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Post by Kea's Crest on Oct 19, 2008 16:58:51 GMT -5
Duchess is still pretty close to last months height and weight although this month she looks more like she is starting to "fit" her measurements. Her body is balancing out well and she is becoming a beautiful girl. Today Duchess and Emma had a round pen lesson and they both did very well. Dutchess is about a year older than Emma and approaches her lessons in a very sincere manner. She is so sweet while clearly working hard to understand and do what we are asking of her. I attached some pictures of todays adventures. Everyone takes a break from their lesson to smile for the camera Jan and Duchess discuss technique while watching Emmas routine
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Post by Kea's Crest on Nov 30, 2008 13:06:27 GMT -5
FIRST TIME "SADDLE DAY!!!" Unless Merle or someone else at SAFE had this as part of their training before we adopted; Dutchess and Emma have had their milestone "First saddle day." ;D We watched a friend and her trainer have a full and completely unsuccessful session trying to get her 5 yr old to accept a saddle. I know they had many other problematic days working the issue so I wanted to make sure our girls got a good and early start gradually working toward feeling friendly with the saddle. Clearly Dutchess is too young to be ridden. That will come when her bones and joints are much stronger and developed. But for her to feel comfortable with the saddle, girth and stirrups seems important and problematic, as we have witnessed, if not addressed early on. Along with regular Parelli training ground sessions over the months we have been desensitizing the girls to saddle blankets, rain sheets, etc, so that it would ultimately be the natural next step to add a saddle. Dutchess was a champ. We started with the saddle blanket on and off several times from both sides and she was totally non-chalant about it. Next came the saddle and - ta daaa!! - it was on. The only hard part about cinching up the girth was that Emma had her nose in there trying to help. Emma was pretty jealous that Dutchess was getting so much attention that I'm sure it helped when it was her turn. Anyway, we praised Dutchess profusely and she walked around like she was a fashion queen while I lead her around the pasture a bit. She acted like she was bred for the saddle or something. We kept the session short and positive. The saddle came off as easy as it went on and she was suddenly the resident expert when it was Emmas' turn. She was a very good girl. Here are some photos. Hay-y-y-y-y! Looky-y-y at me-y-y-y-y!!! Emma says "I wanna try it on! I wanna try it on!"
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Post by monicabee on Nov 30, 2008 13:14:03 GMT -5
Nice to hear about the two of them - and their differing responses. The buddy system seems to be working for you here.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Nov 30, 2008 13:28:36 GMT -5
Buddy system for sure. When you are watching Bing Crosbys' "White Christmas" this year and the song "Sisters" comes on; think of Dutchess and Emma... singing that song.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 18, 2008 18:31:51 GMT -5
December Edition of: "LOOK WHO'S GETTING TALLER" Ok, I have to be honest; I like tall horses. When we were deciding on which horses to adopt I held secret hopes that both girls would grow quite tall. After we adopted them, Dutchess's height pretty much stabilized at around 15.1hd and then she just seemed to be filling out from there into a young adult horse. Then I read some posts about her sire and how that was about how tall he was and seemed to produce offspring about the same height. Well I came home from my last trip and I noticed Dutchess's butt quite a bit taller than Emma's; which was a change since they were running neck and neck in height. So I pulled out the tape and did a quick measure and here she is 15.3hd. Wow, maybe she will be a tall girl. I had really grown content with the height she was but off she goes sprouting up. And right now her bum is taller than her withers so I guess she is ratcheting herself up back to front. A winter wonderland is what we have going today. All the "kids" were romping about in the fluffy stuff having a great time. Here are some pictures: IS THIS WHERE THE EGGNOG IS?WAIT!, WAIT!, I HAVENT GOT MY NOSE SMOOSHED UP TO THE CAMERA YET! "WILD MUSTANGS IN THE NEW MEXICO HI COUNTRY!!!" OR LEAST THAT'S WHAT THEY LIKE TO PRETEND UNTIL DINNER IS SERVED UP IN THE NICE WARM BARN. ;D
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Post by leahlady on Dec 18, 2008 19:04:09 GMT -5
beautiful! they look so wonderful and happy I'm so glad you have these lovely girls
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Post by mswan on Dec 18, 2008 22:22:32 GMT -5
Awsome pictures!!!! Thanks for sharing them!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 20, 2008 21:49:35 GMT -5
WHO CAN RESIST NIBBLING FENCE RAILS WHEN THEY PUT FROSTING ON THEM!!!! ;D GOT FENCE?
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Post by Kea's Crest on Mar 3, 2009 0:24:22 GMT -5
Thought I should give a quick Dutchess and Emma update. They are both doing so well. Dutchess is still the sincere sweet girl she always has been. She always looks directly at you with the softest eyes when she is learning new things. Truly she is putting her mind to figuring out what you are teaching. Emma is still the precoscious sweet girl she has always been. You can tell she is always thinking about playing around or being a silly filly when "school is in" but then she always nuzzles into your chest with the "arent I just the most cutest everrrrr?" The important common trait is the "sweet" part. I really like that about these girls. They really are girls with good hearts. When the weather gets a little nicer and the girls are more photogenic (less dirty) I'll put in some updated photos.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Mar 9, 2009 11:06:55 GMT -5
As promised... an updated photo of our Dutchess. With that winter fuzz on her face she is irresistable with her big brown eyes and long blond eyelashes. Chin skritches are always on the agenda. Our neighbors 17yr old daughter, an old pony club pro and horse owner since she could walk is also adding small training sessions. She has an arab mare with a 2yr old gelding (along with 5 other horses) so she has experience with youngster silliness and ground handling training. There are several horse training properties in the area we will be looking at this spring for Dutchess. I think since she is almost 3yrs old it is time to get her into 1st grade and get a formal school under her belt. Our "home school" sessions with our trainer have been great but a concentrated course would really challenge her in a good way. No plans for even moderate amounts of riding. Just enough so it is something she is gently worked into. Dutchess is still about 15.2-15.3hh and now weighs in about 1100lbs. We have lots of people looking after our girls here on the Olympic Peninsula.
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Post by Sara on Mar 9, 2009 13:09:57 GMT -5
She is looking like quite the grown-up mare these days, is'nt she? good for you for taking a slow & steady approach. These two could not have landed in a better spot. Thank you so much for continuing to update us on their progress!!
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Post by coconut on Mar 9, 2009 19:12:10 GMT -5
What a sweet heart! She looks like a very dignified horse, in deed!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Apr 28, 2009 11:29:48 GMT -5
The spring vet visit was the event of the day yesterday. Dutchess did excellent! Our vet said she was a very good girl and stood bravely and calmly for her vaccinations. Of course she knew the reward was a few hours in the green grassy pasture. "The thing you have to remember about new pasture is to be sure to run around first and frolic abit before the serious grass munching starts." says Dutchess. The vet reports Dutchess is in excellent health! ;D
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Post by mswan on Apr 28, 2009 23:46:24 GMT -5
Dutchess and Stryker look fabulous! Of course, I'm most impressed with the one in the middle.
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Post by mymercedes on Apr 28, 2009 23:48:55 GMT -5
That's a pretty pack of ponies!
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