Chrome Ride 143 - 100 Ride Challenge Ride 29

 Head in the clouds because he saw dad and hubby up ahead.

I rode Chrome up and down the road while dad and hubby mowed ditches.  I ended up riding 2.27 miles because I went one way up the road, then turned around and went the other way and then turned and came back.  The ride was fifty one minutes because the green headed flies were out (super painful bite) and Chrome was being absolutely awful because of them.  He was being really balky and tried to turn back home a lot.  I can't really blame him because those things do hurt and fly spray doesn't stop them, but it was so annoying and frustrating that he was acting so bad.  The weird thing is that it was at 8:15 this morning that we were riding.  I never would have guessed the flies would be out so bad that early.

Walking up the driveway.

I eventually got so irritated with the flies and balking that I had him trot.  I've "out run" flies before.  It actually works.  The first time it went great.  When we went the other way he did not want to go!  He was so good during the first part of the ride that I almost wished I hadn't gone the second direction, but he has to learn that passing up home isn't an excuse to balk.  We were also riding alongside the neighbor's pasture where the horses used to be so he was balking because of that too.  I can't wait for him to realize they are gone.....

I continued smacking flies off of him when they were within reach and I guess I eventually managed to kill enough of them that he started calmly walking away from home.  Since he was acting so good after all of our fighting I turned him around and we walked home.

We did quite a bit of trotting, but we definitely weren't breaking the speed limit since he was going sideways half the time....

This is actually once we'd gotten back home.  You can see hubby at the top left where Chrome is staring.  Yep after fifteen years of living out here they finally put up a speed limit sign haha.  When I first started driving these roads were gravel and there were no stop signs anywhere lol.  Totally freaked my city friends out!

So I'm not going to be upset with him... he had a good excuse.  He was a good boy in the beginning and the end and that's all the matters.  When we got home I pulled his saddle off, held it on my hip with one hand, then undid his bridle with my left hand and let him trot off into the yard to graze hehe.  He's so easy to untack and I love that our whole property is fenced so I don't have to worry about him running off.  I doused him with some more fly spray before I put him up.

 A selfie of both of us during one of our calmer moments.. 

I may be obsessed with my new phone lol.

 I love his shadow.

There is one other story I have to tell you about the ride.  We were on our way home at the end of the ride, approaching a ninety degree turn.  We have to turn left to go home, but in the middle of the curve to the left is a dead end road that goes off back into the trees (there are a bunch of horses down there too, including a stallion, so we don't go down that road).  Right before this turn is the junk lady's house I've told you about before and there is a lot to stare at.  There was a loud rattle (sounded like a trailer going through a pot hole) and Chrome jumped.  We stopped halfway in the curve on the inside of the road and stared at the dead end road.  (ETA: He did spook one other time earlier in the ride.  It was an "in place/drop the shoulder" kind of spook at who knows what in the trees by the road.)

What finally came into view was a HUGE boat on a trailer!!  This was not a normal bass boat or ski boat like you see in our neck of the woods.  It was a big cabin cruiser type of boat that was well over my head even from Chrome's back.  They were backing it into the 90 degree curve!!  So we stood there and watched him backing the boat up.  When the truck finally came into view (bunch of brush and trees blocked our view so it was appearing out of nowhere to Chrome) the driver slammed on the brakes when he saw us.  He had no idea there was someone on a horse behind him.

I didn't want to turn Chrome away because he was staring at it really hard.  I was afraid if I turned him away he would think I wanted to escape.  So I held my ground and waved at the guy to keep backing up.  He kept backing, turning it hard to the left toward us since he was wanting to go the same way we were going.  Chrome held his ground as this enormous boat loomed over us.  It to within ten feet of us before he drove forward and turned down the road.  A kid rolled down the window and waved very excitedly at me and gave me the thumbs up (probably thanking me for waving them back).  I was so proud of Chrome!  As soon as it started to drive away he started following it and even tried to trot hehe.  Love my brave boy!