TOABH: Fave

I know I just did a blog hop, but I have nothing else to write since it's raining and I'm stuck indoors, so here is the next installment in Beka's blog hop:  Fave.
What is your horse's absolute favorite thing?  Outside of riding!  Are there treats that instantly convert your pony into an addict or liniments that leave him yawning and chewing?  What does your horse just love to have?

If I had to pick Chrome's favorite thing I would have to say attention.  Seriously he LOVES attention and hates being ignored.  He's definitely a people horse, pocket pony, whatever you want to call him.  Even when no food is involved if he sees or hears me outside he comes to the gate and nickers to me.  He loves food, treats, clicker training, scratches, grooming, going for walks, riding, getting his picture taken, even having his blanket put on or dressing up for pictures.  As long as I'm paying attention to him, he's happy.  :)  There are definitely things he doesn't like, such as yelling, longeing, etc. so not all attention is good attention to him like some horses.  He doesn't like to be wrong or to get in trouble.  However if I had to choose between the things he does enjoy I have a hard time choosing because he's just happy if he is being fawned all over (although treats and grooming are at the top of his list.. oh and his salt block is at the top too).  :D  I've never had a horse who eagerly meets me at the gate with a nicker every time he sees me.  Even if I have a halter or bridle in hand or my helmet on my head, he still meets me.  He even shoves his head into the halter.  :)  Here are some pictures of him enjoying attention.

 He LOVED his pedestal!  I need to make a new one!

 The underside of his neck is his favorite itchy spot.

He makes the silliest faces.

 "Oh you're watching me eat hay?  Okay I'll pose for you!"

 Nap time hugs.  He was laying down.

 

 "You're taking a picture of me right? How cute am I??"

 "You're leaving??  Would this convince you to stay?"

 He loves feet hehe.  He will chew on all shoes!

 "Get away Faran!  She's mine!"

 I had to let him lick my hand to keep him out of the way for a picture of me and Faran.

 Whispered conversations with hubby.

 "Did I get dirty enough?  I'm still cute though!"

 Even for deworming, no halter or lead needed.

 "If you don't get up and pay attention to me I'll rub my head all over you until you fall over."

 "You're supposed to be paying attention to me!"

 Salt block love.

 I swear he goes into a salt coma.

 "May I play with the bow some more?"

 "Get off the computer and pay attention to me!"

"Christmas selfies are so fun!!  Duck face everyone!"

P.S.  One of his other favorite things is picking on the donkey hehehe.

Zep starts it though!!

TOABH: I'm a loser, baby.

The next installment in Beka's blog hop is: I'm A Loser, Baby
Let's talk about your horse's biggest fail.  What did Thunderhooves do that embarrassed you, scared you, shocked you or just annoyed the hell out of you?

Well when I first saw the theme on this blog hop I thought about skipping it because I really couldn't think of anything Chrome had ever done that upset me enough to include it.  Sure he's done some things that annoyed me, but nothing big.  Then I fell off of him and seriously thought about skipping it anyway because I'm still upset about it and I just don't want to dwell on it.  So why am I doing it now?  Because it's raining outside, really cold, I have a sinus headache and I'm bored out of my mind LOL!!

So if you want to read the posts about our fall go here and here.  Physically I'm doing better.  My neck is almost better and the rest of the soreness is gone.  The only problem is my back is killing me.  If I walk more than a few yards it starts seizing up on me.  I think I did something to it at work on Wednesday because I had to load feed for customers and my upper body hurt so bad that I probably compensated in my back.  I don't know for sure, but it started hurting yesterday and I barely slept last night because of it.  It's a tiny bit better today if I don't do anything (like cross my legs while sitting).  So between that and the rain Chrome is getting a break lol.

When I do get to start working with him I'm breaking out my longeing and long lining book.  I know longeing is really bad for his stifles, but if I keep the sessions short and every other day he should be fine.  I should only have to do the longeing for a little while before we can move into the long lining and stay more on straight lines.  We can't avoid circles forever.  I'm planning to just do lots of ground work.

I have no doubt that if I threw the tack on Chrome and climbed into the saddle things would be perfectly fine.  The fall was just a freak thing that happens with horses, but I don't want to.  I just don't.  I have problems in the winter with motivation anyway and the fall just crushed any last bit of it I had.  So I'm letting myself off the hook for the next couple of months.  When the weather gets better I'll get back to riding again.  I really, really, really wanted to try to ride consistently all winter to prove to myself that I don't have to be a fair weather rider, but I guess it's just not who I am.  I don't ride horses to compete, to earn money or to prove anything to anyone.  I ride to have fun.  If it's so cold that I'm miserable, then what's the point?  I don't want to be miserable doing what I love.  Maybe I'll change my mind after he chills out (took him off the fat supplement).  We'll see.

Anyway sorry for rambling.  I just wanted to let you guys know how I'm doing.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!!  I hope you are all having a fantastic first day of the year!  I found out I get the rest of the week off from work (a welcome break for my still aching body), so that's great news.  Today we are going into several days of straight rain so I'm just kicking back inside and staying warm.  I did go out this morning before the rain started to get some first of 2015 pictures of Chrome.  He displayed exactly why I'm not planning to ride for a while (until we do some ground work and he comes down from the planet he is residing on at the moment).

ZOOM!  So fast the camera can't catch him.

Even the goats were getting in on the antics.
Look at the muscles he's finally getting in his butt!

Pissed off bucking because he tripped over a huge tree root... attitude!

Goofing off because he feels good.  Holy horse that airtime!!

So yeah, no desire to go along for that ride.  I'm actually not even bothered by the crappy weather we're getting because it gives me time to heal and think.  I was so excited about 2015 because we had made so much progress. I was actually happy and optimistic going into winter and now I just can't wait for it to be over with so I can have my sane horse back.  I'm not sure how much I'll be riding this winter, but we will be doing a LOT of groundwork.

So my 2015 goals are...

1. Find my confidence.... again...
2. Do lots of ground work and probably get back into clicker training.  I'll also be working on some de-spooking stuff. He spooked when I threw his blanket over the gate this morning... what the heck crazy horse??
3. When I start riding again, actually work on the things he needs to know instead of just goofing off!!  He needs to learn to move off of my leg, accept contact, etc.  I want to teach him to neck rein too.
4. Take lessons.  I'm really hoping by the time it warms up in the spring that I'll have the trailer fixed and be able to haul out for lessons with my trainer.  This will involve working on trailer loading and tying in the trailer too obviously.
5.  I still really want to work on his fitness for his stifles and I still want to track our mileage for 2015.  I'm not feeling motivated to ride right now, but I know it will come back when I'm not hurting anymore.
6.  I also still want to work on my 30 Before 30 list and I still want to try new things with him.  I've been practicing my archery on my own and I would love to try it from Chrome's back when he finds his brain again... in the spring probably LOL!

That's all I can really think of right now.  My thoughts are kind of scattered right now.  I had planned to spend a few days thinking on this list instead of sitting down and writing it up in five minutes, but I've been a little preoccupied.  Oh well.  It's a start at least.  If we make more progress than I'm expecting I can do another halfway through the year goal list.  :)  I'm going to be quiet now and just let you see the rest of the pictures (and wish I had a good camera again sigh).