Today Dee Dee - Dahlia - Dolly was very polite when I went to put her fly mask on. She lowered her head and offered it to me! Well, that was certainly No Big Deal. So I thought I'd see how fly spraying would go. Um, no. Fly spray is the debbil. I actually think that the smell of the fly spray is partly to blame - it IS poison, after all! I had the same issue with Mac when I first got him, the reaction of "get that stuff away from me!!!" so I wiped it on him for a while. Now he will just stand untied while I spray him all over so I'm sure pony and I will work it out eventually.
Since she ate up all her hay during the day yesterday I didn't give her a bucket a night time, just hay. And she didn't really eat her hay overnight. :-( So she got a morning bucket and by the time lunch came around she had eaten all the hay and the bucket and ate all her hay throughout the day today. I decided that it is probably the stall arrangement that kept her from eating the hay, because I had put it outside but I think she hung out inside where she could see the other horses. So tonight she'll get a bucket AND the hay inside!
Yesterday when I was doing chores, it was interesting to watch her reaction to the tractor. I drove the tractor down the driveway and she gave it a big look. But then I saw her look at the other horses and they don't care, so she decided she would follow me along the fenceline while I drove it. She seems to be very curious about things.
She likes to play with her feed tub after she eats - in a 6-hour period I've seen it move from one end of her paddock to the other. I think perhaps she'd enjoy a Jolly Ball!
When I moved the horses around for dinner she was agitated after the Fly Spray Attacking incident, so was running around in her paddock a bit (the other paddock, in the Indian Burial Gr-I mean the Bachelor Pad) and got sweaty. Colin was in her regular paddock making some fencing adjustments, and I took the opportunity to work with her and give her a wet-towel bath. She seems instantly calmed by the presence of me on the other end of the lead rope, which is very interesting. She is also very soft on the end of the lead. I got the towel wet from the spigot and at first she thought it was also the debbil. But then she realized it felt good and stood quietly for her little sponge bath. I wiped her down all over - face, neck, back, legs, butt, belly, udder. She stood perfectly politely for it. Then I picked up all four feet and that went well, too. We did a little leading with me walking on the off side, which is a little confusing because she tries to reposition to me on the near side, but we got it sorted out. We also went up and down the driveway a bit and she was right with me.
I'm really liking this filly! She does like her people, she seems to calm down and be relieved when she's got someone to guide and reassure her, and she's polite to work around. She's very curious about things and playful, too. Oh, one last cute thing. She was very curious about the Bachelor Pad and so would trot in there, have a brief look around, then canter out. Then trot back in, go a little farther, then turn around and run out. I'll at least try to get some pictures tomorrow!
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