Daisy, to those in the know, this filly hails from the agricultural outback of Napier - Meeanee, to be precise.
The black 1-year-old strutted her stuff in the showing section of the New Zealand National Horse & Pony Show, which started in Hastings yesterday.
When Ellie O'Brien, compatible in sartorial elegance, led her out on to the centre stage at the Hawke's Bay Showgrounds, a panel of judges looked Donavella up as one would leggy models on the catwalks of Milan and Paris.
It was, in fact, a debut for both O'Brien and the daughter of former dressage stallion Donnarubin who Kirstie Pearce, of Napier, owns.
"Ten days ago Kirstie asked me to show her and get her ready," said the 24-year-old horse and rider trainer from Rotorua, who only moved to Napier three months ago to start her business in Hawke's Bay.
"It was the first time showing for me so it was a very successful day," said O'Brien, who will jet off to the United States in March with her boyfriend, Hayden Pedersen, a fifth-tier Nascar driver from Napier.
Up at 4.30am, Pearce worked on the filly until 6.30am. After picking up O'Brien, they then attended to finer details at the showgrounds until 7.30am.
"We have to make sure her whites are sparkling white," O'Brien explained, referring to the "blaze" (white streaks on the face), the "socks" (shorter white patches on the legs) and the "stockings" (longer leg patches).
It's not unusual for owners to dye the body black and polish the hooves to paint a "perfect picture". Mascara-like, the areas around the nose and eyes are also accentuated.
A "little naughty" at first, in six to eight sessions O'Brien struck a rapport with Donavella.
Donavella didn't win yesterday. That honour belonged to show association committee member Alan Copeman, of Cambridge, and Glamorgan.
O'Brien said the filly came fifth overall but "it's a big deal for a yearling" who will in a couple of years be more suitable for the dressage arena when owner Pearce's daughter will graduate from pony riding.
Showing is the marginalised cousin of showjumping, crosscountry and dressage, which is unlikely to bask in the glare of international TV coverage to the hype of the Olympic Games.
Purists will tell you it is more elegant than dressage but it's not for O'Brien who curtailed careers in interior decorating and business to delve in equine pursuits.
From a farming, non-horsey background, O'Brien fondly recalls riding the family German shepherd as a 2-year-old before graduating to a Clydesdale, tearing through a watermelon plantation.
She'll head off to Hawera today to attend a clinic from American cowboy Buck Prannaman, an expert on training ranch horses.
