Navalgem
Well-Known Member
Kaos (One 2 One - so named as his dam had one ovary and his sire one testicle!) nearly didn't make it to his first birthday, he was born with a leg angled out at the knee and needed a perikneal strip operation to straighten it. His gelding went wrong and he was in the vets for 5 days while they tried to stop the tubes falling out and then he had an umbilical hernia operation when it suddenly went from a one hole to a three. He is terribly accident prone and is rather blemished but he has a heart of gold which more than makes up for his lumps and bumps. He's 5yo and 17hh and my 6yo daughter rides him round the arena at home with us calling letters for her to turn to and from. (His halo is polished to perfection 
)
Tonight was his BS debut at Church Farm. It was a good day to go as it was quiet as a lot of riders had travelled to Bolesworth so practically had the collecting ring to ourselves. He warmed up nicely but spooked on the way into the ring, at the jumps - and the horse eating chair just outside the arena..... Fence one was rather rushed, we had a lovely left right game down to fence two which ended up with him jumping with legs in all directions, back to trot, re established canter on the corner and off to fence three, a rather normal looking blue double, obviously the oxer at the 2nd part held a monster of some description as he hardly paid attention to the first part and had it down, then balloooned over the oxer and we almost parted company. Bum swiftly rammed back into saddle and off to fences 4 and 5. Having decided that nothing was about to leap out and attack or eat him (except perhaps myself!) he switched on a rode lovely for the latter part of the course.
So good in fact that I entered the discovery. He lit up. He felt like an old pro and was so forward and rideable and keen it was fabulous to just sit there and let the fences roll to us. The second phase started and I felt rather nervous as I've never jumped him round a course that big and three of the jump off fences were rather meaty.... Due to my lack of concentration he sadly had the first down but more than made up for it by jumping the meaty green and yellow double brilliantly, despite numpty mother jockey being a bit far off on the take off point... I also missed the stride at the meaty blue oxer at 12, getting a bit deep (I didn't fancy a long one again!) but he cleverly got his legs out the way and left it up, I think i must have relaxed a bit too much at the let off as he didn't pay his full attention to the next and had that down too but jumped the last clean for just 8 faults in the jump off.
Lots of pats and praise, TP points to overflow and a nice feed with extra carrots when he got home.
Pic from our 'practise' at Northcotes last week:
)Tonight was his BS debut at Church Farm. It was a good day to go as it was quiet as a lot of riders had travelled to Bolesworth so practically had the collecting ring to ourselves. He warmed up nicely but spooked on the way into the ring, at the jumps - and the horse eating chair just outside the arena..... Fence one was rather rushed, we had a lovely left right game down to fence two which ended up with him jumping with legs in all directions, back to trot, re established canter on the corner and off to fence three, a rather normal looking blue double, obviously the oxer at the 2nd part held a monster of some description as he hardly paid attention to the first part and had it down, then balloooned over the oxer and we almost parted company. Bum swiftly rammed back into saddle and off to fences 4 and 5. Having decided that nothing was about to leap out and attack or eat him (except perhaps myself!) he switched on a rode lovely for the latter part of the course.
So good in fact that I entered the discovery. He lit up. He felt like an old pro and was so forward and rideable and keen it was fabulous to just sit there and let the fences roll to us. The second phase started and I felt rather nervous as I've never jumped him round a course that big and three of the jump off fences were rather meaty.... Due to my lack of concentration he sadly had the first down but more than made up for it by jumping the meaty green and yellow double brilliantly, despite numpty mother jockey being a bit far off on the take off point... I also missed the stride at the meaty blue oxer at 12, getting a bit deep (I didn't fancy a long one again!) but he cleverly got his legs out the way and left it up, I think i must have relaxed a bit too much at the let off as he didn't pay his full attention to the next and had that down too but jumped the last clean for just 8 faults in the jump off.
Lots of pats and praise, TP points to overflow and a nice feed with extra carrots when he got home.
Pic from our 'practise' at Northcotes last week:
