Chrome Ride 114 - Rocky Ride 5

Hubby and I went for a ride with the neighbor girl.  This was hubby's first time riding Rocky on the road and only Rocky's second time on the road since moving here.  Overall they did really well.  The ride ended up being 1 hour and 51 minutes (I'll explain why in a minute) and was 3.61 miles.

The neighbor girl said she was on the way, so we tacked up and got on.  We rode down to her property and the horses were being fresh and excited about her horses, so we rode back to the house.  We rode up and down the road a bit and then just stood at our gate and waited.  We finally saw her drive up so we rode back over and stood around on the rode while she tacked up.  From the time we got on and the time she got on was 50 minutes!!!  Ugh!  Poor hubby's back was getting sore by the end of our almost two hour ride....  so I think we will just ride the two of us for a while until everyone is back in shape before we start messing around with including other people.

I forgot to tell hubby that my friend moved his stirrups...

...so he got off to adjust them and Chrome stuck his nose to Rocky's tail and arched his neck.... weirdo!

 I finally got pictures of Rocky's bridle!!!!  Isn't it gorgeous?

I love the gold stitching!

Since he was ignoring the snaffle bit we switched him back to a straight curb bit like he was used to (and they are actually meant for neck reining anyway) and he was much better!  It also fit the bridle better and allowed me to lower it to where the noseband fits!  Yay!  So now hubby can use his Aussie halter/bridle.  :D

 King of side eye!

 Headed up the driveway Chrome was excited looking for the neighbor horses.

 So handsome in black and white.

 Riding down the road, killing time waiting on neighbor girl.

See Chrome's ears?

 More side eye hehe.  Aren't they cute??

 Chrome was a little tense lol.

This shot is weird... a horse without a head and a head without a horse... hubby has... interesting photography skills lol.

 Walking back and forth up the road was a good chance to get the freshness out.  :)

 More side eye!  I'm telling you... he's the side eye champ.  So Rocky!

 I can't get over how handsome he is in his bridle and his black fall coat.

Gorgeous!

 Being nice?

 My artsy picture.  I had to tilt it to get them both in the shot because I was too close.

I was using hubby's work phone.

 Rocky was almost asleep while we stood around waiting.

 Chrome was the first to notice her drive up a quarter of a mile away... notice my foot?  I had my leg hooked over the saddle horn hehe.  I've only done that a couple of times with him.  I used to do it all the time, but it's taken me a while to get comfortable enough to do it with him.  I used to ride like that down the road and didn't feel unbalanced or vulnerable at all!!  It sucks to get older lol.

 Still waiting at the gate.

 We finally rode over to her place just to stand around some more.

 It only took a few minutes before Rocky figured out he needed to just stand there.

Chrome on the other hand was too excited about the other horses (there were several that he hadn't met yet) to stand still.  He would stand still for a minute and then creep toward the fence (it's barbed wire so I won't let him get close to it).  I had to flex him probably a million times.  Ugh!  We did some backing up too... which he got good at... so good that he was using it as an evasion... which is why I went back to flexing lol.  I guess patience isn't his strong point when there are other horses around.

Finally she mounted up... her mare was FRESH!!  She'd been in a stall all night and it was chilly and she was nuts.  She flipped out for a few minutes until we finally headed down the road.  She walked really fast or jigged pretty much the whole time.  I could totally tell she's a green barrel horse!  She didn't spook at anything though and she was nice to my horses, so it didn't bother me.  My horses politely walked (Chrome only broke into a trot a couple of times when we were almost home, but I'd been asking him to trot to catch up to the mare so I could talk to neighbor girl so it was more anticipation than jigging), so her jigging didn't bother them.

Chrome spooked hard once.  We were riding by this hill that curves and kind of follows the road we were on, so it's like the cars are driving alongside us but way over our heads.  When it popped out from behind some brush Chrome slammed on the brakes and popped his head back.  He came within inches of my nose!!!  I need to learn to sit BACK when I'm tense instead of crouching over his withers like a deranged monkey lol!!

So I'd say overall it was a great ride.  I had Chrome on a short rein for part of the ride and actually on the buckle for part of it, so he really did calm down once things settled down.  So proud of my boy.  Having Rocky here is definitely going to help with Chrome's training!!  His and hubby's presence calms both me and Chrome down!

 Cutie pie when we got back home.

As a reward for all their hard work (standing around is hard!) we let them graze in the yard.  Rocky gave me this look when I walked toward him because he thought I was going to catch him and put him up lol.  Dork!

 I LOVE this horse!!!  My world revolves around him and even my sun shines down on him.  ;)

 

 Then it was time for some hay.  :)

I'm proud of both (all three) of my boys!  Other than the waiting around (which really is good training for them to be honest) it was so much fun.  :D  Now we just have to wait and see how hubby's back is tomorrow......  fingers crossed!