Comparison Pictures

I was talking to a friend and we were sharing pictures... somehow I saw these two next to each other and my jaw hit the floor.  The difference in three years (well a couple months shy of three years) is crazy!!

Edited to add: I just saw these too!!

 Me trotting him in November 2013.

Me trotting him yesterday!

Wow!  My seat in the Aussie saddle has definitely improved!!  Look at how much his muscles have changed in a year!  His butt is huge compared to that first picture!

The rest of the snow pictures.

Chrome was very happy to have his blanket last night!  It rained (downpoured) all day, but it was in the fifties so I didn't feel comfortable blanketing him.  By the time I got off work it had turned to sleet and was about thirty degrees.  I went out and found Chrome hiding in the barn looking absolutely miserable.  He was so tense.  His tail was tucked and he was very spooky.  I dried him off the best I could and put his blanket on.  I could tell within a few minutes that he was much more comfortable.  By the next morning he was back to his happy go lucky self.

A friend told me she takes her gray horse's photos in black and white because it hides the dirt...

It works!  I might have to use this more.  ;)

These next three are poor quality video snapshots off of the GoPro.  Look at that trot!!!!  The snow makes him actually use his stifles/hocks.  :D

 I didn't have the GoPro on when he took off bucking... :(  Here are the rest of the GoPro pictures of us tacking up for the ride that was in the previous post.

It's so funny the pictures the GoPro takes.  You never know what you'll have when you upload them to the computer.  I have mine set to take a picture every ten seconds.  :)  In the one above he got his nose stuck on the rope hehe.  You can see how flea-bitten his face is getting too!

 I love the colors in his coat.  He's shedding like crazy too!

 So cute!  I love his expression!

 Jackal was hanging out with us too.

  I snapped this one with my point and shoot camera right before I bridled him for the ride.

The funny thing is what happened during bridling.  Most of you know by now that I was having trouble bridling him because I accidentally banged his teeth with the bit and he got very resistant which was making it worse because he was causing me to bang his teeth every time.  My awesome blogger friends reminded me about feeding a treat with the bit and that worked amazingly and quickly.  I'm using sugar because that's all I have right now.  I give him a piece first, then I give one with the bit.  Sugar is a miracle worker hehe.

When I bridled him today I totally spaced out and put the bridle over his halter.  I didn't want the halter in the pictures, so I took it off and bridled him again.  He actually reached for the bit and grabbed it in his mouth so he could have his sugar!!!!  I've fed sugar to horses when bridling before, but I've never had one actually seek the bit and grab it like that.  I love a clicker trained horse!  I will have to get a video of it sometime.  :)

Anyway don't forget to check out the previous post for the riding pictures.  I decided to split it up so I wouldn't bog down your computers.  I love the snow!  I'm going to go play in it some more.

Ride 103 - 30 Before 30 goal complete!

 Number 23 on my 30 Before 30 list is go for a ride off property in the snow..... I got to do that today!!!!!  We got snow several times in February, but it was never enough to cover the ground. I don't know if it's just me (and my mom) but it's just not as pretty when there are leaves, grass and sticks poking up out of it.  This snow was gorgeous because it was on top of a bunch of ice.  You can see a few more pictures on my other blog here and I'll do another post after this one with some pictures that aren't of me riding.  We didn't go far because the roads are the only place I can ride off property and I didn't want to meet a vehicle on icy roads.  I still had lots of fun though!

First up are the GoPro pictures.

Walking up our pretty driveway.

Eyeballing a puddle.  He was a little fresh hehe.

Our front gate.

Now for pictures my hubby took of us riding out on the road.  Please ignore my eq.  He was fresh so I was a little defensive.

Some of us posing.

 FFA!  Full Friesian Alert!  Staring at a pack of dogs down the road.

 Here are some of me riding in the pasture when we got back.  I didn't realize how nervous I was in the pasture since I fell off out there... :\  Once again ignore my defensive riding.

The sun was so bright my eyes were watering so bad I could barely see.  I was rubbing them in the above picture lol.  Below are some pictures of him showing a little attitude because I haven't ridden him in so long and he's a dork.

Shaking his head and pinning his ears.

 Making faces

Let's go, let's go, let's go!  I was so not ready for him to take off hehe.

 Two seconds later, we have it figured out hehe.

 Last picture is just because I love the lighting on his face.

I'm so excited we finally got enough snow to do this! I had so much fun even though I couldn't feel my toes by the end.  :)