I had such a wonderful day yesterday - so very, very proud of my lovely boy.
Got up to yard early as I suspected that as he'd been out the night before Kali would be a rather fetching shade of mud - he was, so he got a bath. Celine was already up there bathing her horse Poppy (also a grey). Gathered up all our tack, boots, water, buckets, etc. and waited for Jen to arrive with horsebox. Both horses loaded and travelled beautifully - this is the first time we've travelled Kal with a companion and, while he's generally good to transport, he was much happier having Pops next to him.
I did give Kal one tube of NAF Magic before we left but I'm honestly not sure it made any difference. He was a little excited when we began unloading - there was a pony club rally going on and other people unloading to use the course so there was a bit of a party atmosphere - cue Kali doing a giraffe impression and spinning around rather alot trying to keep his eyes on what was going on around him. Once he was tacked up and Jen was on board, though, he was good as gold. Jen and Celine hacked the horses round the tracetrack to the cross country course and we (Celine's Mum, Francoise, the two dogs and I) met them at the warm up area. Kali had a tiny "look" at a rather big log but, aside from that, was sensible and jumped nicely in the warm up arena. Out on the course, he was much the same . . . had a good luck at a few elements, stopped at one or two but always went over them in the end. Despite being a teensy bit tentative at the water at first, he went in with coaxing from Jen and was soon cantering through it and popping the fences in and out. They did have one sticky moment when he unexpectedly jinked left when jumping a house - Jen lost her balance and Kal stopped dead pitching Jen over his right shoulder. I think it actually shook him up a little bit and from then on he started respecting the fences more and (more important) listening to Jen more too.
Poppy was amazing - but then she just is . . . fabulously scopey, honest, willing mare - with a very good jockey on top (Celine is only 16).
All-in-all, both Jen and I were very pleased with him. He hasn't done anything like that for about two years. Jen's only been riding him for 6 months or so and has worked mostly on his flatwork - and he's very, very different from her horse, in pretty much every way. Where Cariad and Jen have a 6-year partnership, Jen and Kali are still just getting to know each other, really (she rides him 3 times a week). Cariad is an IDxWelsh Cob - she's 15.2hh and a real "leg at each corner" type with lots of substance and bone. Kali is a Polish sporthorse - 16.2hh, tall and fine, and much longer and more "gangly." He's also a rather green 9, versus Cariad's much more wise 16.
So he was a superstar . . . jumped every effort she put him too (even if he did sometimes need some persuading). In time and with experience he'll become more bold - so we'll take him again soon
. He got lots and lots of pats, fuss and cuddles, a well-deserved wash down and dinner when he got home and a night out in the field with his friends to chill out - day off today and then Jen's having a lesson on him with a local trainer tomorrow.
His next "party" is this weekend - he's entered into the Championship Qualifier at a local show (Swallowfield) - 2'9" . . . and if, by some miracle, he places he'll go into the Championship - 3'3" . . . he's jumping at least 3'6" at home so I don't think he'll struggle scope-wise - the bigger challenge will be how well he behaves (or not) in such a buzzy/busy atmosphere. Half our yard are going so he'll have familiar company.
P
Got up to yard early as I suspected that as he'd been out the night before Kali would be a rather fetching shade of mud - he was, so he got a bath. Celine was already up there bathing her horse Poppy (also a grey). Gathered up all our tack, boots, water, buckets, etc. and waited for Jen to arrive with horsebox. Both horses loaded and travelled beautifully - this is the first time we've travelled Kal with a companion and, while he's generally good to transport, he was much happier having Pops next to him.
I did give Kal one tube of NAF Magic before we left but I'm honestly not sure it made any difference. He was a little excited when we began unloading - there was a pony club rally going on and other people unloading to use the course so there was a bit of a party atmosphere - cue Kali doing a giraffe impression and spinning around rather alot trying to keep his eyes on what was going on around him. Once he was tacked up and Jen was on board, though, he was good as gold. Jen and Celine hacked the horses round the tracetrack to the cross country course and we (Celine's Mum, Francoise, the two dogs and I) met them at the warm up area. Kali had a tiny "look" at a rather big log but, aside from that, was sensible and jumped nicely in the warm up arena. Out on the course, he was much the same . . . had a good luck at a few elements, stopped at one or two but always went over them in the end. Despite being a teensy bit tentative at the water at first, he went in with coaxing from Jen and was soon cantering through it and popping the fences in and out. They did have one sticky moment when he unexpectedly jinked left when jumping a house - Jen lost her balance and Kal stopped dead pitching Jen over his right shoulder. I think it actually shook him up a little bit and from then on he started respecting the fences more and (more important) listening to Jen more too.
Poppy was amazing - but then she just is . . . fabulously scopey, honest, willing mare - with a very good jockey on top (Celine is only 16).
All-in-all, both Jen and I were very pleased with him. He hasn't done anything like that for about two years. Jen's only been riding him for 6 months or so and has worked mostly on his flatwork - and he's very, very different from her horse, in pretty much every way. Where Cariad and Jen have a 6-year partnership, Jen and Kali are still just getting to know each other, really (she rides him 3 times a week). Cariad is an IDxWelsh Cob - she's 15.2hh and a real "leg at each corner" type with lots of substance and bone. Kali is a Polish sporthorse - 16.2hh, tall and fine, and much longer and more "gangly." He's also a rather green 9, versus Cariad's much more wise 16.
So he was a superstar . . . jumped every effort she put him too (even if he did sometimes need some persuading). In time and with experience he'll become more bold - so we'll take him again soon
. He got lots and lots of pats, fuss and cuddles, a well-deserved wash down and dinner when he got home and a night out in the field with his friends to chill out - day off today and then Jen's having a lesson on him with a local trainer tomorrow. His next "party" is this weekend - he's entered into the Championship Qualifier at a local show (Swallowfield) - 2'9" . . . and if, by some miracle, he places he'll go into the Championship - 3'3" . . . he's jumping at least 3'6" at home so I don't think he'll struggle scope-wise - the bigger challenge will be how well he behaves (or not) in such a buzzy/busy atmosphere. Half our yard are going so he'll have familiar company
.P