Saturday, May 22, 2010

Flying By

Well Danny is three weeks old today which means he is starting into his fourth week and this time next week he will be a month old! I've started putting his halter on for about ten minutes every morning. He still doesn't like it too much and there is a mild battle every time I start to slip it over his nose but at least the removal is calmer. When it is on, I pull lightly from side to side until he yields his head to pressure. He is usually good about this but will occasionally put up a fuss. I just hold with gentle firmness until he calms down and yields and then I release and praise him. He did try some horse play with me this morning. It was when I was bent over and not paying attention as it always is. He does seem to wisely choose his moments to misbehave. Of course, he doesn't yet realize that this is a bad thing but we must convince him now before he is old enough for it to be dangerous. I'm never mean or cruel to him. I simply stand firm, hold my hand out with the palm toward him and say, "Whoa!" in a commanding voice. It always works even when he is being particularly frisky. He already whoa's on command and backs with light pressure and command so I think he's doing quite well for one so young. One thing I have learned though, if a grown horse's attention span and interests in an exercise only lasts 15 minutes, you can figure that a three week old foal's is about 15 seconds. I try to repeat each exercise at least three times on each side but no more than six. I've also been throwing a hand towel across his back and around his legs, behind and neck. He doesn't seem to have any problem with the throwing but when I left it on him this morning, he reached around and attempted to pull it off.  I'm doing my best to get him desensitized to as many things as possible while he is still young and curious.

I will try to get some more shots of him later today. I'm having camera problems at the moment and could not adjust my shutter speed for some reason. That is why this shot is a bit blurred but I still love that flying mane and tail!

Our good friends, Tammy and Chris, stopped by last night to meet Danny. They've been trying to find the time to visit since he was born but they are so busy these days trying to get their new barn and arena finished. Danny was not on his best behavior; he was more than a  little rambunctious but he was still sweet and let them both pet him. The other two boys, Django and Riley, made up for his rudeness though since they haven't been getting the attention they are use to since Danny arrived on the scene. I think that Django is just a little bit jealous of his little brother; he is after all use to being the "baby" in the family. Both horses did totally enjoy the visit and all of that petting and affection. Even the usually shy Riley was eating it up.

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