One Very Extraordinary Filly

So over the past couple weeks as I've gotten to know Tiki I've discovered she's a very extraordinary filly. She is like no other foal I've worked with in intelligence and heart. She is quite literally the sweetest creature I've ever known. She is so bonded to me she whinnies when I walk in the barn, stands at her stall door and puts her nose out for me, and whinnies whenever I leave. She tracks me constantly, looking wherever I am when she's turned out. She doesn't have any playmates, so her focus might very well just be due to loneliness and wanting someone to play with. My friends, when they visit, will go in the field and we all just sit indian style in a circle in the middle of the field. Give it 30 seconds and she's right over in the middle of the group. 9 times out of 10 she's standing over me, playing with my hair, licking my cheek, "hugging" me with her neck and it's been noticed by the group over and over that while they all want to play with her, she clearly chooses me over everyone else to play with. Of course, we're enforcing manners--not letting her bite or paw at us, walk over us, or be aggressive in playing with us. At one week old she already figured out her boundaries with playing. She'll canter right up to you while you sit calmly and skids to a stop at a safe distance from your feet :-) This, short of her constant want to be around humans, is pretty normal stuff.

What I'm starting to really see is her intelligence at problem solving and trust level. If we're out in the pasture together and I'm scratching her or just hanging out in the pasture sitting with her while she grazes nearby, if Mona alarms at a sound next door or nearby, putting her head up, stiffening up and snorting, Tiki looks at me. If I'm not concerned, her demeanor doesn't change at all and she continues what she's doing. If she does get alarmed for some reason, she's equally chosen running to Mona as much as running to hide behind me. Devinne, a vet student who has done TONS of repro work and has handled tons of foals, was stunned at her "circle of trust"--the radius that Tiki feels comfortable moving away from Mona, especially if it's in an area she's not familiar with. A foal of her age will usually stay within 10 feet of mom. Tiki will happily follow me up to 50 feet away from Mona while free in the pasture. In a halter and lead, at two weeks old, not even needing the figure 8 rope around her butt anymore, she'll walk with me pretty much wherever I want outside the pasture already. Devinne was able to lead her into an area she had never been before, with Mona grazing nearby, about 30 feet away.

She's already working very competently in halter. Most foals at this age I'm still figure 8-ing and they're not as confirmed as her in leadwork until at least a month. I took her out back in our grass "ring" and showed her poles and jumps for the first time. After a couple "hell NO I'm not walking over that pole" moments, and me just waiting at the end of the lead rope for her to figure out what I wanted, she walked over them with no problem. I then put the pole about 6 inches high and asked her to jump over them. I've done this with foals, but not normally until they're a couple months old. It was the first time I ever worked with her with a dressage whip and she completely understood what I was asking for. All training is pressure-release-from-pressure, and she's already mastered that concept. She's shown her stubborn streak and the fact she's more willing to lay down and stop listening completely in a temper tantrum than give in, but I've figured out how to work around that already. Things do have to be presented as something for her to figure out or be her idea. I've seen her need to "discover" the answer to the question you're asking and approach her that way now. The great part is while she can be frustratingly stubborn when she doesn't understand, once she does the right thing she LIVES to be praised. Once she figured out that I wanted her to go over the poles, she FLEW over them in a big show and then got to the other side, waited to be hugged and scratched, and then danced at the end of the lead in joy that she "got it right". She was SO obviously proud of herself. Then as we walked past the jump, she pulled to go over it again and couldn't wait to do more. We only did 6 jumps total, but she was incredibly happy and proud of herself, it was so funny to see. Her rapid cognitive ability to figure out what was expected of her and then repeating it was really impressive. I've seen foals learn, but we all clearly witnessed her get it right once and then clearly repeat and want to repeat over and over.

She already sits on the beanbag like a pro and anyone can sit her down on it and sit next to her. I got her a small ball and am starting to teach her how to play with it. So far on the first try, I can kick it a few feet and get her to follow it and touch it. She then waits for a scratch as a reward. We've already set a small saddle on her back (she didn't care), saddlepads, jingle bells, towels, lead ropes, hats, whatever you do to her she doesn't care. Complete and total trust. She already flysprays and bathes like a champ, (she turns three weeks old tomorrow), has had her first farrier trim and did great, clips, and stands quiet for the halter to be put on and taken off in the stall and in the field.

She is truly a little ray of sunshine. She loves EVERYONE. She's hard to walk away from. She'll lick you on the cheek and "hug" you with her neck forever. She loves to tickle people with her upper lip and has already learned that nipping people is BAD, so she's very gentle when she comes up and wants to be scratched and groomed and groom you back. I am constantly floored at the outpouring of love from such a little body, and her eyes are a thousand years old. She is so wise beyond her years already, it's somewhat spooky looking at such mature and wise eyes in such a tiny foal. While I am sad that Eddie is gone, I am grateful to have Tiki as his legacy. I'm not sure I've ever been so unconditionally loved by a horse before. It is a strange and wonderful experience. I hope she doesn't grow out of her super-friendly, super-loving self.