Sunshine, at Last

The sun came out for a few hours today and Abbey took full advantage.  She stretched out on top of the sand pile I had cleared of snow yesterday and napped so long I got worried!  Of course she was fine, but I always  jump right to worst case scenario! 
Since the first two days, Abbey hasn't been confined to her pen except at night and four or five times during the day to eat.  Initially, I let her in the dry lot with one other horse at a time until they all had a chance to get over their silliness.  Now she's fully integrated into the herd, although she doesn't have a full time buddy yet.  Really would like to find another nice weanling, but it's getting late in the year.
The dry lot is about a third of an acre, so if she didn't want to be caught, it would be hard.  That's where the first exercise of asking her to always face me when I approach comes in handy.  At first I would have to slap my leg and "ask" her to look at me, but now she knows to face me and has learned to  hook on when I'm in the dry lot.  So she really doesn't have to be caught--she catches me by approaching me.  I either wait for her to come up, or I walk away so she doesn't assume she'll be played with every time I'm in the dry lot.  Just in the last three days, she's started to come up showing me she wants attention so when she comes to me, she gets a rub.  I try to make sure that I walk away before she does.
I reviewed previous lessons with her this afternoon adding a curry comb.  It seems strange to have to introduce a rubber curry comb doesn't it?  But for Abbey, everything is a first.  She relaxed about it enough to try to do some "mutual grooming" which I was glad to see but can't allow.  The "HEY" startled her enough that she jumped away, but she responded to the feel of the rope and didn't escape, and that's important.  Worked the wormer tip into her mouth and around her lips and tongue  with a tiny taste of syrup several times until she actually was willing to take it on her own.  I won't spring the nasty wormer on her for a few more days.
With young horses up until about 18 months, I always watch closely for signs of contractual issues in their fetlocks and pasterns.  If I see it, I change the diet to all grass hay and nothing else and have actually had it reverse in 24 hours, but I've always caught it very quickly.  So far Abbey is fine, so I have her on  alfalfa hay as well as grass hay.  She gets a pelleted vitamin and mineral supplement made for foals (which she's learning to like) and free choice loose minerals along with a salt block.  She loves that salt block!  She also relishes the free choice minerals and I expect that will slow down once she's satisfied whatever craving she has.  I don't want to push for fast growth and instead insure she has the right stuff for healthy bones, joints and soft tissue.  No worries about her getting enough to eat--she's kinda porky!