Chrome Ride 109 - Also Salt!

We were soooo busy today!!  We did TONS of yard work (the stuff we got behind on while building the house and also cleaning up from multiple high wind thunderstorms this spring with lots of downed trees and limbs).  I managed to snag a ride on Chrome in the new saddle.  I rode for about forty minutes (I can't believe it's been a month since I last rode Chrome).  I was just riding in the yard, on the driveway and on the road in front of our property.  I was going from the front gate back to the house relaying messages between my dad and hubby lol.  We even carried the mail back.  Pony express!

I'm not one hundred percent sure what he thought of the saddle.  He seemed a little tender footed (due for a trim and I probably need to do another thrush soak since it's rained almost every day for the last month).  I think the saddle was fine, but the girth might be bothering him.  I'll explain why below.

 Not bothered by the four wheeler, even when it's pulling a trailer.

 He hated standing still.

We did some lateral flexion because he did not want to stand still.  His sweet itch is really bothering him, so all he can think about when standing still is how much he wants to scratch.  I feel so sorry for him.  I'm hoping that the rain will go away so I can start doing his neem oil to get him some relief.  I'll be doing a sweet itch post soon.  I have a lot to share!

 Watching my mom and dad's twelve year old Yorkie mix.

 So handsome!!!

At one point when we were walking back up the driveway Chrome's head shot up and he started seriously balking.  My dad was on the outside of the fence on the other side of the pine trees, pruning limbs.  He's never seen anything on the other side of the trees so he was freaked out.  I asked dad to talk to him and he finally chilled out.

The saddle looks good on him.  Sorry for the bad picture.  It's hard to get far enough away while holding him hehe.  Notice how the girth is right up against his elbows?  It does that on Rocky too.  I don't know how to fix it.  I'm used to the center rigging on the Aussie saddle now.  I haven't used a western saddle (that's what I grew up riding in) in so long I don't remember what to do.  I can't really slide it back anymore.  It's well behind his shoulder... the only thing I could think of is maybe using the rear cinch?  If it has that piece between the two girths would that prevent the front one from sliding up behind the elbows?  Any help is appreciated!

Weird picture above lol.  It's hard to take pictures from that angle, but I had my leg swung across the horn so that they were both on his left side.  I used to do that all the time when I was a kid, but I haven't on Chrome because he's green and I never knew if he would spook or turn suddenly.  In the western saddle it felt natural to just swing a leg across.  I like to sit that way when my hips or knees start bothering me.  He wasn't bothered by it, although he was mildly confused at first.

 I managed to talk hubby into taking one picture... narcoleptic pony is narcoleptic haha.

I'm happy to see my leg position is pretty good in the new saddle.  It's not perfect, but it's way better than a year ago.  :)  I wish I had remembered to pull my shirt down.  I hate the way my Kerrits tights wrinkle at my hip...

Then while untacking he had to help.  It looks like he's holding the tailgate open for me haha.  He was probably actually rubbing his face... at least he doesn't do it on me!

 His sweat patterns looked really good, but a longer ride will tell more.  

I'll check for any soreness tomorrow.

Then when the downpour started we went to town and got...

 Himalayan rock salt on a rope!

I've never bought any before, but I've always wanted to get some to see if Chrome likes it.

 Rocky chased Chrome off, sniffed it and walked away.  

He was more worried about when supper was arriving.

He's doing fantastic at feeding time now!

 Chrome came back.  After pushing it off in the dirt (I picked it back up), he started licking it.

 Can you believe how flea bitten his face is getting?

Some of those are actual bug bites, but most are flea-bite coloring coming in.

 Finally got his tongue!

He's rubbing the crap out of his mane by the withers... I have to decide if I want to roach him again.  I was enjoying him having a mane for a change.... I may give him a while with the neem oil to see if it grows back in again before I decide to cut it... I hate uneven manes though so we shall just have to wait and see how long I last.

 Zep liked the rock salt!!  He was gnawing on it.

I couldn't get lined up so you could see his teeth.  When I moved to the side he thought I was chasing him off and he ran away.  :\  Also if anyone has ever wondered why I post a lot of head shots of Zep... uhh it's to keep things PG related haha!!  Being a jack he tends to expose himself a lot.  ;)

We also got a big bag of loose salt to hang in the barn because they've been doing a lot of sweating just standing in the pasture (been a heat index over 100 for a couple of weeks already) and I know they can't get enough salt off the block.  They were all more interested in waiting for supper, but Rocky showed the most interest.  I think they will really like having the loose stuff available.

 We hung it in the barn in a rubber bucket so they can't break it by rubbing against it.

We also had to bungee strap it down so they can't tip it.

Our boys like to play with anything in the pasture and have destroyed many buckets.

Hubby put a hook on the pole where I groom and tack up Chrome so I can hang the rock salt from it.  I don't want to leave it out in the pasture because they would probably eat it too fast.  With the salt block and the loose salt, it's not like they need a third kind of salt available free choice.  Since Chrome loves licking salt blocks I figured he might like to lick the rock salt while I'm grooming him and tacking up.  It will give him something to occupy himself with hehe.

We were going to take Chrome and Rocky on a trail ride together for the first time, but hubby was too busy helping dad with the yard work.  Dad can't do as much as he used to, but he still tries to, so we like to help or hang nearby to keep an eye on him.  Then when dad went inside we tried to ride, but every time we'd go to tack up it would start raining again... ugh!!!  Both saddles have suede seats, so even though they are synthetic I really don't want them to get wet... oh well we will try again tomorrow.  :)

Ride 55 - Second ride with a bit and it went great!

Yay it stopped raining!!!!!!!!  :D  It was hot outside but not suffocating, make you want to pass out hot so I rode of course.  The ride was only twenty five minutes (because he was being such a good boy, not because it was hot) and it was our second ride with the bit.  The difference with the bit is just amazing.  He is so responsive to it!

 Uhh.. Chrome... that's not a good pose!!!

 Much better!  He is such a supermodel!

 Looking good (besides the nasty tail and sloppy mane... I fixed that after the ride).

 See how sloppy his mohawk has gotten?

So I hopped on in the yard since the only place we could ride is on the driveways.  I should have gotten pictures of all of the standing water.... yeah our yard is a SWAMP!!  So the only place that has any traction is the driveway.  He prefers harder surfaces because of his stifles anyway.

I sent him up the driveway at a walk and he immediately started that crap where he tries to turn around to go back to the barn.... ugh!  So I kept correcting him, but he would just swing all the way around trying to turn back the other direction.  We seriously looked drunk.  I finally realized (after about half a minute) that our problem was a lack of forward.  So I kicked the crap out of him with my heels and he jumped, startled.  After that he marched off and although he tried to turn a couple of times all it took was one more kick and he cut it out.  That was literally the only thing he did wrong for the whole ride!

So after I got him walking straight and only where I wanted him to go I started working on my position while he warmed up.  I've decided to stop letting him being green stop me from working on my posture.  So I stretched down through my legs, turned my toes forward, rolled my shoulders back and down, engaged my core, stretched up through my head (eyes up!!!), bent my elbows and kept them tucked by my ribs, kept my thumbs up and my hands closed.... that's a LOT to remember without a trainer yelling at me hehe.  I wish hubby had been home so he could get some video so I can see if I had everything right.  When I first started taking lessons I was bad about slouching and leaning forward.  My trainer had me stop the horse and keep leaning back until she said stop.  When she said stop I felt like I was going to topple backward, but she said I was sitting up straight!  It was eye opening.  So I know that just because it feels right it isn't always.  That's why I'm dying to take lessons again.

Okay, after warming him up and working on my position I started thinking about what he needed to learn next.  I wanted to work on neck reining, but he made it obvious he needs more work on steering with a bit so I nixed that idea.  Then I realized that to engage his rear and back he will need to understand a half halt (not to mention it will save my trainer hours of griping at me), so I started working on that.

The thing is I've never taught a horse what a half halt means.  The horses I rode already knew or they were western horses who had never heard of contact, half halts or engagement lol.  I remembered reading at one time that to teach a half halt you ask the horse to stop and then immediately send them forward.  Eventually they learn how to rock back and check themselves without coming to a complete stop.  I figured since he needed some work on whoa that it was definitely an exercise that couldn't hurt.  I was right!  It was great!!

I worked on having him walk on a soft contact (he was keeping his head down, but I couldn't tell for sure if he was behind the vertical so I'm going to have hubby video us this weekend if it's not raining), then I would engage my core, stop following and close my hands.  He stopped!! Every time!!!!!  He's NEVER stopped that well with the sidepull.  So I worked on mixing it up and even added the trot.  We would walk, whoa, immediately back into the walk, whoa, stand still, walk, whoa, walk, trot, walk, whoa, stand still, walk, etc.  I mixed up having him stop and immediately go back into the walk with stopping and standing still because I didn't want him to think he always had to walk off.  He did great differentiating.  We did a lot of practice on standing still too because he's been bad about walking off.  I only had to correct him one or two times.  Normally when I stop him I drop the reins, then I pick them back up and we walk off again, so he got to where if I gathered the reins he would start walking.  So I asked him to stand still then dropped the reins, gathered them up, dropped them, etc. while having him stay still.  He did great.

I also had him stand still while I worked the bit in his mouth alternating gentle squeezes with each hand and he gave to the bit!!  I released to reward him although I'm not sure if that's what I'm actually supposed to do.  I was just so happy he gave because he always braced against the sidepull.  I also practiced flexing him slowly side to side at the poll instead of the through the neck.  He's never been able to do that.  I did a tiny bit of work on backing up, but he's so bad at backing (he's due for a trim and his stifle caught several times during the ride sigh) that I didn't want to push the issue and make him suck back off the bit.  We will work on that more later.

I tried to ask him to bring his shoulders around when we were turning, but he's not ready for that yet!  He needs more work on contact and half halts and leg cues first I think.  I sometimes forget he's still so green because I haven't ridden him much at all over the last two years.  We will try again after he's understanding contact and forward better.  :D

I think that's all we worked on.... I forgot to write this post after the ride like I normally do.  If I wait hours I forget details lol.  Even if I forgot something it's okay.  The ride was awesome and that's all that matters.  My back was starting to hurt and he was being such a good boy that I ended the ride at twenty five minutes.  Then it was time for some beauty shop because he was looking grungy!

 Pretending like he had to work hard!

He actually sweated even though we really only walked for twenty five minutes.  It was still fairly warm, but for June I wasn't complaining and besides it wasn't rain so I was happy!!  So after the ride I washed his tail because I remembered that was one of my goals for this month and I hadn't done it even once!  Oops.  I was also supposed to practice braiding, but my back was hurting so I didn't feel like it.  I also trimmed his mane since it was getting floppy as you saw in the picture up above.  I'm really proud of how well I did on his mane.  Normally when I cut it with scissors I get it uneven and it looks horrible so I cut it all off lol!  This time I managed to leave a bit of a mohawk and got it even too.  :D

 The boy is looking much more civilized hehe.

Here is a before and after shot of his tail.  I just washed the part below the dock with Dawn dishwashing liquid and then soaked it in straight vinegar because I read somewhere that it's supposed to help remove stains.  I didn't really notice much of a difference since it looks just like last time I washed it.  Oh well!  I need to buy some actual whitening shampoo but I haven't been to the store!

Below is one while he was in the shade and it made him really dark, but I actually really like it!  It's kind of artsy hehe.

We had fun!  I'm so happy it stopped raining.  :D

I can't wait for him to build some back, loin and butt muscles

so his back doesn't look sooooo loooooong!  Hehe.

Photographic Evidence of Recess From Prison!

I have photographic evidence that the ponies do get time out of prison to play!  :D  I have photography evidence of several other things too....

Evidence #1  The reason why Chrome has no mane...

Because he scratches it out on our gate support posts that are perfect Chrome mane height.... good thing he's cute roached!

Evidence #2  I have the cutest donkey on the planet!

 I adore that expression!

Evidence #3  I have a super brave and independent Chrome that does not keep his head up another horse's ass.....

 Oh... um nevermind.... haha!!

Evidence #4  Chrome has a super awesome neck.... when he wants to!

 Playing with the hose.

 Silly boy!

Evidence #5  My camera sucks!!

Look at how gorgeous he is!!!  That could have been such an epic picture, but ever since I dropped my stupid camera on pavement (the neck strap broke) every 9 out of 10 pictures comes out blurry.  Okay I admit the one above is because he was moving and so was the camera, so it didn't focus, but if you look closely at all the rest of the pictures, there is some degree of blurriness in all of them.  Super sad!  Hopefully I can save up for a new one because I miss having crisp, sharp photos.

Evidence #6  My boy is all grown up!!

His canines are coming in!

Evidence #7  Chrome and Zep still love each other...

Honest... that's brotherly love.  (notice the blur?? grr!)

I wish I'd had the camera earlier before I took all of these because Chrome was pooping and Zep walked up to him and just started chewing on his throat!  Poor Chrome, give him some privacy!  Yep, they love each other.

Evidence #8  Chrome is half Arabian!!!  (these below are my two favorite shots from today!)

I am in love with this shot!  Look at that knee action!

Evidence #9  Last, but not least, evidence of recess from prison (lots of blurry action shots).

He did a little lazy trotting around like in the picture above, but as usual His Laziness stopped after about two minutes and started eating maple leaves (yeah every time I let him out he tries), so I got a longe whip and started popping it in the air.  He isn't afraid of whips, he knew I was playing.  He came right up to me after we were done exercising.  His Arabian trots above were after I got the whip out.  :)

 This one above is hilarious!  He jumped a fallen tree and due to the delay on my crappy, messed up camera, I ended up with the above shot.  Graceful much Chrome?  Check out the hock flexion though. :)

 

He always goes behind crap.  Makes it hard to get pictures.  This was the biggest trot I've seen yet (above)!!  He looked like a Standardbred!  Sorry about the quality.
 

Hopping around like a lamb, silly horse!  It was like he was on pogo sticks. 

 Faran finally got in on the action.  He's lazy too!

Look at the reach under him with his hind leg!!  He was booking it!

 "What's next mom?"

 Tired pony (okay this was taken before the galloping around, but it's cuter here).

He didn't even work up a sweat (and it was hot today for fall/winter)!  Back to eating his hay as calm as you please.  I hope you all enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them, even though for the most part they suck.  My boy is so fun!