaloosa mare that I've mentioned on here before.  Lightning, a chestnut Quarter horse mare that belonged to my sister during the same time frame that I had Lady.  Cloud, a weird colored (I don't even know what it's called) Quarab filly that Lightning was pregnant with when we bought her, so she was also the first baby we raised.  Finn, a 15.2hh bay OTTB gelding.  And Chrome obviously.  Oh and Rory (short for Aurora) a piebald mare that I actually didn't ride for the first time until after we had given her to a friend because she was too young when we had her.  It was really neat going back to ride her.  :)

Cloud

What color is she?? She was born this color from day one.

 Four years old in 2002.

Three years old in 2001.  Loved her roman nose!

 Thirteen years old back in 2011 when I went back out to visit her at her new home.  

I gave her to a friend in 2003.  She's gotten lighter, but did not gray out.

Aurora (Rory)

Around two or three in 2004 when I had her.  

I only had her a year, she was a project horse that I basically 

bought because a neighbor was sending her to the auction house.

 Around nine years old in 2011 when I went to visit her in her new home.

Finn

I only had him two years and he sadly died of twisted gut.  :(

 Finn with my Appy mare Lady.

 I sucked at conformation shots back then!!  This was in 2004.

 Love this picture of me galloping him down the road.  

Wish I hadn't had that expression on my face.

 Dressed up in the jousting knight outfit my mom and I made.

Lady

This mare means the world to me.  I love her with all my heart. I had her for thirteen years before I gave her to a friend because I was moving to a place where I couldn't keep a horse.  

 2004.

 2004

2004.  See Finn in the background?

I don't know why I only got pics from 2004... must have been because the others sucked.

2011 at 21 years old at her new home.

 I miss her so much!  I really need to go visit her again!

Lightning

My sister's Quarter horse mare.
Mother to Cloud.

 

 

I went on one guided trail ride in 1996 where I rode an appy gelding named Moe.... I have no idea how I remember that considering I haven't thought of it in years.  It was short for Molasses and yes he was that slow!!

Horses I exercise rode or started under saddle:  Tory, a bay Paint mare.  A big, stocky gray mare (I think Appendix) that I can't remember the name of... she was trained for roping and was amazing!  You could steer her and stop her with your pinky finger.  Grizz, a big bay gelding that was severely hand shy on his right side which I found out about when I reached up to brush my hair back and got dumped under his feet.  An evil bay Quarter horse gelding that I can't remember the name of (actually I'm 99% sure it was Jack) who had a hideous bucking problem that I wasn't told about until I was bucked off  (he immediately went back home).  There was one more that I started under saddle that was an absolute dream... I gave his owner lessons too but I can't remember any details... dang!  The bay and Grizz are two of the reasons I have fear issues now...

Tory

Horses from the dressage stable where I worked:  Timmy, a chestnut Appendix gelding lesson horse.  Baby, a bay Anglo-Arab mare lesson horse.  Boomer, a black Thoroughbred/Appaloosa cross gelding that I've mentioned on here.  I was in love with him and it was a dream come true to get to take lessons on him.  Dolly, a chestnut Missouri Foxtrotter that I exercise rode.  Mel, a buckskin Quarter horse gelding that belonged to a friend.  Mac, a really tall bay Thoroughbred gelding that I exercise rode.  Ruler a chestnut American Saddlebred gelding that I trail rode.

 Baby, 20 something Anglo Arab mare.

 Boomer, approx. 11 year old Thoroughbred/Appaloosa gelding.

 Dolly, four year old Missouri Foxtrotter.

 Mac, Thoroughbred gelding.

 Mel, approx. ten year old Quarter horse gelding.

Timmy, Appendix gelding.

Ruler, approx. 14 year old American Saddlebred gelding.

My twin sister loved him like I loved Boomer.  :)  That's her hosing him off.

All of those pictures and ages above were around 2004.

There was a Paso (don't remember if it was Peruvian or Fino) that I rode once.  I rode him/her up and down the road a couple of times.  It was the first time I had ridden a gaited horse and good grief that horse was volatile!  It was like riding dynamite!

When I was a kid I had a couple of friends who had two horses.  A palomino and something else.  I don't remember anything else about them but I know I rode them a few times.

I rode a little gray pony on the same day we were trying out horses when we bought Whopper.  I don't remember anything else about the pony...

I rode a bay Thoroughbred gelding at the therapeutic riding center where I used to volunteer.  I can't remember his name though!  I think it was actually Finnegan because I thought it was weird he had the same name as the OTTB I had that died.

I also rode a huge bay Selle Francais gelding that I was thinking about buying.  He was incredible, but his owner was too clingy and creepy so we passed on him.  The whole situation just felt weird.

My best friend's horses Sexy, bay Paint stallion (first stallion I ever rode!), Tony, bay Quarter horse, Pretty, bay Paint mare, Rocky, Paint gelding (he's actually solid black with white legs though) and Z her Friesian mare that I've posted pictures of me riding on the blog.

 Z

Best friend's Friesian mare.

Dream come true right there folks!

Sexy

Best friend's Paint stallion.

 

Pretty

Best friend's Paint mare.

 Pretty, with Tony in the background.

She is not sway backed... not sure why she looks it here.

Rocky

Best friend's Paint gelding.

 The mule foal belonged to the lady who owned the land.

 Rocky ridden by me and Tony in the background.

Tony

Best friend's Quarter horse gelding.

And the best ride of them all... ;)

 

 Love him this much!  Hehe.

There are probably others that I took a quick spin on, but I don't remember for sure so I'm not including them.  So that's 32 horses that I actually remember.  The ones I don't remember I guess are lost to history.  :)

3. How many trainers have you had? Only one.  The owner of the dressage stable where I worked for over three years and took dressage lessons for a year.  She will be my trainer again when I have the money to start taking lessons on Chrome.

4. How many barns have you ridden at? Only one (see above answer).

5. What is the name of the horse you consider yourself to have the greatest bond with? Chrome

6. What is your favorite show name you've ever encountered? Uhh.... I'm sure I've seen some great ones, but trying to remember would probably give me a migraine lol.  I have a horrible memory.

7. What do you consider your greatest weakness or flaw in riding? Inconsistency!  I don't ride on a consistent schedule (yeah just call me a fair weather rider with no covered arena) and that really impedes progress.  Lack of lessons/trainer does too!

8. What do you consider to be your greatest strength? Um...  I'm kind to the horses.  Is that considered a strength?

9. Have you ever leased a horse? Nope.

10. What is the name of the first horse you rode? If I rode before I was five I don't remember.  My first pony was an adorable pinto gelding named Tony.  I think he was a buckskin pinto if I remember right.  He was sweet, but stubborn and he did buck me off once lol.  Sadly he died of colic after only a year with him.  He was very old though!  The vet said he was a lot older than the guy that we bought him from said he was.

Thanks for the great questions L!  Especially the one about the horses we've ridden. That was a lot of fun!