Poor Val, week three of life hasn't been the best. She is getting bigger and stronger and more playful with more energy, and the horrible Ohio weather continues to confine her and Khandle to their 12'x12' stall. And if that wasn't bad enough, she has scours. Scours is a normal bout of diarrhea that all foals get. It coincides with the mare's foal heat, and one theory is that it is just the foal's digestion tract making the switch from milk to grass and grain. But regardless, it's still horrible. Her poor little back end is wet all the time, and her pretty little tail that used to be so soft and fun to play with is now a wet stinky mess. So, time for her first bath.
Although she likes to be petted with the sponge, a dripping wet sponge is a completely different matter. The ex and I decided to work on this project together. My hope was that this would be a nice learning experience for Val, teaching her to be held while the humans worked on her body. Ha.
She was afraid of the halter, and afraid of the lead rope. All brand new fears. So, after I get her all harnessed up, I held her rear in place with the lead rope, and hugged her shoulders to me, and held on for dear life while she tried to rear and somersault. I'm proud to say that she tried, but accomplished neither, because I'm even more stubborn than she is, and at this point anyway, I am still stronger. I managed to hold her somewhat still while the ex gave her hind-end a sponge bath, then rinsed with a bucket of water. She actually decided to stand nicely by the end of the session, so hopefully it was somewhat of a learning experience for her. I'm sure she is thinking about it and learning what she can do next time to be more successful at escape.
After that trama, it stopped raining for a few hours, so I was able to let the stall-bound duo out in the front yard for a little exercise. Dad had parked his horse trailer at my house so that I can get Val used to it, so she did some gentle exploring.
More to do with that big scary thing later. Just wait until we open the doors and go inside . . . . !
Later it was time for an attempt at grazing the grass like Mommy, but sometimes legs can be too long!! Or, maybe it was just a bit of filly yoga -- as a friend pointed out, "a bit of downward facing dog is good for the soul."
Finally, back to the stall to spread the new straw (Val likes to help with this, she kicks it around and rubs her face in it!), then dinner time. Mom sure is nice to share. Mare's milk seems to be losing the appeal already for little Val.
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