Chrome's Monthly Progress Report

** The picture is really bad. It was too dark to not use flash, but flash looks horrible. He is really butt high right now (more than it appears in this picture because his left rear foot is forward) so I'm betting he's starting another growth spurt. He's been looking so gangly lately.

Date: 1-19-11
Age: 20 months
Height: 14.3¾hh
Height Gain: Only a quarter of an inch this time. So much for him making 15hh this month lol. Oh well, he'll get there. There's no hurry.
Weight: The weight tape still said 810lbs. Hmm.
Weight Gain: I'm not convinced the weight tape is accurate, but it said he didn't gain any weight at all this month. It did finally get really cold this month so I guess it could be that, since he's using more energy to stay warm. I'm not too worried about it. He looks great and that's what matters. :)

Progress: Ugh, I didn't really get anything productive done this month. I did work on some desensitizing and went walking, but that's about it. It was cold this month and I've been busy so I'm not too worried about it.

Goals: I still want to work on softening exercises, specifically yielding. I want to do more walking. I want to start clicker training again, but that will depend on how cold it is. Operating a clicker is difficult when its cold! :) That's all for this month.

A Walk

I took Chrome for a walk as soon as I got home from work. We went on our two mile route although I cut it a little short (didn't feel like walking up the big hill lol). I haven't been walking in a while so I'm out of shape. He did fantastic. He only spooked once at a stump, but it was more just googly eyes and he was perfectly willing to walk right to it.

He wanted to see the horses so he hit the end of his rope a few times and trotted a little bit. As soon as I said whoa or easy he went back into a calm walk. He had a very eager, fast walk the whole time except for a tiny bit as we passed the horses for the first time he wanted to lag behind. He was interested in the cattle, but not spooky. He did fantastic with vehicles. He barely even looked at them. He only stopped five or six times to looks at things (Zep, horses, cattle, trash can). I give my boy an A++. Sorry I didn't take my camera. :)

Umbrella Work

I tried working with Chrome on backing away from his hay but he didn't generalize it at ALL! When he's in his stall and I'm feeding him he will back all the way to the fence, but when we're in the open side of the barn (Zep's stall) in front of the hay he just didn't get it at all. It's like he completely forgot how to back on. To be fair we really didn't work on backing all that much I don't think. I really need to work on backing some more with the clicker so he's working for a reward instead of being kept away from something he wants (the hay). He's still doing great in his stall for dinner though. He backs all the way to the fence and has even started to pause.

I also worked with him with the umbrella (but no clicker or treats). I wasn't as patient or thorough as I should have been but it was freezing cold and snowing. I guess what I learned from the whole thing is that clicker training sure makes desensitizing so much easier and a lot more fun for Chrome. I messed with him until I could touch him all over with the umbrella closed, swing it around his head closed, swing it in front of him open, hold it over his head open and touch his back with it open. I think with clicker we could have been a lot more thorough and he would have been a lot more relaxed, but for a quick session I think he did really good. You can see pictures and read more about it on my main blog here.