I changed the blog design. It hadn't changed since 2015 and it needed it. I know it may be bland for some people's taste, but I'm in a simplistic, minimalist frame of mind right now, so it is what it is. Please let me know what you think!
Also I've been meaning to mention this, but Rocky went back to my best friend (his prior owner) during the spring of this year. I was having trouble managing two horses and she was back on her feet, so it was the best decision. I miss him desperately, but he is happy and Chrome is happy. I didn't really mention it on the blog, but Rocky was bullying Chrome, leaving him with almost daily cuts and keeping him away from the hay which caused him to lose weight. If I had a bigger property I would have separated them, but it just wasn't feasible. He's over an hour away, but I still get to ride him when I visit her. I'm grateful for that.
I was able to do something I've wanted to do my whole life! I rode in a parade! It wasn't a huge one. There were probably around twenty horses and it only covered three or four blocks, but it was still so amazing. Rocky was an absolute rock star (no surprise, he's done this before). I had SO much fun! We got to throw candy to all of the kids and I think we even made it on the news, but I didn't see it because it was in a different town from the one I live in. I wish I could have ridden Chrome, but I think he's just too inexperienced with other horses to do something like that. I will someday though. I wasn't able to get many pictures because I was throwing candy and waving, but that's okay because I was able to be in the moment and enjoy myself.
Waiting for the parade to start. Rocky was bored, but stood still very well.
I blurred everyone out for privacy. Lining up for the parade.
This photo was taken on my cell phone from Rocky's back. That's how close the fire trucks were. They were blaring their horns and sirens the whole time! I was so proud of how well Rocky did!! That was an experience I won't soon forget.
Today was uncharacteristically cool for July (the high was only 90F and humidity was around 67%) so I asked hubby to go ride with me. Chrome and Rocky were both spooky as heck at first (more on that in tomorrow's post), but settled quickly once we got on the road. We went 1.48 mile and rode for 38 minutes. It was a quiet, walk only ride with only one big spook on Rocky's part and eyeballing from both of them. I finally bought me a new riding bat (the kind with the loop on the end to go over the saddle horn or around my wrist, that has a popper) because I'm so sick of Chrome's balking, but I don't want to carry my dressage whip all the time, since I only need it a couple of times. It took maybe two gentle taps to get his attention. It was so funny though because when I had it in my hand he had his head cocked to the side and that ear back, eyeballing it. It was hilarious. I promise I wasn't hurting him though, just using it as a gentle aid to get his attention so I don't have to keep kicking him. Anyway, here are the pictures.
Sorry they are unedited cell phones pictures... I was being lazy so I didn't even crop them.
Where did my horse's head go??
He was sniffing the pavement.
Rocky and Hubby went off the road for some fun since our neighbor recently mowed the ditches.
Chrome and I walked in the grass for a while, but his stifles kept giving out on the uneven ground so I got him back on the road. Even this short of a break is enough to mess up his stifles again ugh!
Their reward for being good boys.
I also noticed Chrome was rubbing his tail like mad, so I decided to do some investigating. There are three things that I've heard can cause tail rubbing.... worms, needing to have the sheath cleaned or ticks. I knew it wasn't worms because they were done recently (and that might be a myth, not sure). So I decided to check the other two. This might be gross to some people, but I have to brag because this is one of the reasons I love this horse! I brushed his belly until he dropped (he almost always drops when I'm grooming him because he likes his itchy belly brushed). Then I cleaned him up. He wasn't dirty at all and I was able to wipe or peel off the dry, crusty stuff that was there. I'm so glad he stays fairly clean in that area. There are a LOT of horses who won't let you touch their sheath at all, so the fact that I can completely clean him without drugs (or even a halter.. yes he was loose in the pasture) is so awesome!
So the last thing to check (because as soon as I finished that he started frantically rubbing his butt on the fence again) was his tail bone. Found the culprit!! There were four ticks in his tail. Hubby pulled them off for me because they gross me out, then I washed his tail with my anti-itch shampoo. He LOVED having me rub his tail because it was so itchy. After his tail dried I sprayed and rubbed my fly spray (that kills ticks) all through it and into the dock as best I could. What do you guys use for keeping ticks out of their tails? It's difficult getting fly spray all the way to the skin...
Well that's all I have for this post I guess. After cleaning his tail I put medicine on his sweet itch sores and covered him in his neem oil. Oh we did go to the store and I got them a sulphur block just to see if it makes a difference at all. It's mostly salt so even if it doesn't, I don't care. It's worth a shot. Chrome seemed to like it. I guess that's all. Check this blog and my other one for exciting news tomorrow!
I got home from work and was surprised to see a box from the post office. I opened it up and there was a saddle pad inside!! Not just any saddle pad, but one made specifically for treeless saddles. :D One of my blogger buddies Olivia from Do It Yourself Horse Ownership sent it to me for Rocky, since hubby is most comfortable and pain free in the treeless saddle. Thank you Olivia!!! I'll email you tomorrow. So of course we had to try out the saddle pad and since hubby was hurting from work, I had to ride Rocky.
Us taking pictures of each other lol.
In the first picture if you look closely you'll see Rocky's tongue hehe.
I just found out I have to go in early to work tomorrow, so I need to get to bed asap. That means there won't be many words in this post. I rode Rocky for ten minutes and he was good. He tested me a few times by trying to turn toward the barn, but it was nothing that was difficult to work through.
Looking at hubby.
When I went out to the pasture to get Rocky Chrome tried to stick his head in Rocky's halter!! Then while I was riding Rocky, Chrome was screaming and galloping around! My spoiled brat seriously doesn't like to be left out.... his galloping around was starting to get Rocky stirred up, which is why his ride was so short. I wanted to end on a good note and I didn't have the energy (soooo hot and humid!) to deal with a fight if it came up. Since Chrome was practically begging to be ridden and since I'm falling behind on my 100 ride challenge, I obviously had to ride him too.
He didn't disappoint. He was fun to ride. He's such a goofball!
Sniffing the t-posts leaning against the building.
Remember what I wrote in this post (LINK) about hubby clearing the sides of the driveway and a path into the woods?? I said it was a secret. Well the picture above and the two below are more hints.... ;)
He was fascinated by all our hard work in the woods.
You can kind of see a hint behind Rocky too.
He was stretched out again. He's so weird.
He was so excited to be going out on the road.
I love this picture that hubby got!!
Chrome shaking his head because of flies. They are relentless.
He wasn't wanting to stand still because of the flies again,
so we had to work on a lot of lateral flexion to remind him to stand still.
I just rode up and down in front of the property. We didn't go anywhere.
I only rode him for 22 minutes. I cantered him twice on the driveway, but the rest was walking.
He still looks for the neighbor horses.
Then he's resigned that they aren't there anymore. Poor guy. He misses his neighbors. I've been noticing he stands more square more often. It used to be that he always stood with his rear legs apart. He's also building some of those quad muscles he needs for his stifles. His thighs don't dip in as much as they used to. I wish it was easier to get a picture to show you what I mean, but it doesn't really show up in pictures at all.
I had fun even though it was a million degrees outside with eight hundred thousand percent humidity. Now I have to hit the hay so I can get up at the crack of dawn tomorrow. Night guys!
P.S. I forgot to get pictures of the new saddle pad, but I will soon, I promise.
NuzMuz, Jackal was posing with Chrome just for you. :D
Chrome, Rocky, Hubby and I went for a fun ride today! We started out on the road and then when we got back home I did some cantering on him again. It was awesome! He moves so much better at the canter after a really long warm up. There is video further down in the post, plus screenshots for those of you who can't watch videos.
I thought Rocky was walking weird, so I had hubby trot him out and Chrome was watching, so alert, but with his hoof resting lol.
When they got out of sight up the driveway he started pawing lol.
Luckily he only did it once or twice and then he stood still again...
well after trying to use the tree to pull his halter over his ear...
he's getting really good at that...........
Rocky was fine so we tacked up and headed off down the road. We went a total of 3.20 miles and the part of the ride on the road was an hour and ten minutes. My total ride on Chrome was an hour and twenty eight minutes. There was a bit of trying to turn around and balking going on at first. Ugh! We also stopped to talk to a neighbor who drove by.
Chrome started out being really annoying. Part of the problem is that he was looking for the neighbor horses, but they aren't there anymore.... I don't remember if I mentioned it, but neighbor girl B had to move her horses so my riding buddy is gone. :( Chrome doesn't know they are gone though. It was so funny because when we passed the open gate he tried to turn in. He really wanted to go in and look for them.
Taking pictures of hubby taking pictures hehe.
Rocky is soooo black and shiny right now! Love it!
Eventually they stopped being so annoying and started walking out. Rocky always starts out trying to turn around because he's barn sour, but he really wasn't as bad as he used to be. Chrome being a butt was causing Rocky to try to turn more than he would have if Chrome hadn't been weaving back and forth across the road. Chrome's problem was looking for the horses. I'm hoping once he realizes they are gone he will chill out! We actually only saw a couple of horses today even though we rode around the block and they were at a distance so he didn't act stupid. It was so nice! I kind of wish more people would move their horses away or that they would always be in the backs of their pastures lol.
His neck looks so thick because he had it arched.
When we cut across the field at the halfway point they both were a lot more eager and happily moving along. Sometimes I wonder if the pavement bothers them both a little.... maybe I should get boots. I just don't know if boots will fit Rocky's weird twisted pigeon toed hoof.... Part of it was probably because the field is novel to them both. They so rarely get to go there. I LOVED it!! It is so much more fun to ride out across a field than it is to be on a paved road.
Oh I almost forgot to mention. I opened and closed the gate from Chrome's back both when we left and when we got home!!!! Hubby and Rocky had to help though because Chrome doesn't neck rein or sidepass. Opening it was easy, but closing it isn't because it swings away, so I positioned him where I could reach the latch and hubby swung the gate to us. It worked well. Such good teamwork!
He arched his neck again looking down at the tall stuff we walked through.
It makes his neck look weird lol.
Both horses in the field.
I have to get pictures of Rocky.
He is SO black and SO shiny!
Yay hubby got a picture of me riding Chrome through the field.
He took others but they were really blurry (worse than this one) for some reason.
Hoses on a tupperware tub! Scary!!
There were several things that spooked the horses a bit. One was the hose up above. There was two other tubs several feet over back in the brush that he couldn't see very well so it had him freaked out. He would not approach it at first until Rocky walked toward it. Then he walked right up to it, as you can see above. He was so puffed up though. Once he was satisfied it wasn't a monster he turned away and pooped next to it haha.
The other things were deer in the woods (they didn't spook, just paused and stared up the hill) and geese! The geese were a totally different story. We were walking down the road on the way home and on our left side was a fence absolutely covered in brush, so they couldn't see anything on that side. Up ahead there is a driveway and pasture on the left and two Canada geese with their babies came out onto the road. Rocky spooked, but Chrome didn't notice them at first.
They turned back, but then finally crossed the road. Chrome finally saw them and stared at them, walking forward eagerly until they disappeared in the tall grass on the other side of the road. It's like once they were in the grass and all he could see was their little heads it flipped him out! It felt like he was going to turn and bolt. It took forever to convince them both to walk forward again.
When Chrome got to the driveway where they were originally before crossing, he was staring around the corner and when he drew even with it he tried to bolt. He didn't make it more than a stride at a trot before I got him stopped. I was laughing so hard I can't believe I didn't fall out of the saddle. He did some prancing, but eventually got over it. I'm so happy that his spookiness and prancing don't scare me anymore! It's such a huge breakthrough for me with the whole stupid fear crap.
Like hubby said earlier Chrome has a lot of potential and the only thing holding him back is me. He's right. It's always been me that's held him back. I don't care though. You can't just rush through fear. I had to have good experiences with him and learn what his reactions to fear are before I could be comfortable. Now that I know the worst he is going to do is bolt (and that I can stop them easily) I can be more confident about riding him through his shenanigans. :)
It's really funny though what bothers him and what doesn't. They were eating hay in the pasture yesterday and I was mowing the fence rows and around the barn with my push mower where hubby can't get to with the bush hog. I was mowing right behind Chrome and he didn't care! In fact when I got too close to Rocky he left, but Chrome didn't. :D
Hubby selfie with me in the background with my wrist looking broken haha.
Love Rocky's thick neck and shiny mane!
Anyway sorry for all the rambling. When we got home hubby got off, but I spent another eighteen minutes riding. Around ten minutes of that was spent trotting and cantering! That's probably the longest I've trotted and definitely the longest I've cantered him at one time. :D
Here is the video. It shows a bunch of canter clips and some trot and walk ones. I LOVE how he can canter around and then immediately walk around on the buckle. :D There's a surprise at the end....
Don't worry I have screenshots for people who can't watch videos. They actually didn't turn out as good as the last ones, which surprised me. I think there were several reasons for that. One is that the sun was shining and where it came through the trees it made Chrome really bright. Another is that hubby was further back. The last thing is that I told him to just hold the phone still instead of following me with it because I thought that would make them less blurry. It made the background less blurry, but not us! Oops! I got it all mixed up in my head haha. Anyway here are the screenshots. Please ignore my slouching and crappy riding. I wasn't paying any attention to my posture at all.
Look how stretched out he was! I wish the sun hadn't been so bright on him in this one.
Then he walks on the buckle. :D
No hands! My arms were out straight. This was right before he started cantering.
Cantering with no hands!!!!!! So exciting!
I've come a long way from the person who was terrified to canter. :D
Just ignore my crouching forward. Apparently I think having no hands on the reins is going to mess up my balance haha. I seriously need a longe line lesson to work on my seat with no hands.... bad!
That's all for today! Sorry it was so long. I hope you enjoyed all of the pictures.
