Hooves are amazing!! Update on Chrome's rehab.

I am blown away by the difference in Chrome's hooves in just seven weeks!  With only five weeks of rehab (started on September 1st).  Wow!  This is just shy of eight weeks since his founder scare on August 12th.  I apologize that the picture on the left is slightly off center and that the flash went off in the picture on the right (his collateral grooves are a lot deeper than they appear so he has great sole depth).  You can still see the huge difference in his hooves, especially his frog and the contraction of his heels!

In case you missed my earlier post a quick recap is that on 8/12 the vet diagnosed and treated Chrome for founder.  On 8/16 he blew a huge (an inch wide) abscess and walked off sound.  On 8/17 I contacted a master trimmer that has been advising me over the phone and email how to trim Chrome's hooves and treat his seedy toe (he lives in a different state).  On 9/1 I trimmed him for the first time on the advice of the trimmer (there was a delay because I sprained an ankle which hurt my back), so I consider that the start of his rehab.

His rehab has consisted of the following:

1. Removed him from the largest portion of the grass (he still has some because I don't have a dry lot).
2. Fenced off the pond so he can no longer get into it (pretty sure the constant wet/dry and mud caused his hoof infections).
3. Soaked with Oxine (off brand of White Lightning) approximately 1-2 times a week for seedy toe and thrush.
4. Trimmed a little at a time based on the instruction of the trimmer. Trimming a little at a time let's him get used to the new angles and keeps me from getting overwhelmed as I learn.  Also if I do something wrong by mistake it prevents it from being catastrophic (I haven't so far, but it's always a possibility).  The trim is what got him landing heel first after years of landing toe first, which allowed his frog to be stimulated which strengthens the rear supporting structures of his hooves.
5. Exercise.  Once he was landing heel first I started hand walking him daily.  I started at ten minutes a day because of his weak stifles and we slowly worked up to 40 minutes of walking a day with a couple of trots in hand on soft ground.  We walk two to three times a week on the asphalt roads to stimulate hoof growth and help self trim between my trims.  The rest of the time we walk on grass or dirt.  I try to walk him on as varied terrain as a I can find in my limited selection (slight slopes, tiny loose gravel, over limbs, etc.) to strengthen his hooves and teach him better proprioception.  

I am SO excited with his progress!  I'm glad I decided to pull up his old pictures to compare them because I was actually thinking just today that he wasn't making much progress.  It's crazy how blind you are to change when you see something every day.  I know his hooves are far from perfect, but he is already growing down a new hoof capsule.  In four to six months he will have a brand new hoof that will be less elongated and better attached with no white line stretching.  It's a very exciting process to witness. 

If you're interested in learning more about healthy hooves and barefoot rehab (I know he's never had shoes, but even barefoot horses can get contracted heels and toe first landings if they have infections or long heels that prevent frog stimulation) be sure to check out the Rockley Farm blog (http://rockleyfarm.blogspot.com/).  I've learned so much from her and it's been an amazing resource to have during all of this.  I've never actually contacted her, but I've heard she is super helpful by email if you don't live near enough to send your horse there (they live in Exmoor so I'm definitely not close enough). 

Going forward I'm going to continue his exercise, but I'm also going to look more closely at his diet.  I already have him on a ration balancer with low sugar, but due to our mineral content in our grass and hay it may not be as good for him as I thought (we have way too much iron and it has iron in it).  I'm still studying and working out a new ration for him, but I'll update you on it when I can.  I have to send off samples of the new hay crop.  I am getting a lot of my nutrition information from Rockley Farm (LOVE her book Feet First/highly recommend it/her blog linked above) and also from Pete Ramey (http://www.hoofrehab.com/) which is where my master trimmer trained.

Let me know what you think of Chrome's progress so far and if you have any good resources for equine diets and mineral balance.  Thanks guys!!

P.S.  The only thing I'm upset about is that I let Chrome get as bad as he did because of pure ignorance and fear of taking things into my own hands instead of depending on other people.  I'm not going to beat myself up though.  He has already made huge progress and at this rate it shouldn't be long before most of the damage is healed.  Horses are incredible creatures and more resilient than we give them credit for (except of course they love trying to kill themselves to give us heart attacks.......) most of the time.  I'm forever grateful to the people who helped me through the most terrifying thing I've experienced with Chrome (the founder scare) in the ten years we've been together.  I'm going to stay positive and look forward instead of dwelling on the past and the "couldn't, should've, would've" mentality I sometimes get trapped in.  Chrome for sure isn't blaming me and is back to his happy, silly self and that I am also grateful for.  Go hug your horses people!!

Chrome Ride 118 - 100 Ride Challenge Ride 4

Sorry there are no pictures today.  I forgot to take my phone with me.  I was alone today (hubby at work) so I just rode bareback.... in the pasture!  I was nervous about riding in the pasture bareback (because that's where I was when I fell off) and it didn't help that he was being passive aggressively... uhh gate sour...  See he isn't barn sour because he doesn't want to go to the barn.  He wants to go to the gate to get out of the pasture.  He hates riding out in the pasture.  So I guess my horse is the opposite of barn/pasture sour.  Regardless it meant he was drifting, trying to turn, balking, etc. but it was at the walk only and fairly mild.  When I told him to quit he would... until the next time lol.

The ride was only fifteen minutes because something felt weird to me.  It was only when walking on a very slight downhill that was muddy.  He wasn't limping, but something just felt weird.  So when the goat started harassing us again (oh and riding in the pasture is a pain because none of the others will leave me alone... so annoying) I jumped off of Chrome's back and chased after the goat yelling at him (I must look crazy).  The funny thing is Chrome didn't move from where I left him (not even to go to the gate).  He just watched me and stood politely when I walked back up to him.  Good boy!

I undid one rein and longed him at the length of both reins.  At the walk his stifles looked... loose.  That's the only way I can think to describe it.  Not wobbly, but just loose.  It's hard to describe and most people probably wouldn't notice it.  I did because I know him so well.  At the trot he looked fine.  I rubbed and poked and prodded both stifles and he watched me, but he didn't pin his ears, shift his feet or swish his tail, so I'm guessing they don't hurt.  They are just really loose and weak.  I have got to stop letting him get so out of shape in the winter.  All of the standing around the hay bale for hours on end every day is so bad for him!!

So it was only fifteen minutes, but since we worked on lateral flexion, backing and weaving in and out of the barn poles I still consider it an actual ride.  I only rode right up around the front of the pasture because I'm too chicken to take him too far when he's wanting to spin and go back to the gate.  He wasn't excitable or explosive or anything, but he was very "light".  If I asked him to turn with a mere whisper of a rein cue he wanted to spin all the way around.  Make sense?  It made me a little nervous.  I had to keep the reins short and balance the cues with the outside rein so he wouldn't over turn, instead of riding him on the buckle.

Anyway enough about the ride.  There's two things I want to tell you guys about.  One happened today and one was yesterday that I forgot to tell you about.

Yesterday I had Chrome tied up and was grooming him.  He started rubbing his head on the tree (which he does all the time and I scold him for it), but I was brushing his back legs so I didn't see him do it.  The next thing I know he almost sat on me, which scared me to death.  I jumped out of the way and saw that Chrome had gotten his head under the rope so it was behind his poll and he was pulling back with all of his strength (which he doesn't normally do).  It finally popped over the top of his head, but instead of stopping he kept pulling until he broke his halter.... my favorite halter.... the one I had searched for ages for....  luckily it's only the throat snap so I can replace it.  He didn't get loose from the tree, but just decided to stop pulling and stood there.  Maybe my yelling finally sank into his little pea brain.  It took me ages to untie him (I had a quick release, but I put the tail through the loop because he likes to untie himself and it tightened up when he pulled) and then I tied him back up and we carried on like nothing happened (with his plain blue halter, not his pretty one).

Today when I lined Chrome up alongside the round pen panel so I could get on out in the pasture he stepped away.  He has done that before, but he normally only does it once and it's only maybe 2% of the time.  When I reset him he will stand still.  So I circled him around, lining him back up.  He did it again!!  It was a very deliberate step sideways, just far enough so I couldn't get on.  He was doing it as soon as I started to climb the fence.  I jumped down and smacked him (with a flat palm) on the butt and made him do two tight circles.  Then I lined him back up and he didn't move again.  I was able to climb up the fence and slide onto his back.  The little brat is testing me I think.  I can tell I haven't done much with him for five months...  bad me!

So Chrome isn't perfect (not that I ever said he was... okay maybe I did...).  He has his moments.  I still love him though.  He really is a sweet horse and not a difficult horse at all.  I'm sad his stifles are giving him problems, but I shouldn't be surprised.  This happens every spring after a winter off.  Now I just have to figure out how much is enough exercise and how much is too much.  I really wanted to start riding him more than one day in a row instead of always every other day.  I thought at his age that it wouldn't be a big deal, but I guess I had forgotten about his stifles.  I'm going to give him the rest of today off and then tomorrow bring him out on the driveway to watch him walk and trot.  The mud is hard on his stifles because the weak muscles are the ones that pull the hind leg up and forward.  I think it's the equivalent of the quads on humans.  If he's walking fine on hard ground tomorrow I'll go ahead and ride him.  I'll just avoid the mud.

Anyway sorry for the rambling.  I just need to get this down so I remember it. Also I did the math (scary I know) and I have to ride at least ten days a month to complete the challenge in December lol.  I don't know if I'll manage that!  At times like now, when the weather is nice it's one thing, but there are times in the summer where it's downright dangerous to ride in the heat and humidity.  We shall see.  The stifles complicate things too.  If we can't do it, it's no big deal.  It's still a motivation to get out there and ride.  :)  Thanks for listening guys!

Ride 87 - Hills

 He doesn't look like a crazy, green five year old....

First of all, I totally forgot about trying out the Endomondo app.... cry.  I guess we will test it out next time.  I had my hands a little full today anyway.  Riding a green young horse in a halter out on public roads when it's cold, windy and he hasn't been ridden in a week is a little interesting LOL!

Not to mention he's a fat hippo.... but apparently the camera loves him and removes weight instead of adding it hehe.  So the bit didn't come today like I hoped it would so I just rode in the halter again.  He was totally chill while I was tacking him up so I really wasn't expecting him to be such a spitfire!

We went almost three quarters of a mile down the road and I was excited to see that with all of the rain the gravel road up the steep hill was soft!!  It's normally like concrete so I refuse to ride on it, but it was nice today, so I decided to do some hill sets to wear his butt out.  He wasn't being bad, just very energetic, a little spooky, balky around the neighbor horses, high headed, etc.  Just green horse behavior on a cold day.

This is looking down the hill.  Hubby stood at the top in the curve so he could see if traffic was coming.  The hill is actually twice this high, but has an S curve in it and I don't feel comfortable going up there with the idiot teenagers who drive really fast down it.

Here we are at the top.  He was super alert, looking for horses or things to spook at.

Here is a video of us trotting up the hill.  We went up three times which totaled only about .15 of a mile.  It wasn't far, but it's fairly steep.  Steeper than it looks!  Also in the video is a herd of cattle following us and a clip of me grooming him when we got back home with my dad using the leaf blower on the porch nearby.  You just have to watch it to see how wild and crazy he is around leaf blowers.  ;)


After the hills we continued around the block, taking a short cut through a field, so the total ride was 3.35 miles although it took us an hour and five minutes because I kept having to do lateral flexions when he was being balky and gawking over his shoulder or trying to turn around.  He quickly figured out that was no fun and at least stopped trying to turn around.  :)

The field we cut through.

This is the field where we had a stalemate at a little dry creek bed that had a muddy spot and a puddle in it on a previous ride.  This time, because of all the rain it was full of water at least a foot deep.  Hubby rode his bike through it and got his feet absolutely soaked when he stalled out.  I felt really bad because it was so cold, but he's fine.  Then I asked Chrome to go through and he didn't hesitate at all.  He walked right out to the middle, slammed on the brakes and started pawing.  I mildly freaked out, yelled and kicked him forward.  He lunged forward, stumbled across those deep ruts and half trotted/half cantered about two strides (kind of like a huge spook forward-seriously wish he'd gotten it on video) and then stopped and looked around like he couldn't figure out why I was freaking out..... I hope he doesn't think there are alligators in there now!  I just really did not want to get soaked with that cold wind!

So we continued on and he was hyper all over again. Come on horse, didn't those hills wear you out at all??  We went by a neighbor's field of cattle.  He was feeding them and trying to catch a calf to put an ear tag on.  Chrome eyeballed them like they were really scary.  Silly horse.  My neighbor complimented him which was really cool because he's an older guy who I've known forever but he rarely ever talks.  We continued on and another herd of cattle followed us a long way (you can see them in the video).  When hubby was taking the video he zoomed forward on his bike and Chrome started to take off after him lol.  It caught me off guard because I had him on the buckle and I was watching the cows.  Pay attention while riding a green horse!!  :)  It was fine though.  He was only trying to trot to catch  up.

When we got back on our road he finally calmed down and realized how tired he was hehe.  He actually worked up a sweat amazingly!

 Sweaty pony, hard to see with his color (his withers are not wet).

Love my photo bomber.  :)  It's weird he looks butt high in this picture...

Then I asked hubby to get some better pictures of my new helmet....

 I never saw it coming..... just kidding, he was yawning.

 Modeling is boring when you aren't the subject...

 Seriously Chrome?  LOL!

You can see how the straps around the ears are attached to the outside of the helmet instead of laying flat against my ears.  Lytha, you were right though!  The chin strap was way too loose! I tightened it easily two inches.  I had the helmet tipped too far forward.  When I pushed it back it gave me a lot of slack in the chin strap.  Thank you for pointing that out!!

 Sweaty pony.  So abused.

 Hubby took a picture of me taking a picture of Chrome.

 Close up of the helmet I promised.  :)  I love it! 

Chrome's pretty hooves just because (although I still see a little flaring).

The asphalt keeps them so smooth.

Hard working, thirsty pony gets a drink.  That salt (see the video above) will do that to you.  :)

My hippo!

Those of you with geldings, do you notice if your horse drops like this after working?  He does that after almost every ride.  He also does it during grooming, but I know that's because he's relaxed and enjoys it.  After the ride though just seems weird...

 Being cute.

Yes I still love you even when you're a crazy, green baby horse.

So we had a fun ride.  I hope he isn't too sore tomorrow after doing the hills.  It's such a hard balance between strengthening his stifles and doing too much and making them sore.  :\  This horse is so complicated, but I love him.

P.S.  He really wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound.  He was just very forward, alert and excited. I never once felt afraid!!  Yay!  :D

Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

I was so busy having fun on Chrome's birthday that I totally forgot to do his progress report!!  Oops!  His sweaty picture from the nineteenth is the best I have for a conformation shot for now... he's facing downhill so he's not that butt high.  Oh well.  I'll get a better picture next time.

Date: 5-22-14
Age: 5 Years  (I still can't believe he's five!!  It feels so weird to put a 5 right there.)
Height: 15.2hh
Height Gain: None.  I'm assuming he's still 15.2 since I didn't check.  He hasn't gained height in so long I doubt he's grown any.  He has definitely filled out and gotten wider though!
Weight: No idea!  I need to check.
Weight Gain: N/A

Progress:  So I kind of fell off the bandwagon with his exercise routines because I hurt my back and then was out of town, but I've been trying to exercise him as much as possible and he's doing really well.  In fact he was doing his Prep routines so easily that I've moved on to the Cardio routines.  I also rode him solo on the roads and cantered him so even though they weren't on my goals list they were huge accomplishments (more for me fear wise than him lol).  I'm very proud of how well we did last month! 

Oh I almost forgot.  He's gotten better about the neighbor horses too!  I have ridden past them on both solo rides although they weren't right up by the fence or galloping.  We will see if he continues to do well this month.  He did neigh back when one called to him and he acts a little balky, but he hasn't gotten out of control or anything.  I didn't even dismount.  Yay me!

Assessment:  The book suggests asking yourself five questions at the end of each month to see if you're progressing, pushing too hard or not hard enough.  Also keep in mind during the Prep phase there won't be a very noticeable change in appearance.  The Cardio phase is where things will start changing.  Here are the questions:

Where are his muscles filling out?  I haven't really seen a change in his muscles yet, but we literally just did his first cardio routine yesterday so hopefully by next month we will see a difference.  I think his haunches are looking a bit more muscular, but if they are it's minuscule lol.

Has he developed any resistances/or has his behavior changed?  After a week off his stifles started locking again, so I think the exercise really is helping with that.  His stifle did give once during a canter, but so far so good with riding.  He has gotten to where he walks slower going away from home (and weaving around), but this only started when I went solo so I think it's a nervous thing more than a resistance.  He still walks fast headed home though.  He starts out walking slow during every ride and after warming up for five or ten minutes he loosens up and gets his nice walk back (I think this might be stifle related).  

When riding out in the pasture he is very balky about riding away from the barn.  He's very barn sour... well it's not really barn sour.  What he's wanting is to graze in the front yard, so he's grass sour lol.  It's an annoying habit, but short of never letting him graze in the yard again I don't know what to do other than just push him through it.  

I noticed he shifted around during the tail pull yesterday, so I'm seriously thinking of getting a chiropractor out (if I can find one).  He doesn't react to me pressing my fingers down the length of his spine and he didn't crow hop when we cantered, so I don't suspect there's anything really wrong, but why wait for a problem to try it?  Chiropractors are good even when you don't have a serious problem.  Someone told me it helped their mare with the locking stifles too!  So I could have him/her check his back for soreness and see what they can do about the stifles.  It's worth a shot!  It will have to wait though because I'm getting his teeth done next week.  I'm applying for a part time job so I'll have more horse money and so I can start saving to finish my kitchen and then get a new horse trailer.  I enjoyed my break from having a job (while we were building our house I did the stay at home thing), but having some pocket money again would be nice lol. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Other than that he still neighs at me when I walk outside and seems eager to do whatever I want to do.  :D  We'll see how he feels after a few cardio rides when the spoiled boy has to start sweating hehe.  

Does he start out stiff each day (as if he hasn't recovered from previous day's exercise)?  I haven't noticed any stiffness other than the normal slow walk before we warm up.  Once he's warmed up he's fine.  Also after exercise (even this last workout where we cantered) he will still do his big floating trot and acts silly in the pasture, so I don't think we're overdoing it at all.  :)  I haven't been doing his leg stretches because my back has still been sore.  I'll try to modify how I'm doing them and get back to it.

Does he fade during exercise or show signs of fatigue?  Nope, not that I've noticed.  Like I mentioned above he still acts full of energy even after our workouts.  :)

Has he lost, gained or maintained weight?  He looks the same to me.  I need to get back to measuring him.  If he's lost any it's a very tiny amount.

 Goals: My goals for this month are to continue with his new cardio workouts every other day.  I also want to continue our solo rides, so I'll have to figure out how to mix them up.  Other than riding I want to work with him on the trailer again... after going to my friend's house and hauling her horses to camp I really want to try tying him in the trailer.  I don't like when he spins...  I'm thinking I'll load him, close the ramp, tie him up and then just stand there with him to see what he does (there is a place I can stand where I'm not at risk of being hurt if he freaks out).  When he's fine with that I'll start pulling him around the block or something.  I really wish my trailer had a divider.  It's a straight load, but without the divider he can get twisted around and turn his head... it freaks me out a little.  I might take a video and show what I mean so I can get your suggestions.  I'm also getting his teeth done next week.  

Oh and I want to keep washing his tail more frequently to try to keep it whiter (I might try a tail bag when my mom and I find the time to make one) and practice braiding.  I like being able to braid his tail since he has no mane to do anything with hehe.

I also want to try him with a bit.  I was going to do that today, but I can't find my bits so they must be at the storage building.  I'll check later.  I mentioned in yesterday's post why I want to try a bit. :)  I also think it would be really cool to set up one of those halter/bridle combo things with two sets of reins so that when I'm out riding I can use the halter, but if he gets strong or something freaks him out I can pick up the reins going to the bit for a little more control.  It's an idea anyway.  

I think that's all I have planned this month.  :)

Ride 52 - A Ride of Firsts (hint cantering!)

First of all, sorry no pictures.  I rode while my hubby was at work so we could go fishing when he got off.

I went out with the intention of doing our first cardio workout and nothing else.  The first workout consists of the tail pull, backing uphill, the shoulder rotation stretch, the pelvis tuck and intervals.  The book asks for cantering intervals, but we did trot.  It says to walk for ten minutes to warm up, which we did.  Then trot two minute, walk two minutes, repeat for twenty minutes.  I was counting in my head because I didn't have a stop watch, but we did the best we could.

The thing is when trotting in the pasture he can't trot a straight line or consistent tempo to save his life!!!  I think I got more of a workout than he did!  He sweated though and I'm pretty sure he got his heart rate up which is the point so I consider it a success.  In time the steering and tempo will get better.

I'm seriously considering starting him in a bit once I get his teeth done though because he tries to blow right through the bitless bridle when he doesn't want to go a certain direction.  That's probably my fault, but I'm not sure how to fix it so I might try a bit, get him really light and then go back to the bitless and see if that helps.  Any suggestions for bitless users on how to make him lighter to rein aids?  I don't want to jerk his face off and I hate hauling on one rein when he refuses to go one direction....

Anyway, that's not the point of this post.  We can work through that, especially when we start taking lessons.  At one point we were trotting toward the barn and he got really strong!  It felt like he was going to run away with me.  Then he broke into a canter!!!  I was shocked and a little freaked out, but he stopped when I asked (even though we were headed for the barn).  I walked around and trotted some more, thinking the whole time.

After twenty minutes of trotting and walking, I decided to try cantering him again, this time on my terms.  I wanted to feel it again and to see if he would try crow hopping if it wasn't his idea like he did last year when I tried cantering him the first time.  So I lined him up on a straight shot to the pasture gate where he likes to hang out, figuring if he did take off he wouldn't go far and on that path I could avoid tree limbs if he did take off.

I asked him to trot and then just kept clucking at him until he cantered and he did!!!!  It was only four or five strides, then he fell out of it on his own and stopped perfectly when I asked (before reaching the gate).  I was ecstatic!  He didn't try to crow hop at all and his canter was sooooooo smooth!

So of course I had to try it again... come on, who wouldn't?  I lined him up again and asked.  The cool thing is the transition is smooth as silk!!!  I'm sure it's all sorts of unorganized and downhill, but it feels so smooth you hardly notice he's transitioned.  Love it!  So this time his stifle gave out at one point in the middle of the canter.  I think it was partly due to a slick spot and partly due to his locking stifle.  I stopped him (which he did great, didn't have to use the gate as a brake like I was worried we would).

I decided to try it one more time to see if his stifle gave out again.  It didn't!  His fourth canter was perfect!  Remember it's only four or five strides each time.  So I called my mom at her house (same property, different house) and asked if she wanted to see.  She said yes, but that she was feeding my brother so it would be a few minutes... he can't be left alone when eating in case he chokes.  He has cerebral palsy.

Half an hour later she came out and she brought her camera because I told her a hawk she's been trying to get a picture of was out.  Sadly the hawk flew off, but since she had her camera anyway she took a video.  I cantered him twice (once to show her and then the second time she got the video).  So that was six short canters and he was perfect every single time!!

There's two other cool things to tell you before showing you the video.  While waiting on my mom I took him to the pond because Zep was getting a drink.  Chrome drank with me on his back!!!  That was a first and I was so happy with him.  I love that he will drink when he's thirsty.  It was early, but already kind of hot.  The other thing is I got bored walking around the pasture so I opened the gate from his back and rode into the front yard!!!  So we cantered for the first time (since that time last year was crow hopping it doesn't count), he drank out of the pond with a rider, I opened a gate from his back AND we rode for an hour for the first time!!!!!  Also he tried to roll with the saddle on for the first time.... but yeah that's not really an accomplishment haha!  He got it a bit dirty, but he didn't damage it or himself so it's all good.  The first ten minutes was walking, then we walked/trotted for twenty minutes, then we cantered four times, then we walked and stood around waiting on mom for half an hour, then we cantered two more times, so it wasn't a strenuous hour, but it was still an hour!  :D My boy is growing up!

So anyway here is the video.  I look UGLY because I was not expecting pictures/videos for the ride and my riding sucks lol.  The video isn't great quality because mom was using her older camera, but you can tell he's cantering so that's good enough for me.  :D



Go Chrome!  He's such a rock star!  I love him!

P.S. I was so excited that I forgot to do his other exercises, but I'll go do them as soon as I get this posted.  It shouldn't hurt to do them half an hour after exercise right??  Oh and mom did get a picture of the hawk!  Yay!

My back is doing better....

My back was feeling better this morning, although I still tried not to bend over to pick things up.  I let Chrome and Zep graze in the yard for most of the day and did a little bit of work with Chrome.  I mixed up some of the prep exercises so that none would include bending over.  We did cavaletti (hand walking), backing uphill, stepping over the hay bale and pelvis tucks.

He was being lazy and lagging behind when I led him.  I've noticed he does that when his left stifle is bothering him.  It's almost like he's expecting it to lock so he wants to go slow.  It doesn't seem to hurt him... not that I can tell anyway.  He was fine over the cavaletti, but when he kicked one by accident I didn't want to bend over to put it back so we moved on to backing uphill.  He did great the first two times (only four or five steps each before he got crooked and we reset).  Then his left stifle started locking... it's weird that a lot of people say backing them up can unlock the stifle, but that is not the case with Chrome!!!  He can't unlock going backwards at all, so I walk him forward to get him out of it.  When it locked a second time I called it quits on that.

I figured by that point that we must have done too much in his last workout (walking over the hay bale ten times and ten legs lifts on each side), so I led him over the bale once just to see if he could lift it over.  He did that perfectly fine.  Then I did his tucks since it doesn't cause his stifle to lock and we haven't done them in a while.  Then I let him go back to grazing and his left stifle was locking again....  It's not really locking.. just a little sticky.  When it locks really bad he will snap his leg up, but when it's sticky like today it just jerks a little and he steps forward normally without picking his leg up abnormally high.  He needs trimmed again.  It never fails when he gets close to due it starts locking again.  I really need to start trimming ihim weekly myself but I don't think my back could handle it right now!!!

Anyway the weather is supposed to be gross for a whole week so we will see if I get anything done with him.  I might just give us both a break.  It sucks both of us dealing with physical problems all the time.  Oh well.  At least we're both happy!!

ETA:  I forgot to mention when I called them up to let him out to graze he came flying up to me with his big floating trot.  Then when he was out grazing and I called him back to the pasture for his supper he did it again.  So it's not like he can't move or anything.  It's just when grazing or backing up the stifle locks because he's moving slow I guess.  When he's walking, trotting, etc. it's fine.  That's why I think it's a conformation issue (too straight) that will probably never go away.  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed that frequent hoof trimming and appropriate exercise will make it a lot better though.  :D

Blog Hop: Right Here Right Now

I already had this post planned, but I just realized it goes great with L's latest blog hop!!!  She asked what are we currently working on in our lessons or rides.  We're obviously not taking lessons right now, but this post definitely explains what we're working on right now.  Fitness!

 Check out that sunbeam next to him.  

I love how it makes him almost glow.  :D

I had so much fun taking pictures yesterday evening!  The sun was absolutely perfect for some fun lighting.  :D  Sadly last night my back started hurting even worse so I barely slept and was in so much pain I could barely walk.... it's a tiny bit better today after taking a muscle relaxer, but I'll probably spend most of today in bed.  Sigh.  So I'll share the new cardio routines that we will be starting as soon as my back is better.  The pictures have nothing to do with the topic, they are just for you to enjoy.

Since we have been doing the prep phase for a month now I think Chrome is ready to move on to the cardio phase.  The routines in the cardio phase have a lot of the same exercises as the prep phase, but adds in some exercises that work on his fitness.  We are a bit limited since we haven’t cantered, haven’t worked on contact and haven’t learned lengthening or leg yields yet, but I’ll manage with a bit of modification to the exercises.  :)  This phase can last between one to three months.  It’s important not to move on from this phase until the horse has learned to carry himself correctly (pushing from behind, stretching over the topline and beginning to carry himself) which means we will have to learn about contact before we can move on to the strengthening phase which also means we will need dressage lessons before we move on!!  Due to certain circumstances beyond my control I’m not sure when that will be… I’ll keep you all updated on that obviously.

So let’s look at the routines.  If it has an * in front of it, it is an exercise that was in the prep phase so you can learn more about it by reading posts under the Equine Fitness tag (LINK).  (ETA:  I wrote out the prep routines at the bottom of the post) The ones that are new to this phase I'll write more about.

 I LOVE his color!

There are four routines, just like with the prep phase, but these will mostly be done ridden instead of in hand.  It says to do them four or five days a week so for now I'm going to stick with every other day since he really seems to need that rest day for his stifles.  My comments and modifications are in bold.

Cardio Routine 1

*Tail Pull
*Rein-back up a hill
Arena Interval Training – Walk briskly 5 to 10 minutes for warm up.  Canter at moderate pace for two minutes.  Transition down to working trot for two minutes.  Canter in opposite direction two minutes.  Repeat for 24 minutes.  After fourth set walk at ease for 10 minutes or until heart rate and respiration return to normal.  We will have to do this at walk/trot until we learn to canter.
*Lifting the hind legs
Shoulder Rotation Stretch – Stand in front of the horse, facing him, hold the leg above the knee and raise it  to the point of resistance and then release slightly.  Gently rotate the leg 3 to 5 times in 3 inch circles moving the leg forward and back, not side to side.  Increase circle to 4-5 inches for 3-5 times, then increase to 6-7 inches.  Reverse direction of rotation and repeat. Return leg to original position and repeat entire sequence two or three times, then do other leg…. Dude my back is going to hate me!!
*Pelvis Tuck

Cardio Routine 2

*Bringing the hind legs forward – Still can't do this one until I build a new pedestal because he did not understand it on flat ground!!
Rear-leg circles – Stand near your horse’s hip, facing his tail.  Put one hand to the inside above his hock and the other behind his fetlock.  Lift the leg off the ground and pull it forward several inches. Set the toe on the ground for three seconds.  Slowly pull the hoof to the outside, rest the toe three seconds, then push the leg behind him and rest for three seconds.  Return leg to original position and repeat.  Do this twice on each hind leg.  Go slow so he doesn't pull away…. This is gonna take practice!! ETA:  I found a video HERE of the Masterson Method version of this (the Equine Fitness book uses a lot of the same methods, but they are slightly different, the Masterson book and videos go into more detail) and I like how he lets the horse relax into it instead of moving it every three seconds.  I will probably try this way until he's loose and then use the rear leg circles for maintenance.  
Loops and Poles – This involves riding figure eights the length of the arena with a pole at the point where you change directions.  We can't do it because we don't have an arena or poles and it's too many circles for his stifles.  Maybe later.  I'll probably just trot cavaletti in a straight line under saddle instead.
Horizontal Frame Conditioning – This one involves riding on contact and raising and lowering his frame.  Since Chrome doesn't know anything about contact yet we can't do this one.  I'll work on getting him very forward at the walk and trot so we can start working on contact soon.  
*Shoulder release down and back
*Tail Pull

Cardio Routine 3

*TMJ massage
*Stepping over slowly
*Loosening up the back
*Pick-up Sticks
Changing Speeds – This involves changes of speed within the gait a.k.a. extensions (or rather lengthenings), but Chrome hasn't learned that yet so I might substitute in free jumping (low jumps on a straight line, no circles).  
*Hip Stretch

Cardio Routine 4

Shoulder rotation stretch - See above.
*Poll Stretch
Double Longe – This is basically longeing on a circle with two reins instead of one longe line.  Since I'm not going to longe him (circles make his stifles way worse) I might try ground driving on straight lines... possibly might try a butt rope and/or side reins (if I can find some) once we've had lots of practice without to help him learn about contact and carrying himself in a better posture.  
Warm up 1 – The oval – This is basically riding an oval the size of your arena (or pasture) at a trot.  Speed up into a big trot on the long sides and markedly slow the trot on the short sides.  I may play with this to start teaching him about changes of speed within the gait.  Obviously I don't have an arena, but I could try it out in the back pasture.  He needs to start learning about speeding up and slowing down within gaits.
*Turn on the forehand in motion
*Shoulder release down and back

 My entourage when I take pictures.

They were stalking rabbits hehe.

So those will be the new routines.  I love how they have a lot of the same exercises from the old routine, so it'll make the transition easier and I'm so happy it keeps the stretches since those have been so beneficial to him.  :D  Now I just realized I never wrote down the old routines in one spot, so I'm going to put them here just so you can keep track of everything better.  :)  It will give you the descriptions too in case you've forgotten them since I posted about them a month ago.

Prep Routine 1

Legging Up - Walk horse in hand on pavement with mostly flat surface.  Keep a steady rhythm and lively walk.  Go 1 or 2 miles (12-20minutes).  If riding keep the horse on a loose rein.
Pelvis Tuck (also known as a dorsal arch) - Stand behind your horse, tuck each thumb just under the dock, extend your fingers straight up to form a box with your thumbs, apply direct pressure in the the haunches with your fingertips.  If the horses doesn't tuck his pelvis you might try tickling.  Repeat at least twice.  ***That's the description in the book.  Some people use their finger or a quarter and run it down the poverty groove along the back of the haunches or some people do like I do and draw a line from the hip bones to the tail head, then in the center of that line rub (gently, don't hurt him) with a quarter until he tucks.  This is supposed to elicit a reflex action NOT a pain reaction.  Don't hurt him.  Below is a video that shows the method I use (or direct link HERE).  Chrome can arch even more than this horse hehe.  This is really great for opening up the vertebrae.  :) Also please don't get kicked!  Only do this on horses you know really well and only do it one or two times starting out (it's hard work, like sit ups, so build up gradually).  Some horses hate this!

This is just a random video I found showing how to do it.  I don't know this person.

Tail Rotation - Hold dock about 4 inches down from the top with both hands, lift gently straight up 2-4 inches, make small circles in both directions 3-5 rotations (first one direction, then the other, not alternating lol), keep circles the same both directions, move slowly so horse doesn't clamp tail.
Back Uphill - Gentle uphill slope with hard ground, ask horse to lower head to shoulder level before backing, ask for as many steps backwards as possible (minimum 10 steps), each day add 4 steps, if he becomes crooked or braced, stop.  Keep the backing at walking speed, not too fast, not too slow.
Back on a Curve - Make 10 meter circle with cones, stand on outside of circle, back three straight steps first, once you have momentum gently guide shoulders away from circle allowing haunches to swing around it, continue backing around circle, If he gets stuck or comes off circle you can use a long whip to keep the outside of his body on circle, go halfway then stop and praise, finish circle, work up to being able to finish whole circle smoothly, repeat opposite direction.  ***I never did this one because Chrome sucks at backing up.  We need to practice on that hehe.
Shoulder Release Down & Back (also called scapula release) - Face forward, put closer hand on inside fetlock (not hoof), outside hand under knee, hold in normal position (when you clean out hooves) until shoulder relaxes, once relaxed lower his foot with inside hand, straighten his leg with outside hand and ask him to put the leg down and back until hoof is flat on ground, let him stand (he can stay in this position as long as he wants or move back).  ****I suck at describing this so HERE is a video.  It is HILARIOUS!  Just look at all of the Masterson Method videos on Youtube.  You will not be wasting your time.  Just in the month I've been using them I've seen a huge difference.  :D

Prep Routine 2

Hip Stretch - Face the rear, lift hindleg with hands supporting fetlock, lift the foot slightly forward and straight up, flexing to approx 90 degrees, hold for 20 seconds.  Draw leg forward until cannon bone is horizontal to ground, hold for 20 seconds.  Return to normal flex position, then supporting the leg near the hock lift the leg out to the side away from the body  and gently return hoof to ground.  Repeat on other side.  **This is the one that hurt my back yesterday so be careful if you have a cranky back.  It's been worth it though because his hind legs are getting much more flexible.  :)  Also from the videos I've been watching it might be easier to hold the toe instead of the fetlock.  It says not to in the book, but I have to protect my back.  Also something very valuable I saw in one of the videos is do NOT fight the horse when they pull away.  Go with them.  This keeps them from getting tense and keeps you from hurting your back.
Loosening the Back - Set up 5 ground poles spaced so he can walk comfortably over them without taking a step between them.  (I eventually want to set this up permanently and use before every ride; it's a great exercise for warming up for any kind of ride).  Go back and forth over them until you feel your horse's stride change (steady cadence, long stride, reaching down, rounding back).  Some days may take 10 times, some may take 2.  After horse is loose, establish contact and continue ride (I was doing this from the ground, but as soon as I get real poles we will do it under saddle, I just don't want to get off every time he kicks one of the PVC pipes to move it back).
Lifting the hind legs - Stand him next to a fence (Chrome can now do this out in the open hehe), relax head so back is rounded, not hollow, ideally head at wither height, keeping neck stretched reach back with whip until he lifts his rear leg, change direction, gradually teach him to hold the leg for 10 seconds (by tapping again when he tries to put it down).
Bringing Hindlegs Forward - Position along fence with weight square on all hooves, ask him to stretch his neck down, keeping his head down tickle just behind his girth to ask him to engage his belly and round his back, now reach back with whip and ask him to bring one hoof further forward under his body, keep neck down as you ask each hoof to creep forward, once you've achieved the desired stance ask him to stand quietly in this posture for 10-15 seconds before allowing him to walk forward.  ***Chrome could not figure this out, so I haven't been doing it.  Once I have a new pedestal I'll start having him stand on it with all four hooves since it achieves the same posture.
Stepping Over Slowly - Have him walk over a square bale of hand as slow as possible. Great for stifles!
Poll Stretch - Stand alongside him just behind jaw, place inside hand on neck just behind poll and apply light pressure to prevent him bending his neck, use other hand on bridge of nose or halter and draw his head to me, only want his head move, not neck, keep ears and nostrils on same level (don't allow only the nose to tilt toward me), hold 20 seconds, repeat on other side. If he shows a release repeat on that side.  **Oops just realized I haven't been having him hold this one for twenty seconds....

Prep Routine 3

TMJ Massage - With horse tied and relaxed gently stroke his jaw, then begin making circles with two fingers where his jaw begins by his eyes, after several seconds hold direct firm pressure on this spot for several seconds then release, move down an inch and repeat, move down another inch and repeat (should be at the point of his jaw now).  **The circling is one of the TTouch methods.  :D  HERE is a video of the Masterson Method where he doesn't use firm pressure.  I think I'm going to try it this way because I don't get much of a response from Chrome using the firm pressure.  In the video you'll see the horse release the tension and almost fall asleep.  It's so cool!  Sorry for all of the MM videos.  I'm a visual learner so it helps to see them, especially since I suck at describing things.
Tail Pull - Stand arm's length behind, grasp tail at the end of dock, pull gently straight out from his back, hold 20 seconds with consistent pressure, very slowly release (going slow is important!), work up to holding two minutes.  If he clamps his tail, stamps his feet or shifts side to side he is out of alignment and needs a chiro.
Exercise on a Slope - This involves longeing at the trot on a slope, but since I don't have slopes and am not supposed to be longeing him we just walked up and down the hill on the road when we went for our legging up walks.  I focused on keeping him at a normal walk (he wants to trot downhill) and keeping him as straight as possible since that's what strengthens his stifles.
Step Over Slowly - See above.
Legging Up - See above.
Tail Rotations - See above.

Prep Routine 4

Loosening the Back - See above.
Back Uphill - See above.
Turn on Forehand in Motion - Ride (I did this in hand since we've never really done lateral work in motion) in walk on light contact, gently half halt, as soon as he responds to half halt bend him around leg and push hindquarters away, keep asking him to step one hind leg in front of the other, keep a little bit of forward momentum so the front feet keep marching in half steps forward, after you have executed 180 degree change of direction ride forward in normal rhythm, then repeat in other direction.
Pick Up Sticks - Make a mess of poles,  ride (again we did this in hand) straight across at walk on loose rein, then turn and find a different way across, once he's doing well try a jog for a few steps, keep finding different ways through or make up patterns.
Spiraling in & Out - This is done at a trot on a twenty meter circle.  You spiral in to a smaller circle and back out into a large circle.  This is not leg yielding (I love leg yielding out on circles!!), but actually spiraling in and out.  We did not do this since he isn't supposed to do circles.
Pelvis Tuck - See above.

Okay so now you know what we've been working on every other day for the past month.  Sorry I never wrote it down all together like this before.  :)  Anyway I can't wait to get started on the new routines!  I hope my back is better in a day or two.

I LOVE this picture!!!!!!

Like I said the sun made for some fun lighting!

Chrome's Exercise Update

I wanted to ride today... but I had to deal with grown up crap (car renewal, etc.), so I just did Chrome's exercises right before I fed him (luckily before the mosquitoes came out).  I did routine two with the hip stretch, cavaletti, lifting his hind legs, stepping over the hay bale and his poll stretch.

I moved his cavaletti to a different spot that has a little bit of slope to it instead of flat ground just to mix things up a big because everything is getting too easy.  I also used some broken tree limbs to extend the short pieces of PVC because he's learned to duck around them.  I can't wait until I can get some cavaletti.  It really sucks being broke (and having to pay an outrageous amount of taxes - a whole paycheck - on our old house since we aren't living there anymore grr).

I walked him over the (ghetto) cavaletti a few times and then tried trotting him through them.  They were too close together to really trot through but he was willing to try.  It was hilarious.  I went back to walking through because my back hurt and I didn't feel like making them wider.

Then I walked him over the hay bale ten times.  It's so funny how I can step over and stop at the end of his rope and he steps over and stops next to me.  I don't even have to tell him what to do anymore.  He knows his job hehe.

Then I had him lift his hind legs.  I did five on one side, five on the other, then repeated another five on each side.  He seems stronger on his right hind (picks it up higher and holds it longer).

After that I did his poll stretch.  He did well on that one.  He's still stiff to the left so I had him flex his whole neck on that side too.  After that was the hip stretch... OMG my back was in spasms the whole time.  I don't know what that's all about.  I need to find a better way to hold his legs... twenty seconds never felt so long.  On a brighter note he didn't seem particularly stiff on either side.  Previously I could always tell his left side was stiffer.  This time they felt the same.  His balance is better too.  He rarely tries to pull away (the only time he does is when he picks up a front leg because of a fly and loses his balance).  He's even starting to hold his rear legs for me instead of me having to hold the full weight of them.  He seems much more comfortable on the forward stretch part of it, but he still hates the outside stretch.  There is definitely improvement though so that makes me happy.

I looked through all of the Cardio exercises in my book yesterday and I love that the routines still include most of the exercises we've been using.  Unfortunately some of the exercises we can't do because he hasn't learned contact, lateral movements or extensions (I'll share them with you anyway), but there are some that will be helpful.  I'll post in more detail about them tomorrow.  Tomorrow makes a month I've been doing the prep phase so I feel like we are ready to move on to the cardio phase and I can't wait (it will include more riding)!

Anyway it's late.. we just got our internet back (some idiot started a fire under the phone lines and melted them) so I just wanted to do a quick update.  I had grazing pictures of Chrome I wanted to share, but I don't feel like uploading them.  I'll share them on tomorrow's post.  I'll try to get caught up on your blogs tomorrow too.  Not having internet so much this last week (various phone issues in the area) has really gotten me behind!

Ride 48

 I've had a headache all day and I've been under a lot of stress lately, so I decided to hop on for a short ride just to forget about everything for a while.  The ride sort of replaced his workout for today.  I didn't even change out of my ugly sweat pants and sneakers... I just grabbed my bridle and helmet and hopped on (after brushing him while he grazed).

Chrome was............ rusty..... lol.  I haven't ridden him in over a month and it's obvious!!  I think having to use the rope halter lately is making him dull to the halter and bridle again.  I finally fixed my blue nylon halter (wow that was tougher than I thought it would be), so I'll switch back to that and do some in hand work to get him more responsive to the halter.  The fact that I keep a loop in the lead rope when leading him probably doesn't help us practice either!  Maybe I need to do some ground driving... or just a lot more riding...

Anyway since he was being hard to turn and stop I did some practice on both.  He was turning easily to the right, but being very braced going left so I stopped him and flexed him left a few times.  At first he walked circles and braced but as soon as he remembered what I was asking he easily and quickly flexed left every time I asked.  The funny part is that he kept trying to play with the leg of my sweat pants hehe.

We also worked on whoa.  He was being awful!  The fewest steps I could get after asking was three.  Then I remembered to use the vocal cue and he was doing better, but we need to work on that to remind him to stop even without the vocal cue.

Other than that he was fine.  We did some trotting and he even maintained the trot through some ninety degree turns, but we don't have a place to practice circles so not sure if he can do those yet.

I'm trying to remember what else we did... this headache is making it hard to think... oh yeah we walked over the hay bale about three times and walked over some trees that are about knee height on him.  That was his stifle workout for today hehe.

Here is a picture my hubby got for me... I look awful with my sweat pants riding up and my dirty sneakers (I really need to clean them!!! Never buying white shoes again even if they are only ten dollars).

Did you notice something new?  My awesome new helmet cover in my favorite color blue!!!  That is a gift from my awesome friend appydoesdressage over at LogDog Acres.  Isn't she the best??  I absolutely love it!  My old helmet was starting to look beat up so I'm happy to have a cover for it.  Now I need to get me and Chrome decked out in all our blue stuff for pictures hehe.

Isn't he looking awesome?

After riding I did the pelvis tucks (three of them) and his hip stretch on both sides.  Oh I almost forgot!  During the ride we practiced backing up (he sucks at it, but he tried) and did some backing uphill.  Like I said before we sort of replaced his workout with the ride, backing uphill, sit ups and hip stretches.  I didn't follow the routine exactly since I didn't write it down and just did whatever I remembered, but it works.  The routines are becoming too easy for him so I'm probably going to move on to the cardio phase soon.  :)  

Anyway I think I remembered everything... if not... oh well hehe.  I'll try to get back to posting more regularly again, but I'll probably continue to be busy for a while so we'll see.  Looking forward to getting caught up on your blogs!

P.S.  I almost forgot!!  Chrome is already getting sweet itch on his legs again... sigh!  I might need to try fly boots since fly spray isn't helping at all.  I don't want to buy any until I know if he's going to tear them up though...  so any ideas for homemade fly boots?

My pasture feels empty...

It's weird only seeing one horse at the gate ...

(Zep never stands by the gate, so that part is normal)

After grazing for several hours yesterday Chrome calmed down and stopped neighing every few minutes.  It's so funny because he kept staring off at the backyard like he thought Faran was still just grazing back there without him.  He doesn't realize the horse trailer took him away.  Today Chrome is totally fine again.  He still has Zeppers, so he's happy.  :)

Faran is doing great.  He settled in immediately and hasn't acted spooky or nervous at all.  Yay!  I'll keep you guys updated on him.

I thought about riding today, but my allergies have been so bad the last week or two that my ribs feel bruised from sneezing so much (my back and stomach muscles hurt too)!  I love the temperatures at this time of year and all the sunshine, but man my allergies make it miserable!!  So I just did his workout like normal (routine 2).

I noticed when doing his leg lifts (tapping his rear legs to make him pick them up to his belly) that his left stifle was locking again (only twice and only when switching back to that leg, so having it straight is what locked it).  However when doing his hip stretch his right leg seemed stiffer.  This horse is so weird.  The hip stretches were MUCH easier this time though, so I think the work is already making a difference.  We didn't do the hindlegs together exercise since I haven't built a new pedestal, but everything else went well.  He did much better on the poll stretch (my expectations were wrong.. my Masterson's Massage book explained it better and has pictures so that helped me understand what I was looking for).

The flies are out already (and the ticks eek!), so I've been having to spray Chrome everyday.  I'm already seeing bumps on his shoulders too, so I need to find my Neem oil before the gnats really come out of the wood works.  It seems a bit early for them, but it's been really warm so I guess not.

Well I guess that's all I have to ramble on about today.  I'm going to go try not to sneeze for a while!

P.S.  I changed my blog header because I was bored with the old one (since it had only one picture hehe).  I think it's really cute, so let me know what you think of it!

Faran's New Home & Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

Okay, first I have to say I didn't get any pictures today.... I had my camera with me the whole time, but I totally forgot to take pictures, so I'm sharing some old ones.  :)

Faran finally went to his new home!!!  I haven't mentioned anything until now because I didn't want to jinx it.  After over a year of trying to find him a home and several leads not working out I didn't want to have any reason for this home to not work out lol.

I got him out first thing this morning, brushed him down really well, did a once over of his mane and tail to check for snarls and then let him graze in the yard.  Chrome was pissed that I was giving Faran attention and that he wasn't getting to graze in the yard too.  He galloped around like a maniac (see video at the bottom of this post), so I didn't let him graze until the end of the day after he had settled down again.

When Faran's new owners were getting close I popped him back in the pasture so he could get a good drink before he loaded up for the three hour haul to his new home.  When they got here I helped them load up the rice bran, minerals, his driving reins, etc.  I also bagged up three days worth of feed so his diet wouldn't change too quickly.

Once everything was loaded we brought Faran out to see what he thought of the unfamiliar trailer.  He hesitated (because I fed Chrome to keep him quiet and he wanted to eat too... oops), then walked up to it and stood sniffing.  It took a few minutes clucking to him and asking him to get in.  We praised him each time he stepped forward and then he just put his front foot on and hopped right in.  Such a good boy!  I was so proud of him.  He handled the three hour drive to his new home well, but he was definitely ready to unload!  His new owner said after she put him in his pen (next to his new buddies so they can get to know each other) that he even let her approach him.  I'm so, so, so glad he likes her!!!  He's normally so skittish of strangers so it's a huge relief that he's settling in well and enjoying her attention.  A bit later he tried to pretend like he didn't want her attention so she walked off and left him.  He almost immediately walked back to her asking for attention.  He doesn't have her fooled!!  He loves the attention.  :D

 I will miss our beautiful boy so much, but I think this was the best thing we could have done for him.  My husband has been too busy to mess with him much and my attention has been focused on Chrome, so I've felt kind of bad for neglecting Faran a bit.  He does NOT do well without daily work.  After the move he got to where he didn't like being caught or having his hooves done, etc.  He settled eventually, but never back to the way he was when we worked with him daily.  So at his new home he's going to get lots of attention every single day and I think he's going to settle down again really quickly.  I'm also happy that we can go visit him since he's only three hours away.  :D

His new owner has been reading the blog, so I want to say thank you for taking my boy.  I'm so glad I found you because I think you and Faran are going to be a perfect personality match (my anxious personality with his anxious personality wasn't really a good match!) and I can't wait to see the great things you can do with him.  :D  I really hope you enjoy him and that you both are happy with each other.  It sounds like he already considers you his new buddy.

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Since today is the nineteenth I have to do Chrome's progress report and assessment.  I'm using the picture from my last post since I didn't take any today.  As I mentioned before it shows his muscles (and lack of) really well, so although it's not a fantastic photo it serves it's purpose.

Date: 4-19-14
Age: 4 Years 11 Months
Height: 15.2hh
Height Gain: None.
Weight: No idea!  I need to check.
Weight Gain: N/A

Progress:  So far he's doing really great with the new workout routine!  You can read about his new workout program HERE.  He only had a couple of days where his stifle was locking again after the second workout.  It has a lot of stifle strengthening exercises in it, so it didn't surprise me.  I'm not sure how I feel about his weight... some days he looks a little thin and other days he looks great.  I guess a bit thin is better than too fat.  I think our new hay will help plump him back out a bit.  I haven't really talked about our hay problems this winter, but there were some!!

After moving we had a lot of trouble finding a new source of hay (the one I used years and years ago when I grew up here isn't selling anymore).  So we asked around and tried hay from several different people, but they kept running out!!!  We had people sell us bales that were filled with mold which we just had to take a loss on because they wouldn't take it back.  We had one guy selling us hay that I swear was two or three years old even though he said it was last year's.  The quality of the hay we found that was actually edible still wasn't that great, so we had problems keeping weight on the boys.  I've had a LOT of people tell me their horses lost weight this winter because it was so cold and icy, so it might not have been totally the hay's fault.  Anyway we finally found a great source of gorgeous barn kept, fertilized hay and he cuts enough he said he never runs out. He cuts probably 5000 round bales of hay a year and who knows how many square bales.  It's kind of a long drive and it's a bit pricey, but it's worth it just to have a reliable source of good quality hay.  Oh how I wish we'd found it at the beginning of the winter.  It would have taken a load of stress off of my shoulders!  My boys have never lost hay in the winter so it really stressed me out that they did.  I think the move from a thirty acre pasture to a five acre pasture was part of the problem too.  I'm just glad the hay problem is solved!

So other than that things have been going well.  :D

Assessment:  The book suggests asking yourself five questions at the end of each month to see if you're progressing, pushing too hard or not hard enough.  Also keep in mind during the Prep phase there won't be a very noticeable change in appearance.  The Cardio phase is where things will start changing.  Here are the questions:

Where are his muscles filling out?  Since this is just my baseline I'll mention the muscles I'm hoping to fill out.  His neck is developing upside down so I want to work on that along with his topline and abdominal muscles.  His quads (stifles) are very weak and they definitely need strengthening.  So he needs to develop in his whole body, but specifically it's his stifles that need the most improvement.  Sadly they are the last muscles in the haunches to develop so it could be several months before he starts showing noticeable improvement.

Has he developed any resistances/or has his behavior changed?  Again this is a baseline, so I'll share a few things I've noticed to give us something to compare to.  He walks very fast downhill and even tries to trot.  That is a lack of strength (and practice).  Going uphill (and this is not a very steep hill) takes noticeable effort, but it's improving quickly.  He walks really fast heading out on a walk or when going toward neighbor horses, but he balks walking away from them.  Once they are out of sight he goes back to his normal walk.  He is landing heel first on his rear hooves (hooray!!!), but still landing toe first on the fronts (I'm working with my farrier on getting his toes shorter on the front).  After doing a workout that has a lot of stifle strengthening exercises (like walking over poles, picking up his back hooves or stepping over his hay bale) sometimes his stifle will lock up the next day and he also has to warm up his stifles (by going for our walk) before he can step over things without banging his toe.  That is another lack of strength issue, but it is also improving.  He seems to enjoy all of our exercises so far and I haven't noticed any reluctance at all to do anything.  The only thing he balks about is walking away from neighbor horses.  Oh and he doesn't care for his pelvis tucks, but he's never liked them.  That's all I can think of offhand.

Does he start out stiff each day (as if he hasn't recovered from previous day's exercise)?  I'm doing his workouts every other day and so far he hasn't shown any stiffness except after routine two when his stifle started locking.  He warms up out of it though.  His rear legs also feel unusually stiff in the hip stretch so I'm curious to see how/if that improves with our work.  It's probably because he doesn't use his rear end due to his stifles.  

Does he fade during exercise or show signs of fatigue?  Nope, not at all.  In fact I still catch him playing and goofing off in the pasture afterwards.  It's finally getting warm enough that on our two mile walk he's almost, but not quite starting to sweat lol!  You can't see it, but you can feel dampness on his neck and chest.  I don't remember the last time my spoiled boy has sweated!  It's no wonder he's so out of shape.

Has he lost, gained or maintained weight?  Since starting the workout routine, he has maintained, but he's at a good weight so I don't really want him to lose any.  I just want him to gain muscle.

 Goals: My goals for this month are to continue with his workouts every other day.  I want to continue to increase the distance we're walking on the roads and keep working on him staying calm when walking by other horses.  I also want to work on the CTR obstacles, but we will see if I have time.  We've been doing a lot of work on the house again since the temperatures are warm enough to paint again.  I also want to ride!!  Oh and I've been reading my massage book again too and I want to try to make massage and stretching a part of our daily routine!

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Now here is the video I mentioned above.  I'm giving Chrome the day off today since I was too busy with Faran (and helping hubby and dad with filling the raised flower beds, planting vegetables and moving manure out of the pasture with the tractor-we are finally cleaning up the pasture after winter and we now have a muck heap!).  Besides he self exercised himself so he'll be fine waiting until tomorrow hehe.  The video was taken this morning after I'd brushed Faran and left him in the front yard to graze.  Chrome was pissed that he didn't get to graze!  Notice the awesome lead change?  Normally he only changes in the front (because of his stifles) so the fact that he did a full change made me happy.  He got a bit warm, so I walked him out, but I didn't let him graze until later in the day after Faran had left for his new home.  I didn't want to reward him for being a nutcase lol!  Here's the video.


ETA:  I slowed down the lead change in the video and he actually changed in the front and then changed in the back!  At least he did change though.  Someday with lots of work he will be able to do a correct flying lead change. My question is, why did he change to his left lead on a right circle??