Day One of Prison

Why does he always stop behind trees to look cute?

Yesterday was a long day!  I built a pen out of my round pen panels, using the existing pasture fence so that it would be bigger.  Those panels are so heavy!  Unfortunately one of them was tangled in the thick grass and I wrenched my back pulling it out.  Sigh!

So I had the round pen torn halfway apart and every time I turned my back Chrome was eating maple leaves.... grr!  I decided to let him graze in the front yard until my husband got home so he could help me finish the pen.  It went well for several hours and then the turd got bored and started getting into everything!!

To top things off he found the ONE maple tree in the yard and started reaching up to eat the leaves off of the low branches!!!!!  I'm thinking, seriously horse??  You have an acre of gorgeous green grass at your feet and you're eating maple leaves?  They must taste like candy!  I've never seen a horse so obsessed with maple leaves.  It's not because he was hungry.  He has free choice hay, I fed him soaked beet pulp and he grazed in the yard for hours!  He was also tasting other things, so I think he's just curious and bored.  However he kept going back to the maple leaves so I sat out there and chased him off until my husband got home.

He helped me finish the pen and I threw Chrome in there, gave him his supper and went to bed with a muscle relaxer.  Today I went out to clean and refill his water bucket.  The only thing is he hates our well water!!  He plays in it and then sticks his head in the air making the flehmen response.  I don't think it's chlorine because he was raised on city water and you all know how bad that smells like chlorine.  Maybe there is too much iron?  I might have to get one of those test kits.  Personally I think he just likes scummy pond water.

I let him out and he immediately went to the pond to drink.  Who doesn't love nasty, leaf filled, green, muddy, scummy pond water?

So I filled my big gorilla cart wagon full of pond water and left it in his pen.  I'll also let him out several times a day to drink.  I'm still hoping I can convince him to drink the clean well water, but I'm not holding my breath! So how often would you guys suggest letting him out for water?  It's not hot out.  I'll leave the wagon full of water at night.  Also any tricks for making the well water more palatable?

Checking out some stuff on the other side of the fence that my dad moved when he mowed so it looked different.  I LOVE that neck!  Imagine how awesome it will look when his Mohawk grows out some.  :)

Then he went for a romp around the pasture.

 My beautiful boy!!

I wish this one had turned out better.

I also made him a toy, but I forgot to get a picture.  I don't want him to be bored out in his prison.. err pen.  It's a water bottle with rocks in it tied on a fence.  He isn't overly interested in it right now, but I bet he will be later when he gets bored.  He used to love to play with stuff.  I may get him another jolly ball and tie it in the tree so he can't drown it in the pond like he did with his old one.

Also for his entertainment we played bobbing for apples!  Check out this short video.

He is so cute!  Notice the flehmen again?  He doesn't like that water!  I don't think it's the rubber trough because he eats out of a bucket made of the same stuff and doesn't make faces.

So do you guys have any other ideas for homemade toys or fun games we can play??  I'm going to start walking him on the road and start riding him when my back feels a bit better.  It feels better this morning, so hopefully it won't be too long before we can go on nice, relaxing walks.  

Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

Date: 7-19-10
Age: 14 months
Height: Just shy of 14.1hh (a little over 4ft 8in/56.7in/144cm/1.44m)
Height Gain: Almost three quarters of an inch.
Weight: Approx 650lbs (294.8kg)
Weight Gain: About thirty pounds. Can you tell I increased his feed?
Progress: Chrome is doing great. He's on free choice hay and I ran out of beet pulp so I haven't been feeding it anymore. He's gained weight and looks great. I've taken him for a few walks and he's done fabulous. I've also loaded him on the trailer a few times and he did good. I haven't really worked on anything else. Oh wait! I did fly spray him while he was eating without having to put a halter on him! :D
Goals: My goal for this month is to start introducing him to things like saddle blankets, plastic bags, etc. The crazy thing is he does most of his de-spooking by himself!! Check out the hard work (I took pictures and he played hard) we did with a box yesterday below . . .

He completely destroyed the cardboard box. And thoroughly enjoyed it lol.

Here he dropped it and then walked through it. He actually put two hooves in it. I just missed the perfect shot. Learning to walk over unfamiliar objects and surfaces is a great lesson! Good thinking Chrome! ;)

Stuffing your face in a box is not something I would have thought of. :)

Even Zep got in on the action.

Zeppelin showing off his pretty neck action too. :)

Broken Toy

Picture taken 3-16-2010.

I love my colt. He has such a great personality. Anyway, I discovered the other day that apparently Chrome dropped his ring toy (in the picture above) in Jackal's pen (adjoining fences) and the mutt chewed almost through one of them. So now his three ring toy is a two ring toy. Sigh. Chrome still loves it. :) It's wasn't expensive, so I'll replace it when it's been completely destroyed lol.

I didn't do any clicker training or anything with him today because there has been a lot going on. I'll do something tomorrow. Well, he's probably done eating by now so I'm going to go let him out of his stall and give him a big hug. I'm sure he won't mind. Night!

Monthly Progress Report - 4-19-10

Date: 4-19-10
Age: 11 months
Height: 13.3 (55in/140cm)
Height Gain: As close as I can guess it was a smidge over half an inch.
Weight: Approx 620lbs (281.2kg)
Weight Gain: If my calculations are right it's only ten pounds which I have a hard time believing. I think I must have measured wrong last time (or this time!). Oh well. I tried twice and it said he's 620.

Progress: I wish weight tapes were more accurate, but I'm not worried about it. I think he's going to make 14 hands by the time he's a yearling so I'm happy lol!. I didn't really work with him much on clicker training like I wanted to, but I'm still reading the first book I got on clicker training. I think it's important to finish it because it goes in depth into the theory and I'm learning things I didn't know about the mechanics of clicker training. Once I finish that one I'll read the step by step guide and follow it.

Chrome did try to bite me the other day but Zep was biting him so I don't think he was really being ugly. He just forgot his manners for a minute. I chased him away, then caught him (easily), haltered him and worked with him for a bit to remind him to respect my space. He hasn't tried anything since.

Goals: My goal for this month is to finish reading my Alexandra Kurland books and start working on clicker training more consistently. I'm just going to have to force myself to get started because I can be lazy sometimes (especially when stressed or just busy) and I'm also a procrastinator lol. That's all I'm going to put down for my goals this month. :)

After I fed, groomed and measured I decided to take some updated pictures because I haven't posted any in almost a month! I can't believe how much gray he's getting in his coat.

If you look closely at the picture above you can see the short summer coat on his lower chest and the longer winter coat everywhere else. He's going to be gorgeous in his summer coat when he loses all of the brown winter fur. I can't wait to see it.

Approaching my husband.

I asked my husband to pull the wagon out into the pasture because it always gets Chrome stirred up. The silly colt can't resist an excuse to be silly. :)

Checking out the wagon (more like using it as an excuse to nibble my husband's hand).

Got an itch. What a stretch!

Next I got the rings out. They've been buried under the hay for a while so he was eager to play with them. :)

Trying to play with the rings and Jolly ball at the same time.

Chrome saw my husband carrying a rooster and had to check it out.

Whoa! What's that?!

And last I got out one of my Safechoice feed bags. We all know how much he loves playing with those. :D

I love these next pictures. I asked my husband to take the feed bag away from Chrome because he was getting hot and I didn't want him to overdo it. Chrome decided to sneak up behind him and take it back. :D

Running away with his prize.

I let him play with it a little longer.

I LOVE this next picture.

And this one.

This next one was blurry so I messed around with it in my photo editor. :)

Well that's all for today folks. Only one month to go before my boy is a year old!!

The End