Friday Rescue - Chaos

Hello! Whatcha doing?

You bring treats? You know you want to give me treats. They are in your pocket. Put the camera down and feed me those treats.

Oooo, that's the spot! Right there. Oh, over, over, right there! Aaah itchy spot!

SHHHhhhhh!! I'm practicing to be Dude's shadow.

The Three Muskateers (and Carmel Cat)

As you may have been able to tell, Chaos is a very inquisitive little boy. He's very interested in just about anything anyone is doing at any given time. Chaos is my Friday Rescue.

I got Chaos at the end of May 2006 (Memorial weekend) from a coworker that did not want him any more. The coworker was going to take him to Kramers Auction if I did not take him. Originally, the coworker wanted $100 for Chaos. But somehow Chaos cut his leg up so the coworker gave Chaos to me for free.

When I went to pick him up, he was an unhandled yearling stud colt who'd spent the entire time running in a pasture. The coworker hadn't even named him. So I dubbed him Chaos. :-) Having never had a young horse, let alone one that wouldn't let me touch him, I was rather overwhelmed at first. But we soon learned each others quirks and now I can do just about anything with him.

As a two year old, I decided it was time to geld him. When Chaos first came to us, I was afraid that he would require surgery since his "manly parts" hadn't dropped. But in May 2007 I took him to the vet who laughed and said he was definatley dropped and ready to be gelded. For the rest of the year, Chaos and I just played. I messed with him as much as I could to get him ready for riding.

At first I put an english saddle on him, without the stirrups. He could have cared less.

Then I pulled the stirrups down. He could have cared less.

tried my western saddle cinched up. He could have cared less.

So I tried my back cinch and breast collar. He could have cared less.

I tried a pack saddle. He could have cared less.

tried the pack saddle with the bright orange paniards (sp?). He could have cared less.

I tried a driving harness. He could have cared less.

I put a bit in his mouth (ok, actually he stole it out of my hands). He could have cared less.

I bridled him up. He could have cared less.

The only time he was a little bit uncomfortable was when I put the driving bridle on with the blinkers and he couldn't see.

In May 2008 I sent him to a local trainer, Jake Jass. Jake uses the Clinton Anderson methods. I didn't recognize Chaos when I went to pick him up. He was a sleek, well muscled, well mannered machine. I'll have to blog about his trip to the trainers at some point. It's embarrasing for me though. :-)

I'm hoping this year that I'll be able to ride him often so he can become my dependable riding horse. He's really a mellow mannered guy. It's been so much fun watching him grow up. I'm hoping to take him to at least one trail ride during this trail riding season. I guess time will tell.

I have many more stories about Chaos but I need to go get ready for the horse fair! Hopefully I'll get some good pics to post.