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Post by Kea's Crest on Jul 9, 2009 11:10:28 GMT -5
Emma is doing suprisingly well while Dutchess is away for school. Of course she was a little upset the night Dutchess left but she still has Striker as a pasture mate and he is the picture of calmness... (When I'm not on his back at least. ; ).) So Emma has Strikey as her "rock" and I think she enjoys being the only mare. She doesn't have to act up or compete for attention so much.
Emma and Striker had their pedicure yesterday and it went pretty smoothly without having two youngsters nosing into the program when another is being trimmed. It's been an over all good experience for all the horses to have Dutchess gone to school for a bit. Dutchy gets schooled up and Emma becomes more independent. : )
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Post by mswan on Jul 31, 2009 23:12:15 GMT -5
I got to visit with my little Emma yesterday. She isn't so little anymore! Emma has gotten very tall in fact! She looks great! I'll try and post a picture or maybe Janis can post the ones I sent her. We always have so much fun visiting st Kea's Crest!
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Post by mswan on Jul 31, 2009 23:28:28 GMT -5
Emma and David checking her height. David is multi-tasking.
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Post by mswan on Jul 31, 2009 23:33:58 GMT -5
My My you have grown!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Aug 1, 2009 9:51:18 GMT -5
Cute pictures Merle. It's always great to have you and John out to visit! I know we are a long way out here so thanks for "making a day of it" for the horses. Drop by anytime. Oh, btw, my thumb on the measuring tape was at the 16 hh mark. So she is pretty close, even leaning forward like she was, to 16 but still a solid 15.3. Pretty tall for that "pony" look she still has.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Sept 13, 2009 12:29:50 GMT -5
Emma and Duchess have made the switch at training camp. Duchess was all done with her training so when we trailered her home we left her in the trailer. Emma was brought over for loading and perked up with the "Oh HI Duchess!!!" look and stepped right in the trailer like a good girl. We left Duchy in for the trip back to the trainers (10 mins) so Emma would feel secure. When she got to the trainers Emma backed right out and saw a resident mare and pony and went right over to happily visit with them. I think she was happy to have a friend around that was young and frisky. She is getting used to her new place over the weekend and training starts for her on Tuesday. Just ground manners type stuff since she is so young but it will be a good 4 week course so she learns to be well behaved.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Oct 18, 2009 11:01:13 GMT -5
Emma is due for her web board update. The last few days have not really left her the most photogenic with the torrents of rain and wind we've been having so we'll just tell her adventures. She got back from "manners" school about a week and a half ago. Our trainers who so enjoyed training Duchess looked at us like "and these girls are half sisters?" Emma was a bit, shall we say "less receptive" to the training process. Even though the trainers use Natural horsemanship techniques and "low energy" approaches you'd think I was secretly sneaking in at night and giving here alfalfa injections. I "advised" them that Emma was a much higher energy horse than Duchess and they were saying "oh sure, no problem. We specialize in 'problem Arabs,' so how bad can she be?" I think the consesus by the end of the 4 weeks is she is "spirited." ;D I was asking; "if by "spirited" you mean thats why you have new boards all along the top railing of your round pen?" Well..., uh, yeah, I guess. It's not all bad, I actually thinks it funny that such good trainers were having to work so hard to make progress with her. I knew there was a reason I was doing great with one horse and not so great with the other. I'm going to blame it for now on youthful enthusiasm and plan on her growing out of it while we gentley move her forward in her rightful inheritance of the title "World Grand Champion." Champion of what hasnt been decided yet. ;D Princesses for now. As a matter of fact; during these terrible two's she is going thru I think her temporary pasture name will be "Princess Di.'" .... Princess Di L' Emma. Her trainers actual assesment is that she is very, VERY smart and still just young with normal high energy. Everyone she meets loves her, thinks she is beautiful and sweet so it looks like all is good in Emma's World.
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Post by mswan on Oct 18, 2009 20:47:42 GMT -5
I am happy that all survived training camp. Maybe Emma took the self confidence talks I gave her to heart. it's interesting because she started out a scared little girl. Holly was her rock. She has always been smart and willing to learn. I did tell you she is a Princess. Give her a hug from us!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Oct 19, 2009 10:09:15 GMT -5
Our trainers used very low energy/calm approaches with Emma. But by far, she always responded to you best Merle. I am not disappointed in her training experience. She is young and we knew it so my expectations werent for her to be the new dressage expert. Only for her to get some, I guess, desensitizing to the training environment. That way when she is old enough to ernestly begin training she has seen a glimpse of it. She did actually make many excellent forward steps while she was in school. She got quite good at trailer loading which was shakey-to-ok at first but became routine by the end. She had been acting head shy over the last several months at home and now she is good at "head down" for the halter. She walks with respect rather than trying to take me for a walk. She ties and cross ties patiently now. Walks over tarps like they are nothing. Accepts and did most of her training with a bit in to get comfortable with it. And her round pen work really did come a long way during her 4 weeks. Although my stories of Emma trying to single handedly turn round pens into pasture are fun to tell they dont tell the whole story. During her last two weeks she became really quite responsive in her round pen work. In fact it was best to have the trainers doing the cues because Emma was so tuned in that when I was in the center my inexperienced fumbling with sticks and ropes would periodically confused her. When given a clear cue she was always right on. We kept her round pen work to simple stuff; "walk and whoa", direction changes, turning inside rather than toward the fence, that kind of stuff. In retrospect I have to conclude that her overall experience at "training camp" was positive. It of course had it's challenges but I think forward progress was made in many areas. She is still very young and there are many who wont even start a horse til age five. So in that regard she is years ahead of the game. She is home now for "winter recess." Her brain was stretched and asked to do things other than "frollick and graze" during training so there are some beginings of new synapses and thought process in our young princess. The "first clearing" for a foundation of a lifetime of training always exposes a little mud. We'll just clean it up and move forward. For now, it's back to being a 2 yr old: the daily mission is to "frollick, graze, remove gutter pipes from barn and repeat."
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 16, 2009 12:16:49 GMT -5
All the horses had a visit from the ferrier yesterday and I was so proud of Emma. She has "spun down" from her high energy levels of this summer and is being such a good girl. Although still a youngster I can see a calmer look in her eye now as she is maturing. She was very good during for her hoof trim and of course beautiful as ever. OK, maybe she was a little muddy and wet but so was I.
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Post by mswan on Dec 17, 2009 15:04:43 GMT -5
Thanks for the update on Miss Emma. She is always going to have a joy about life. Once she got over the fear and figured out that people were ok.....the world is hers. Happy Holidays to everyone at Kea's Crest!
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Post by jaybird on Dec 21, 2009 12:15:15 GMT -5
For now, it's back to being a 2 yr old: the daily mission is to "frollick, graze, remove gutter pipes from barn and repeat." Hilarious! Suddenly Sinatra and Lola make more sense to me. They too have a mission to remove downspouts.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Jan 29, 2010 11:44:49 GMT -5
Some great news on the Emma and Duchess story: Thru the assistance of SAFE, Jaime, and any other as yet to be known helpers, the process of registering the girls with the ASHA is beginning. Our sincere thanks to all involved in helping us get this process started. I'm sure it will take some time but HURRAY! ; the process is starting. Spring scheduling is in place and Emma is all set to begin her full 10 week training course in mid March. It should be an exciting Spring and we are looking forward to how well she will do.
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Post by fanaberia on Jan 29, 2010 12:31:02 GMT -5
Some great news on the Emma and Duchess story: Thru the assistance of SAFE, Jaime, and any other as yet to be known helpers, the process of registering the girls with the ASHA is beginning. Our sincere thanks to all involved in helping us get this process started. I'm sure it will take some time but HURRAY! ; the process is starting. Spring scheduling is in place and Emma is all set to begin her full 10 week training course in mid March. It should be an exciting Spring and we are looking forward to how well she will do. Hurray!!!!! Sending my very best wishes for a smooth process and luck with the ASHA registry! And way to go on giving two beautiful horses a chance to have some paperwork:-)
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Post by Kea's Crest on Jan 29, 2010 13:25:08 GMT -5
How about a "registered name" game? Her field name will of course remain Emma but any suggestions? BTW, I'm thinking "Song of the Sea" is pretty but definitely out. I've got: (Names based on lineage) Olympic Sea Shell Golden Sea Shell Gold and Sea Shell Golden Sky Champions Legend Seas Legendary Sky Seas Golden Sky Safe at Sea Safe Seas Golden Skies Emma Safes Golden Sky Emmas Flight of Fancy (other) Champions Heir Anastasias' Legend Clearly we need ideas.
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