Donut Turns Two!

Donut had her second birthday over the weekend.  I'm not much of a party planner, but I did give her some extra time to eat all the green grass that is coming in.  I can't know for sure, but I think green grass is her favorite food and eating is her favorite thing to do, so I think that was probably the best thing I could have done for her.

I also took her out to the round pen for a little photo shoot.  She is usually pretty quiet out there, but she spent so much of her time moving around at Warp 9 that almost all of the pictures were quite blurry.  I did get a couple that I liked, though:

It's amazing to think that I've had her for almost nine months.  She is definitely looking more like a horse now and less like a baby.  And every once in a while, I can feel the moments of stillness.  Mostly Donut is like many young animals (and humans!).  She is curious and excitable and unless she is napping, she prefers doing something over standing still.  But sometimes when I am with her in her stall, I will catch a glimpse of the horse that I think she will become.

There was one day not that long ago that I categorize as one of those glorious, perfect days spent with a horse.  I was out at the barn later in the day than usual, and about the time that I was getting ready to leave, a really bad storm came through.  I knew from the weather report that it was likely to be very short - less than 30 minutes - and I had no desire to drag Donut back to the field in the middle of what looked like the most rain that could physically fall from the sky at one time.  She seemed happy munching on hay in her stall, even as the sound in the barn became deafening and other horses around her started to act up as the full force of the storm beat down on the barn.

I decided to stay with her and give her an extra deep grooming.  The two of us just hung out while the rain pounded down.  I brushed and brushed.  I worked on all the spots that had some residual dirt and looked for places that still had a lot of hair to shed out.  All the while, Donut contentedly munched on her hay.  

After the storm passed, I put my brushes away and led her out to eat grass for a few minutes before turning her out.  The light was ethereal as it often is after a storm.  And the air smelled clean and fresh.  Donut seemed calmer than usual and we had a nice walk out to the field.  There wasn't anything different that I can put my finger on.  It was more of a feeling of quiet and just existing in the moment together.  It was incredibly refreshing and it is easily my favorite time with Donut so far.  Moments like that are why I love horses.

I've also noticed that her airs above the ground have become significantly less over the past couple of months.  And no more temper tantrums, which is nice.  So I'm going to cautiously dip our toes into the world of lungeing and see how things go.  I've been doing some prep work with a rope during the past month, and I'll probably start some basic small circles at a walk later this week.  If that goes well, I'll see if I can get her to the point where she can walk, trot, and canter on a lunge line in the big arena. On the other hand, if she starts getting really reactive again, I will probably table it for the time being and try again in a couple of months.

I know that lungeing a young horse can be a bit controversial because of the potential negative impact on their legs.  But I found it invaluable with Nimo.  Lungeing is such a useful skill that I think it is worth doing.  With Nimo, I just did short sessions three or four times a week during his two-year old year.  And by short, I mean 5-10 minutes of quiet work.  I don't see any need for endless circles or lots of faster work.  My purpose in lungeing isn't for exercise at this point.  Partly because I doubt I could make even the slightest dent in Donut's energy level on a lunge line - her antics out in the field are becoming the stuff of legend! - and partly because I think it is the endless circles and faster work that can cause the damage to a horse's legs.  But lungeing is a great way to start introducing the concept of work and to check Donut's mental maturity, plus I can introduce new tack and transition into ground driving.

We've also made progress with the hose work.  I upgraded the hose with a nozzle a few days ago and I've been able to do a couple of sessions with Donut.  As I expected, she was quite sensitive to and concerned about the sound of the water coming out of the nozzle.  So we did have to go back to the beginning for a short time, but I am now able to ask her to stand in the concrete wash area while I hose her legs off.  It's such a luxury to be able to have a nozzle to adjust the water and turn it on and off!

So Happy Birthday, Donut!  And here's to what I hope will be another year of fun and challenges!