Venda 1 year old

Only officially though. My own calculations tell me we've shared 7 months together. It has been a roller coaster of emotions, disasters and success. It hasn't been what I expected but gladly the months turned out better than what I feared.

Last year was the worst. I almost lost Vipsu. Now after the battle, I'm scared of losing her every single day. At the same time, it was the best year possible. We won the battle, we got Venda - the future queen of Finnish trotters - and I have my perfect little therapy horse Viikari.

The future queen got her first taste of the sport today as her mother's old racing harness was fitted to her back. In the old days it was common for the foals to be harnessed the first time in boxing day. We didn't plan to do that just yet but Venda felt ready. She didn't mind having her mother's harness on her.

I kept the harness on her back for a little while, took it off and put it on again. She seemed to be more annoyed of standing still than anything else. So far standing still tied up has been the toughest thing for her to learn. Maybe because she is a bit lively and has all the energy in the world but no where to put it. She manages to do it well for few minutes every now and then but not on regular basis and for longer periods of time.

Venda moved to her own stall spontaneously just before Christmas. That has gone very well. So far she and her mother has been taken outside together every morning. Yesterday morning we began to take them in and out separately which has gone quite nicely. Venda behaves nicely until her mother starts to call for her.

I'm little surprised with Vipsu's behavior. Moving to her own stall went so well, I planned them to move to different paddocks soon, but I guess i don't have the heart to do it just yet.

Vipsu doesn't run around screaming for Venda, but she silently neighs to her with warmth in her voice. When Venda hears the call, she flips. Everything is suddenly happening too slow for her. 

Gladly Venda is a fast learner. Few days should do the trick. Banging her food bowl she learnt in a heart beat though. It didn't take days or even minutes. As her leg almost accidentally hit the stall wall while she received her breakfast, the learning had occurred. I wish rewarding the little foal to help her learn, would sometimes happen as easily as intended as it does unintended.

I must admit her mother has something to do with learning to bang the walls.. But the last step was all on me ;)

- J