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Post by Kea's Crest on Sept 13, 2008 22:55:35 GMT -5
Aren't we lucky horses!
HollyI will enjoy passing along the message to Emma that Holly's home is with you, Merle. That's awesome. Emma and Dutchess have been doing great. Emma is still the free spirited little sweet heart. She amuses herself by stealing nibbles of Dutchess's hay to lure Dutchess into chasing her. I just finished building them a 60ft round pen yesterday so their training will have an added dimension. So far the round pen has defined a bit of a race track pattern since I put it in the middle of one of their pastures. Playing "chase" around the outside of it has seemed the most obvious use for it to the girls so far. ;D Tomorrow is their first "training" day with it. My fingers are crossed that they will get some good use out of the roundpen from the inside as well.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Oct 19, 2008 16:42:09 GMT -5
A little Duchess and Emma update: Both girls are doing great and looking forward to a visit from Mswan tomorrow. I spent extra time trying to pretty up the girls this morning to prepare for their lessons today and visit with Merle tomorrow. Of course they promptly rolled in the nearest dirt they could find. ;D Silly girls. During todays round pen work both girls did very well with their Parelli training. They are still so young we are not pressing them thru all 7 games right away but getting them very comfy with the first 4 simple games so the last three will be easier. Dont want to tire them out so they stop having fun with their schoolwork. They really seem to enjoy figuring out what we are asking them to do. They are both so smart they are picking up their cues right away. I attached some pictures so people can see how they are doing. Emma is growing like a weed; right about 15 hands and 750lbs. She is almost as tall as Duchess. She is still the perky little princess that is a little too aware of just how cute (if 750lbs still qualifies as cute) she is. A little "yo yo" game for Emma while Duchess audits the class. Working on some neck flexion exercises.
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Post by mswan on Oct 20, 2008 21:18:13 GMT -5
John and I spent the day visiting Kea's Crest. WOW!!! The Princess has a castle. I am so pleased at the home that Emma and Duchess have. Both Janis and David are such wonderful horse parents. Emma has grown so much and is such a happy horse. Thank you Janis and David!!!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Oct 27, 2008 20:02:59 GMT -5
I was feeling a little nostalgic so I read thru all the pages of Emma's thread again. So many people helped contribute tidbits of information to rebuild Emma's lost history. Thank you to everyone who added what they knew. It reads like an Anastasia story so Merles hinting that Emma is a lost princess is certainly fitting.
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Post by huskiesnhorses on Oct 28, 2008 13:25:21 GMT -5
I didn't reread the whole Emma thread - so sorry if this is a repeat story but I don't think it is - so here is one more for Emma. Back when she was at EquineAid - the decision had been when she was first dropped off to take her halter off her to keep her out of trouble/harms way. At the time I thought...(as being the one who had clung around her neck when we caught her at Elledge's property)....oh Lord, I hope we don't live to regret THAT decision - and of course - we did. We worked for days with her to get close enough to put a halter back on her. Everyday I went out to clean their pasture - I would use Dutchess to try to get close enough to Emma to get a halter on her. She was having none of it. She would let me scratch her butt, and pet her but no way was she going to go for the halter. During these days, from time to time, Emma and Dutchess I think would break out and go visit Geri's neighbors. They didn't respect the fences (hot tape) and considering where they came from in their quest for food and water - not so surprising. Well, on one of these forays into the night - they ended up at a neighbors house who not only HAD a halter - but put one on Emma - she had no idea we were having such a time getting one on her and just did it for us! And THAT is how Emma got "caught" the 2nd time! ETA - I think that's the first and only time I have ever been glad a horsey ran away from home! It was AWESOME!!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Nov 13, 2008 13:11:12 GMT -5
Thanks for the story Redmond. It's fun to fill in the gaps of their "stories." Yesterday, with all the rain we were having, the girls decided an excellent strategy to continue hiding their true royal identities was to put on disguise. A favorite spot of theirs to stand during inclement weather is under a big doug fir which has "diminished" the amount of grass there a bit. So two silly fillies, who were completely soaked from frollicking about in the rain earlier, proceded to do one of the most complete "roll in the dirt" jobs I've ever seen. They were so muddy from head to toe it was hard to tell which girl was which. I know monochrome is popular but holy smokes! Who is the palomino and who is the pinto? They were both dark bays... dark "dirt" bays. Today the sun is shining and the dirt has been scraped away. Silly babies. ;D
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Post by Kea's Crest on Nov 30, 2008 12:25:27 GMT -5
Latest News for November: First time "SADDLE DAY." Having watched a friend of ours experience substantial difficulty training her horse to accept a saddle by basically waiting til he was old enough to be ridden; we decided it would be a good idea to "warm" the girls to the idea of saddles early on as part of their training regimine. Of course the girls will not have a rider until they are older and their bones and joints are ready. Getting them comfortable with the saddle being put on, the feel of the girth around them and an intro to a little weight - the saddles 27lbs - was our goal. This has all been preceded by desensitizing over the months with just saddle blankets, lead ropes gently around the tummy for "girth practice," etc, etc. Unless Merle or someone else in SAFEs' "training dept" beat us to it we have an important milestone passed with flying colors yesterday: First saddle day! ;D Emma went second after Dutchess. She did a great job. She was a little reluctant about me bringing the saddle over her back and shied away about 5 times. But after a few more sniffs of the saddle and a burning desire to not let Dutchess beat her she allowed me to put the saddle on. She was really a champ. It was less than 5 minutes of her being unsure about it. After getting the saddle on her there were no problems at all. We cinched the girth a little, moved the saddle around, fooled with the stirrups, and did a few walking laps around the pasture while I lead. We used our "training saddle" ie "cheap one," just in case it got a trip to the mud so I wasnt real worried about fit; more just getting thru the process. Emma was praised profusely and made her feel as though she was modeling designer apparell. We kept the lesson short so everything ended positively and the girls were left wanting more. Such good girls. Here are a couple pictures. Dutchess checks for fit... Emma is unsure she likes the fuss. With the inspection passed; both girls seem happy with the new look.
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Post by mswan on Nov 30, 2008 18:15:39 GMT -5
Great job!!! The girls are so luckey!
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Post by beautifulmorgan on Dec 17, 2008 21:04:34 GMT -5
Please keep posting updates about these girls! I am so jealous, I am a Saddlebred lover from Oklahoma and if I thought that SAFE would adopt a horse to me with the distance I would apply for Annie, Sinatra, Hope, or Scotti. I wouldn't care which one I got! I love them all! Anyway I have enough going on with my two horses, an aged Morgan and a sort of rescued Saddlebred. I often wonder if my saddlebred, whose identity is still a secret, is related to some of Jean's horses. But then the question would be, how did he wind up in Oklahoma? Any way please keep up the updates. And I love the training stories! They give me ideas since I am training my boy all myself. Edited to add: Willow. I would also take Willow! I can't believe I forgot to add her!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 18, 2008 18:04:50 GMT -5
Good luck with the training of your horses Beautifulmorgan. I know what you mean by wanting to adopt them all. This really is an exceptional group of horses. We feel lucky to have adopted two beautiful girls but the decision was hard because there are just so many great horses here. And... as luck would have it... fresh pictures with the fresh snow. We have been lucky as we have only accumulated about 6 inches of snow and I fear it is a little deeper out in the Monroe area and such where it seems many other SAFE members live. For our horses it was just enough to be a fun winter wonderland. They have been having a grand time frolicking about in the fluffy white stuff. They have stayed snug in their coats and even at 25 C they are borderline too warm with the coats on. I just know they like to roll around and so they would get all wet with melted snow and then it would be cold when they calmed down for the night. Here are some pictures. Emma forever getting taller! 15.2hd nowLooking cuteEverybody waiting to go to the upper pasture
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Post by mswan on Dec 18, 2008 22:28:26 GMT -5
Thanks for the update! Emma WILL be the tallest when they are done. Her dam was 17hh they say. You are doing a great job with these two girls. Thank You!!
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 19, 2008 12:31:32 GMT -5
I agree. Just by the fact she is a year younger than Dutchess but still close in height seems to indicate she will be tall. Add in those long legs to her short torso and baby pony face and you know she is going to be a skyscraper. ;D
I'm going to try to get some "sun and snow" pictures today. Cold and clear here today (16 degrees C) on the Olympic Peninsula.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Dec 20, 2008 21:44:43 GMT -5
And... "sunny day" pictures. They are so photogenic I couldnt resist.
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Post by Kea's Crest on Mar 9, 2009 11:34:03 GMT -5
The Emma Update for March: Emma remains the svelt little princess. Somehow she maintained a fairly fuzz free face this winter keeping her pretty and slim features. Knowing Emma and her vanity I suspect she is plucking when I am not looking. ;D Emma's training continues well. She is certainly more "spooky" than Dutchess but Dutchess is really quite calm so she sets a high standard. With Emma, one day desentization exercises are down pat and then another day the same exercise is "very scary daddy!" I suspect it is all part of the "princess" act and is all about getting attention. Filly adolescence I'm sure. Most of her exercises she does very very well. Ground training continues and she is getting alot of it between "at home" sessions with our trainer and now our neighbors daughter is going to add some as well. No pasture pets around here... perhaps a pasture princess or two but who can blame them. Emma now stands around 15.1 - 15.2 hh and 880lbs. "Of course I'm a Princess. Dont you know who I am?!" ;D
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Post by Sara on Mar 9, 2009 13:06:53 GMT -5
I am so glad you continue to post updates on this pretty girl. You can definitely see some of willow in there, can't you? She still looks like such a baby!
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