Chrome Ride 113 & New Shampoo

 He's so handsome!

First off I have to mention I am not a fan of selfies... they are annoying, especially on Facebook when people are posting them daily.  I have, however, tried to get one of me and Chrome... unsuccessfully.  I'm just not very good at it with my tiny cheap phone (that doesn't have a forward camera like smart phones so I just have to guess if we are in frame).  Here are my attempts from today...

At least I got his nose in the second one lol!!

So anyway, I just tacked up and rode around the yard for thirty minutes because it was getting late.  Chrome's stifle gave out several times during this ride so I'm thinking the last ride was too far, the galloping around like a lunatic this morning playing with Rocky was too much or it's because he was trimmed on Saturday.  Basically it's probably because he's horribly out of shape, so we will work on that slow and steady.  We did a lot of walking (even went up and down the road in front of our property practicing ignoring the neighbor's horses who were grazing right by the fence), a little trotting, a little backing and a little standing around.  It was a good ride.  He almost seemed tender footed on downhill slopes, but that could be his stifles too.  I'm going to do a separate hoof post tomorrow.  For now, admire the pictures of my pretty boy.

 We take our carrot stretches seriously... just kidding, he was scratching.

 "Mom, you take FOREVER to tack up!"

I bet you can tell which pictures are from my cheap cell phone...

 ...and which ones are from hubby's expensive work phone...

Yeah those were the only riding pictures.  This was after showing his meager sweat.... how did he sweat??  It was low eighties, low humidity and we barely did anything lol.

In fact I was worried it was too chilly for a bath... but after washing his tail I decided to go ahead and try out my new shampoo.

It's specifically for itchy horses and skin funk.

Sorry there are no pictures or video of the bath, but Chrome was an angel... oh you know how I always call him an angel??  I have proof!

 Look at that halo!

I do have a bunch of random after the bath photos though lol.

 Off in search of clover.

 So shiny.

 This is where he had his bath.

 That neck!  I trimmed his mane too because he had long hairs sticking up.

See here's a picture from yesterday.  See the hairs??

Here's one from yesterday showing his true colors 

and how DIRTY he was from playing in the pond.

After his bath I let him graze while he dried off.

Once his tail was mostly dry I combed it out.

It's much shorter than it used to be... dang goats.

They don't eat it, but they rub their faces and horns in it...

yeah they scent mark my horse's tail... have you smelled a male goat before??

Then we went for a walk up the driveway.  He felt cool (it was not that warm out and our well water is cold!) so I wanted to keep him moving.

 He yawned the whole way...

 ...until he spotted the neighbor horses again.

Then he struck a pose and didn't move for several long minutes!

 He looks butt high, but it's just the angle.  He's not.

 Seriously he didn't move... even when I posed with him.

 He was still soaked so my arm got all wet haha.

 After that I put him in the pasture and fed him.

 Zep tried to steal it... notice he's biting it in 

the first picture and tipping it in the second.  :)

After eating he walked over and started scratching his throat on the fence.... so I'm not sure how well the shampoo works...  maybe it takes a while.

"Who me?  I'm not doing anything!"

I didn't get any pictures after he was dry because it was almost dark.  He was so silky soft though.  I couldn't stop petting him!!  I'll definitely give the shampoo some credit for that at least.  I'll see tomorrow if the itching seems any less.

Last, but not least, here is a video of Chrome taking the bit!

Direct Link

He is so cute!!  I can't believe that's the same horse who was throwing his head up, clamping his teeth and backing away when I tried to put a bit in his mouth.  Gotta love positive reinforcement.

Also the reason he was raising, lowering and shaking his head is because he was cycling through his tricks.  He was impatient with me for being so slow and disorganized.  He doesn't do that every time so it's not as annoying as it looks.  I think it's kind of funny actually.  I didn't even realize I said that about him being spastic until I watched the video back and cracked myself up.  We are so weird.

Anyway I really, really need to get to bed so I'm not cranky at work tomorrow!  I'll do another post tomorrow about hooves and some other stuff I have questions about.  Good night!