Ride 36 (pictures)

Best view in the world = any view through Chrome's ears!

The weather finally straightened up... have I ever mentioned I hate the cold and rain and dark?  Basically everything about winter!  So I decided to take Chrome for a short ride.  I rode bareback (because I found where he still has rain rot on his chest and I don't want his saddle pads infected) and only for twenty minutes, since it's been a while.  As I was getting ready to go ride I thought to myself that I haven't ridden him since September, so I should keep my expectations low.  I knew he would be a little rusty.  It never once crossed my mind to be worried about riding without my husband there, so that's an improvement yay!!  Yeah we were only in the pasture, but still... it's an improvement.  :)

All I can say is it's a good thing I had low expectations, knew he'd be rusty and only intended to piddle around a bit..... because he forgot how to steer LOL!  You have to love baby horses.  He was being very balky at first and I was having to jab him in the ribs with my heels (I don't wear spurs and didn't have a crop) if he ignored a squeeze of my calves.  He figured out really quick it was better to just walk on.  Then he was being very barn sour!!  I hate that!!  He kept his eyes glued to where ever Faran and Zep were and kept trying to veer towards the front of the pasture.  Turd!  So yeah he was being a totally out of practice, lazy baby horse.  I wasn't disappointed though since I expected it.  I did have a little more trouble controlling my frustration at times though!

I figured out that Chrome is going to be one of those horses who HATES to walk through water when I'm on his back.  Sigh.  I got frustrated with that, but eventually I gave up and let him walk alongside it.  There was no point in fighting over it.  I'll just have to put on some rubber boots and go play in the pond with him.  Or I might try using clicker training.  You should see him trying to get a drink out of the pond without sliding into it.  They always go down the steep bank because the shallow side is very muddy.  The bank is slippery though so he kind of splays his legs out and slides to the edge of the water.  It's hilarious.

One other thing he did that frustrated me... we were playing on our dirt pile (a bunch of dirt from when we had the pond dug out years and years ago makes a small hill in the pasture) and it was going well until we got to the top and I realized there was a low hanging limb right before he dragged me into it.  I was leaning back to keep from getting a face full while holding the limb with one hand and trying to steer with the other (boy do I miss having a horse trained to neck rein!!).  I tried asking him to back up, but since I had both reins in one hand he got confused and walked forward dragging me right through it.  Then he went off the steepest side of the hill!!  It kind of scared me because I figured he would let his weight and momentum speed him up, but I grabbed one rein with my other hand and pulled his head around enough to keep him at a walk.  We made it and I only have a minor scrape and bruise on my arm.  All I can say is thank god for helmets!  That limb would have hurt if I wasn't wearing one.

 Brave Zep is sniffing my foot while Chrome nuzzles it.  :)

Other than his lack of steering, refusal to go into the water and barn sourness he did great.  After he got past his balky behavior he walked well.  He did great with trotting (I only trotted once because of the lack of steering) and stopping (although he was taking a few extra steps from what he normally does).  He did fantastically, amazing with standing still when I wanted to take pictures.... imagine that.  My lazy slug can stand still.  :D  Oh well, I will get him tuned up in no time.  I'll quit rambling and let you see the rest of the pictures.

 Chrome loves chasing the dog.  Can you see Jackal to the left of his face?

As he got closer he lowered his head, ready to bite hehe.  Jackal was oblivious so I finally called his name so he'd look back and get out of the way.  :)

 This shot gives a great visual for "giraffe neck"!!  :D

The bridle hides the fast that I didn't trim his bridlepath all the way up.  Win!  :)

 

 "Dumb dog!  Don't you know there's monster in that water?"  Or so Chrome thinks.

 

 He moved so this one is a bit blurry.  He was watching the ducks.

And just to show you he does lower his head and relax while we're riding.  I just like the alert shots.  :)

If the weather cooperates I'm hoping to ride again this weekend and see if I can get him steering better.  I might have to leave the camera behind so I can concentrate on him though.  Maybe I can convince my hubby to take pictures!