I had to dig more trenches in the dry lot today to drain some of the melting snow/ice. Abbey has crossed creeks since she was born, so a tiny "ditch" wasn't very worrisome--she mostly collapsed them as I dug them. But since she was hanging around, I took the opportunity to check my progress. When my weanlings are asking for attention, I like to test how well they've learned their lessons by doing things at liberty. Since they're free to walk off , I can tell if I've progressed to fast and need to back up in the process and make smaller steps. I rubbed Abbey's belly and legs and asked her to lift each foot a few inches off the ground. I did each one a couple of times and she was fine with it. I have to tell myself not to push my luck since she's not haltered, so I'll build on that when I have her haltered. I don't want her to leave until I turn away from her. I wormed her yesterday, so today I used the syringe to give her some Karo syrup and show her that's still ok.
Finally today I saw her and the yearling filly playing. They have very different personalities, but they're both young so I was hoping they would entertain each other. I do think though that Abbey has responded so quickly to her lessons because she was sort of alone in the herd situation and her interaction with me at least alleviated the boredom factor. As I've said, I don't like to have only one weanling, but that may be more for my emotional comfort! It just seems they should have a "playmate," so I'm happy to see the interaction with the yearling.
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