Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

Date: 12-19-10
Age: 19 months
Height: 14.3½hh
Height Gain: Approximately half an inch. In another month he should be fifteen hands and not even two years old yet!!! :D
Weight: Approximately 810lbs.
Weight Gain: He gained thirty pounds! I was happy to see this because I thought he was losing weight. I guess it was just a growth spurt that made him look like he was losing weight while he added on height. I better be careful about increasing his feed too much.
Progress: As you know from the post a couple of days ago I finally had Chrome's hooves trimmed again. I think this farrier will be a lot more reliable and easier to schedule with. She was very organized and even had appointment cards and invoices!! He looks a lot better after having his hooves done. Considering she took off almost half an inch it makes me think Chrome probably made it to fifteen hands for a little while at least lol. :)

I did get hay finally, yay. At least selling my goats provided me with enough money to do that. I do miss them though. The farrier also gave me some insight into Chrome's behavior. She said he's very lazy, which I knew he would be because Friesians aren't known for being energetic. She also said that I'm letting him get away with too much, blaming it on him being a stallion. She said I need to make him behave or having him gelded won't do any good. I will admit that I have been letting him get away with stuff. As you know from a previous post he was crowding during feeding and I resolved that. He's been nipping, but all I have to do is reprimand him in a stern voice and he stops, because he knows better, he's just testing.

I need to start taking him for walks again and make him work and pay attention to me before he starts seeing me as a lowly pasture mate. He's not rude at all, he's just started to test his boundaries. I haven't been working on any yielding or softening with Chrome so I think I'm going to use the methods Kate wrote about on her blog A Year With Horses. I think those will help get him softer and listening to me better. I have a head cold right now though so we'll see how that goes later when I'm feeling better.

Goals: My goal is to get better lol. I want to work on the softening exercises with Chrome and start walking him again. If that goes well (I'm super lazy in the winter) I might start trying to clicker train him again. I've just been so busy with the extra hours at work and my husband's doctor appointments for his back that I haven't been doing anything. I haven't even worked with Jackal on crawling. :( I'll do better I promise!! I also need to read blogs. I'm soooo far behind. I have almost three hundreds posts to read. Sorry I haven't been commenting a lot. I am or will read all your posts though. Okay I'm going to rest before work.

Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

Date: 11-19-10
Age: 18 months
Height: 14.3hh
Height Gain: Approximately 3/8 of an inch. Not much . . .
Weight: Approx 780lbs.
Weight Gain: Approximately fifteen pounds . . .
Progress: Okay, Chrome's growth has slowed down a LOT! I don't know if that's because I switched him from Safechoice to Enrich 32 or if it's because he's eighteen months old. Or it could be because it has gotten cold and a lot of the grass has died off. I'm not going to worry about it too much. I'm feeding him approximately two pounds of Enrich 32 so I may increase it to 2.5 pounds as suggested on the bag. I'm also giving him some crimped oats for energy so I may increase those. I don't want to increase everything too much and go the opposite direction though lol. I may start using the weight tape on him weekly to monitor increase needs in his feed.

I haven't done much with Chrome besides just spending time grooming and playing with him. I'm trying to get his mane to grow back in. The wet spot on his neck in the picture is the MTG I'm using. It's so oily and gross, but it's definitely helping grow his mane back in.

Goals: My goal for this month is to get hay. That's my number one priority. I also would really like to have the trimmer out again. If money permits. If not then I need to do some trimming on my own. I would also like to start clicker training again.

I'll leave you with my favorite picture from our short photo shoot. I threw my jacket on the ground and got this expression from Chrome lol. :)

I love my boy. I can't wait until he's done growing so I know what size halter to get him. That old green one is ugly. I've had it for fifteen years lol.

Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

Date: 10-19-10
Age: 17 months
Height: Chrome measured 149cm, just shy of 14.3hh.
Height Gain: Hard to say . . . see below.
Weight: Approx 765lbs.
Weight Gain: Good heavens!! Could he really have gained sixty five pounds?? He doesn't look fat to you does he?
Progress: I think the reason Chrome didn't show as much growth height-wise this month is because he got his hooves trimmed. His heels were long and getting them trimmed probably took off half an inch lol! I know bad mommy for waiting so long. They do look better although his left rear still looks like a club foot. A club foot is rare in the rear hooves, so it's weird but it's pretty obvious if you compare them. See how it's more upright with a longer heel? The farrier is going to work on it slowly, but it'll take a long time to start looking more normal and may never look normal.

I've been worrying about him because he seems to be walking with a short stride in the rear. He moves out normally with his front, but seems quick and short strided in the rear. I've been checking his legs and hooves daily and there is no heat, swelling, fluid, bumps, sores, etc. Everything looks and feels completely normal. He still gallops, bucks and plays like crazy so he doesn't appear to be in pain. I have read that a club foot is caused by contracted tendons in the rear legs so I'm wondering if that's it. That is the extent of my knowledge regarding that though so I don't know what it means for us.

Speaking of playing, Chrome and Zep have been playing too rough. Now that Chrome is so much taller than the shorty donkey Zep is biting him on the neck and chest. Chrome has welts and sores all over his neck!! I can't wait to get them gelded. I don't know when it will be though because we still haven't received my husband's temp disability money. :( I'll just keep and eye on him.

Other than that he's been doing great. His coat is turning so dark and pretty with fall coming on. They are playing constantly and feel great with the cooler temperatures. I don't remember if I mentioned that I switched him from Safechoice to a ration balancer and beet pulp. He's doing great on them. He looks absolutely fantastic.

My only complaint is that his mane is AWFUL!!!! It's all short, scraggly and dry. He keeps it completely torn out and destroyed. So much for have a hairy pony to play beauty shop on hehehe (can I borrow some mane Star???). The bits of mane that are growing in are coming in white. :) I'll have to get pictures when the weather clears up. I really want to wash and condition his mane before it gets too cold. I'm thinking of putting him on a hoof supplement because they encourage hoof and hair growth. I really love flax seed for coat and general health but I can't seem to find any. We'll see how it goes when our financial situation is back to normal.

Goals: My goals for this month are just to keep Chrome happy and healthy. I want to get his hooves trimmed, but that's about all I can plan on until we start getting a steady income again. I just want to spend time with him and enjoy him.

Also an update on my husband's back since it basically influences everything in my life right now. He had his first physical therapy today. They did the electric stimulus therapy and gave him a lot of tips and goals. He gets his first epidural steroids on Thursday and will go back to the physical therapist in a few days for another session. I think I mentioned it already but they are thinking the end of November is when he'll be able to go back to work. She's also going to try to get the doctor to prescribe pain medicine or anti inflammatory. She couldn't believe that he hadn't had anything except muscle relaxers this whole time. They also gave him a really fancy ice pack (can be used for heat too). Please keep him in your thoughts!