For some reason all of my pictures turned out horrible today. They were overexposed and grainy. I must have bumped some setting on the camera or maybe it was just the craptastic lighting. Whatever. Rocky and Chrome are cute enough it doesn't matter. :D The above picture shows how far away Mr. Obsession finally went to graze.
Now Rocky is the one obsessing haha. That lasted ten seconds.
He's so handsome!
Chrome finally spotted me and headed in my direction.
He stopped to say hi to Rocky for about thirty seconds...
...and then came to see me. :D
Back to nibbling on Rocky's face. Rocky didn't strike out today that I saw.
Rocky sneaking a sniff while Chrome is distracted with me. :)
Don't worry handsome, you're still my favorite!
Notice the photobomb behind him?
Smile!!! More ear photobomb too hehe.
What are you looking at??
Rocky isn't really much of an affectionate horse, but with apple (from our tree) bribes he is coming to see us now. He still plays hard to catch when we try to halter him though...
Here are some pictures of his cute markings!
His snip/stripe is so cute!! That's as high as it goes. No star at all. :)
Black whiskers and white whiskers!! Also white and mottled lips. :)
Does anyone know what the white ticking is from? Is it minimal Sabino?
More ticking.
More ticking. Hard to see because of the shine.
He has some white in his mane right above here
too but the pictures came out too blurry.
You can sort of see the white in the underside and bottom of his tail.
His hind hooves. It shows how the inside rear half
of his left hind is white. There is also a stripe of white on
the front of his right hind. The rest of his hooves are black
because of the many ermine spots he has.
Front hooves. Tons of ermine spots. Black hooves. :D
Also what causes the white to show in his eyes? I thought that was an Appaloosa trait?? Do Paints/pintos have it too? Can minimal Sabino cause that?
Anyway he is a very unique, beautiful horse. I've never been a fan of Paints/pintos, but solid Paints/pintos are gorgeous, especially black ones with dark hooves like Rocky hehe. I took pictures of all of his whorls and everything too for identification purposes. I always take pictures of all identifying marks on my horses and keep them up to date in case they are stolen. I'm probably getting them microchipped soon too. :)
Chrome is a lot calmer today. He's not obsessing as much and he hasn't goofed off any. He just nibbles Rocky's nose any time he'll come to the fence. They seem to be adjusting really well. Rocky is doing well with the move. His poop is a little soft, but I attribute that to the grass and the Quest Plus I gave him yesterday. He's eating, peeing, pooping and drinking great. :) I think he's already bored with the round pen though so I'll probably take him for a walk tomorrow, just to give him something to do. I also need to find and bleach all of Faran's old brushes so Rocky has his own grooming equipment. I love that I haven't groomed him at all and he looks so clean and pretty lol. Fingers crossed it doesn't rain tomorrow so I can play with the horses!!
Does anyone remember me mentioning my friend's horse Rocky? I mention him here, here and here. There were probably other places I've mentioned him but because I didn't tag them I can't find them without going through every post. Anyway the point of all of this is he's mine now!!!!
My friend is having to rehome most of her horses because of personal reasons (I respect her too much to go into it on a public blog, but trust me she would not get rid of any of them unless she absolutely had to). I wanted to take all of them so that she could still come see them, but I know realistically I could never afford to keep all of them. When she asked if I wanted any of them I told her no because I felt like we shouldn't get another horse since we rehomed Faran (because he was dangerous and because at the time I couldn't really afford him; things have changed since I also work full time now so we can afford a second horse), but when hubby said he wanted to get back into riding I immediately called my friend and said I wanted Rocky!! She was so relieved and grateful that I could take one of them. :)
Rocky is an approximately twelve year old gelding from registered Paint horses (I don't remember if he was registered, but she's known him since he was born). He's a totally laid back guy that I personally haven't seen spook at anything (obviously I won't say he's never spooked, but I haven't seen it) and I've ridden him quite a bit over the last few years. I love that I'm getting a horse that I already know and have ridden a lot. :D He is the perfect horse for my hubby.
He is 14.3hh and 1278lbs (can you believe he weighs almost as much as Chrome, but is three inches shorter?? He's stocky, muscular and he's not at all fat right now!!). He has tons of fun, unique markings that I've listed in the sidebar, but I'll get more pictures tomorrow because they are so cute!! The weirdest and coolest thing is he has white legs, but dark hooves! His left hind hoof is white on the inside, but otherwise they are all black. So cool!
We've been trying to get him home for a month now (conflicting work schedules) and I'm so happy he's finally here!!
Anyway enough rambling. Check out the photos!
Look at that booty!!
He's barely been ridden at all lately, but he was living on 100 acres so he kept in shape. :)
I caught him neighing to Chrome
(who was being a total nut job).
It makes him look high strung,
but he's actually very laid back.
He has a typical Quarter horse build, but not bad conformation at all.
He doesn't even look butt high here, but I think he might be a tad.
Walking right through the water.
Notice hubby's elbow in his neck? He's a bit pushy just from not being handled much lately (he spent a year on 100 acres barely being handled while my friend worked out of state), but he'll remember his manners quickly.
Chrome was being a nut job screaming and pacing the gate.
Zep says hi politely.
I wish he didn't take so long to shed out... ick.
Chrome saying hi.
Chrome was being crazy and acting like a stallion actually. Wait until you see the video at the bottom of the post. He was running around, bucking, slamming his chest into the round pen, biting Rocky's face, prancing, tossing his head, flipping his tail, neighing, etc. The only things he wasn't doing was rearing, striking or squealing. Maybe waiting until he was two and a half to geld him wasn't such a good idea?? LOL! He wasn't dangerous or anything, just really excited. He was very careful to never run me over or anything and he was easily approached and touched.
Another candid conformation shot. :D I'll get better ones tomorrow if I can.
Chrome looks huge!! He's only three inches taller than Rocky!
Nibbling on Rocky's nose.
I love Chrome's neck!
This is the only picture I have of him being nuts (I switched to video at this point). I took this picture right as he was going into a canter and then he slammed on the brakes, spun around and took off the other direction.
Once Chrome calmed down (and his sweat dried) I fed them.
We got Rocky a real feed bucket later in the day
(they destroyed Faran's old bucket).
I kept a close eye on them all day. Rocky was more interested in grass than anything else. He did walk up to Chrome to sniff noses every so often. At first he didn't do anything, but then when Chrome started nipping his face, Rocky started striking out with a front leg and squealing at him. That's what Faran used to do so I'm wondering if Rocky might end up being the dominant one. Chrome is all bluff. Finally Rocky managed to smack his leg on the fence when he struck out and I didn't see him do it again after that... nope... then he turned around and kicked out with a rear leg. He hit the fence so hard he stood there with his leg in the air. I was about to freak out, but he finally limped away. Within a few minutes he was walking normally. I'll check for heat and swelling later, but I think he's fine. It was probably just like hitting our funny bone. I hope that taught him a lesson, because I HATE kickers!! I've never seen him kick at anyone, so hopefully he hasn't picked up that nasty habit from the other horses he was out with. I've never seen him try to kick a human though, so it was probably just a normal warning. I'm hoping since he hurt himself that when I turn them loose together in a couple of weeks that he won't kick with all of his strength. Chrome is such a clueless idiot that he won't back off until he gets hurt... makes me nervous. I'm going to give them plenty of time to get used to each other before I put them out together. After Rocky has a few days to settle in, hubby and I will start hand walking them together.
I can't wait to start riding with hubby. I'm going to give Rocky a little while off before I ride him though because he had a stone bruise recently and his hooves were a bit overgrown (he got them done today before I brought him home). I want to give him some time for his hooves to toughen up a bit (his old pasture was extremely marshy) before we go out on gravel or pavement.
Anyway I'm rambling again. Sorry! I'm just really excited! :D
P.S. I just talked to my friend and I got a couple of details wrong. Both of his parents were registered AQHA and his sire was pinto colored, his dam was black. The reason Rocky isn't registered is because the stallion broke in and bred the mares. It was not a planned breeding, but I'm so happy it happened because Rocky is awesome. So Rocky is a QH! Oh and he's eleven, not twelve. :D
I just wanted to write a short note thanking everyone for the well wishes. The last four days were horrible with headaches, dizziness, fever, cough, sore throat, etc. but today I feel much better. It's like night and day compared to just yesterday. There's nothing like being sick to make you appreciate the simple things in life... like breathing and cooking your own food lol. Thanks again guys! I'm still tired easily and recovering, but I'll get back to riding and blogging as soon as possible. :)
I can't believe my boy is six! Where does the time go? I saw him today for the first time in four days (hubby has been feeding him) because I've been so sick. I've never had a chest cold/sinus infection like this. It's awful. These three cell phone pictures were all I could manage before I dewormed him and fed him and came back inside to fall out in bed. Ten hours at work today with a three year old toddler was torture and I'm too exhausted to do a better post, so I'll do one in a few days when I'm hopefully feeling better. Just wanted to say happy birthday to my boy and share these lame attempts at a smile from Chrome.
Really? You look drunk, not smiling!
Okay Elvis, that's good enough I guess. Cutie!
I hope everyone is doing well. I'll update again as soon as I feel better.
I think every knows about Two Horse Tack by now, but if not please check out their site here. I have been wanting something from them for a long time, because I was really curious about the beta biothane. It is waterproof and so easy to clean (bucket of soapy water, in a pillowcase in washing machine or even in your dishwasher!). They shipped it so quickly (it was overnight or two day).
When I took it out of the packaging I was dying to touch it to see what the material was like. I was shocked that it feels so much like leather!! It's the same weight as leather and feels almost just like some leather. Up close you can kind of tell it isn't, but at a distance you can't really tell at all.
Look at how handsome he is modeling it, even with his dirty face.
I got black, hoping that it would look like leather (so glad it does) so that Chrome could have a halter that looks fancy, but that I don't have to worry about it getting dirty and having to clean it. :D Yay! I would even use it at a show if we ever went. :)
If you click to enlarge this picture you can see the stitching.
The crown buckles on both sides for maximum adjustable and I got the adjustable chin strap because of Chrome's smaller nose. It has a LOT of play room. :) It was only $3 extra! This halter is horse size.
Jackal photobomb. :)
The only smile picture I could get. Chrome was smiling when I asked, but not holding it long and hubby was having trouble with the delay on his cell phone.
So far I'm very happy with it! Once I've used it a while and cleaned it for the first time I'll do a proper review on it. :D
P.S. I think I have a halter addiction. This is his fifth halter (that I still have, he's had three others that are now too small or broken). 8o
P.P.S. I got over my sinus infection just in time to get a freaking head cold from my stupid coworkers. Grr!!!!!! I managed to go to Rolex and a wedding (with sick people) and didn't get anything, then they have to go and infect me because I can't get away from them at work... grr! At least it's STILL raining so it's not like I'm missing out on much. I was wearing shorts when we took these pictures and Chrome was following behind me.... totally covered my legs in mud. It is so nasty outside. So if I'm quiet on the blog, that's all it is. I'm fine, but I'll be spending as much time chugging liquids and recuperating this weekend. :)
So here is what happened. We went out to eat with our friends on Saturday night (they treated us to a really nice dinner for our anniversary). Toward the end of dinner they told us they had Rolex stadium tickets, but they weren't going to get to use them because the jumping didn't start until 1pm and that's when they had to leave. So they gave us their tickets!! These weren't normal stadium tickets! They were patron club tickets!! I was blown away. I still can't really believe it. It all felt like a dream.
I wanted to see stadium so bad, but we just couldn't afford it between the drive, food, campsite (unexpected hotel costs) and cross country tickets... we had basically maxed out our funds. There is no way we could ever afford patron tickets in our lifetime. It was such an amazing experience and I'll be forever thankful to our friends. :)
So on to some of the pictures...
Driving back to the park I spotted a few Friesians!! So I can say I saw the Friesians even though I missed the demo they put on Friday. :)
I wish I'd gotten better pictures of the parking. 30,000 vehicles is a LOT!
Security check in where they search our bags.
The regular grounds facilities (the patron club had much nicer porta potties hehe).
CUTE dog!
This is the grandstand where most people watched stadium from...
... this is where we watched from! Ringside! They served amazing food too.
We watched the riders do the course walk.
My arm band. I kept it hehe.
We saw the pony club awards first. They were so cute!
This isn't zoomed in. We were literally ringside!
Look at how many were eliminated/retired after or during cross country...
We watched them water the arena.
And drag it. These guys were driving fast!
First drone I've ever seen.
The drone was so cool. That's what films everything you see on T.V. It was so neat seeing all of the prep stuff you normally miss watching it on T.V. :)
Now before I share the stadium pictures I have to tell you... most of them came out blurry. :( I was so heartbroken when I got home and saw it. I was checking them on the LCD screen while taking them and they seemed perfect. Once I got them uploaded I could see how blurry they are. I am so disappointed. I don't know if it's the cheap Fugifilm camera, if I had something on the lens, if I was moving too much (shivering) or what... but whatever. The experience was way more important than photos and I'll never forget it. Here are the best photos that I got. The rest of the blurry ones will be shared another day (I seriously took 900 pictures on this trip...).
Yes, those are my knees... resting on the arena fence. ;)
Hubby was enjoying himself!
The victory lap went right by us.
There are a LOT more photos to share once I get them watermarked. I also have to tell about the drive back on Monday. I hope you've enjoyed the Rolex recap so far. Oh and I saw a Papillon!!
I think this is the second or third Papillon I've ever seen in person. They are so uncommon. I love them! I want one so bad!
