The Surprise

Okay so my husband is too excited and wants me to post this tonight even though I've already posted today. So here's the surprise . . .

Can you tell what it is yet?

Does this help?

Yep, my husband got a saddle!

None of the Western saddles we own fit either of us because they were our saddles from when we were kids. This one fits both of us, but it will be his because it's custom made to fit Faran's back (sent in multiple measurements and wither tracings). It's synthetic so it's not heavy at all, which is a necessity with his back injury. I've never had an overwhelming desire to own an Aussie saddle, but he loves them so that's what he got. :) I might use it some too until I can get my own saddle. I don't want to buy one for Chrome until he's done growing so it will be a few years. If we really like the quality of this one I might go with a dressage version of the Aussie. Don't know yet for sure. I may still go treeless. And this one was on sale because one poly is bent a tiny bit. Not enough to bother us though. :D Here are more pictures.

Suede seat is comfortable. Oh and another thing I liked when I sat in it (not on a horse obviously since Chrome hasn't been started and Faran isn't ready) is that it's SO easy to get a dressage seat with the correct leg position. On a depressing note I seriously need to start stretching!! My hamstrings and calves are so tight I couldn't even get my heel level. Ahh!! They are supposed to be really comfortable for long trail rides too. Can't wait to find out!

Doesn't he look excited? :D

Also the girth attaches with billet straps like on a dressage saddle (billets are longer than a dressage saddle though) and the stirrups attach the same way too, so if we don't like the nylons we can switch out for leathers.

And here is a cute little carrying pouch thing they sent as a freebie for carrying cell phone, I.D., etc. on trail rides.


Below is the girth, which should be long enough for Faran since the billets are so long.

A DVD that came with it (which we're watching right now lol).

So what do you think? I think he's happy with it. He's excited about trying it out too lol. :)

The Most Handsome Percheron Gelding on the Planet!

I ran out of time and daylight to get Chrome's pictures and measurements for his Monthly Progress Report so instead I'll share some pictures of Faran. I'll get Chrome's report up soon and I also have a surprise to share in a couple of days. :D Enjoy the pictures!

And for my donkey fans, a picture of Zep.

Chrome Training Video (and a cute one too!)

Notice that he's finally growing withers hehe.

I was going to take Chrome for another two mile walk, but he was being so responsive and awesome I decided to work on some of the other stuff he knows that we haven't necessarily worked on while out on the road much. We worked on walking, trotting, halting, backing, lowering his head (for voice cue only yay!!), yielding shoulders, etc. We had one bad moment which you will have to just see in the video, but after watching it I honestly don't think he really did it on purpose. I scolded him and made him get out of my space and then we continued on with our work as if nothing had happened. I also apologize for my horrid fashion sense lol. Today was my cleaning day and all of my jeans were in the wash so I'm wearing some awful capris (with tall socks ahh!). Oh and I'm wearing Mechanix gloves because I couldn't find my riding gloves hehe. :)

Oh and I completely forgot to mention I finally got a whip. It isn't a dressage whip because they didn't have any. It's a bit longer than a dressage whip and the best part is it's blue! The same blue as his awesome halter. :D Here is a video of Chrome's opinion of the whip . . .



Isn't he just adorable?? Now here is the video of our training session. I shortened it as much as possible so it wouldn't bore you. I think I have it broken up into short enough sections to keep everyone's interest. Let me know what you think!



I was happy with how he did. Obviously I wasn't pleased that he almost stepped on me (he didn't hurt me at all thank goodness!) but it does show me that I'm just too relaxed about him being in my space. I need to be more alert to where he is in relation to my body and keep him off of me so these things won't happen any more (or worse). Over all though I think it went well. The sad part is the best part wasn't caught on video. I was walking down the road with every intent of doing the full two miles but he was being so awesome I turned around and asked my husband to grab the video camera, so you're not even seeing his best work. He was getting bored by this point. :) The part I was most excited about was that he was doing "head down" with a voice cue only!! Normally I have to at least point at his neck to get him to drop it, but this time he was doing on voice cue. I am so excited, because I wasn't sure if he actually listens to voice cues. Apparently he listens more than I give him credit for. Anyway sorry for rambling. I look forward to reading your comments!