Fancy

We are beyond thrilled, ecstatic, delighted, and overjoyed to announce that our long time volunteer Casey has adopted Fancy! This is a dream adoption come true! Casey started volunteering at SAFE back in 2012: cleaning stalls, leading a chore crew, and helping work horses. She was here before Terry! Not only has Casey been a huge part of helping our horses prepare for adoption, coming 4–5 times a week after working a full-time job, but she also offered Saturday horsemanship introductions to our volunteers who wished to expand their horse skills. She has personally financed many SAFE horse’s further education by participating in clinics at home with Joel Conner and offsite with mentor Buck Brannaman and others. She and her husband Mark even made a “How to Halter a Horse” video for our volunteers. Casey’s commitment to SAFE is incredible and we are so lucky she is part of our SAFE family.

Fancy arrived at SAFE in March 2018, untouched and very shy. Through our horsemanship program, Casey has been there supporting her since the beginning. She prepared her for riding and helped put the first ride on. The first year of Fancy’s riding career wasn’t the easiest. She is a wonderful mare with a lot of try but also has a very sensitive side and a big motor behind. Casey has skillfully and thoughtfully brought this young mare along. The beautiful picture you see when Casey rides is a true testament of her patience and grit. Fancy could have ended up with a lot of trouble without such a tactful and committed handler. We are grateful for all the horses Casey has helped during her time with SAFE and elated that she is able to hold Miss Fancy Pants close to her heart and continue to develop her into a lovely mature riding mare.

As if this adoption story couldn’t get any better, Fancy will need buddies at her new home, so Casey and Mark have offered to continue working SAFE horses and foster them as they grow and prepare for adoptions. First up is Frosting, an 11-month-old Mustang! Like a lot of horses who come to SAFE, Fancy’s story was similar to Frosting’s, both had been seized by Animal Control for severe neglect. The two got to know each other at SAFE before heading to Casey’s. Frosting was in love with Fancy from the start, following her big sister around and clacking “I’m a baby!”. Now they spend their days getting grass time and keeping each other company while living with the best human family any horse could imagine.

Check out the video of Casey and Fancy teaching our volunteers to properly halter a horse:

Fancy has been at SAFE for nearly three years. Through the great work by her horsemanship trainers, Fancy has become a trusting and athletic riding horse. As a veteran of both Joel Conner and Buck Brannaman clinics, Fancy has learned to relax around other riding horses. A little birdie said that Fancy has a potential adopter lined up. Stay tuned for further news at Fancy’s next update!

Casey had this to say about Fancy’s performance in both the Buck Brannaman clinic in October and the November Joel Conner clinic:

Fancy has had a busy and productive couple of months. In October, we rode with Buck Brannaman in Spanaway, which was a great experience. This was really the first time I had ridden Fancy off property. She did get troubled by the life of the other horses moving around the arena, but I learned how to redirect her energy productively by yielding her hind quarters and allowing her to come across in the front when she was offering. As she was letting down and feeling of me better, I would weave in and out of the other horses, slowly introducing her to the life of the other horses and things that were troubling her. By Sunday, I had gotten a big change, and we were able to walk, trot, and lope in and around the other horses without trouble. Her back up also became soft and off my seat, which is something I had been having some difficulty with, and we got some great walk-to-halt and trot-to-halt transitions.  This was a great opportunity for me to learn how to support a young horse, and it became even more evident how quality groundwork supports quality riding. If I didn’t have the hindquarters to front quarters exercise down, Fancy and I would have had a much different experience. Fancy and I both benefited from this experience.

Fancy and I also got to ride with Joel Conner at SAFE in November. I know that I got a change at Spanaway, because Fancy was unaffected by the life of the other horses in the arena, even when a couple of horses were quite troubled. This meant that we were able to get straight to work on some other areas like her soft feel, transitions, and lining out. We got some great changes, and she was really feeling back to me for transitions. She continues to be very forward thinking, which is awesome, but I’ve been having some trouble getting trot-to-walk transitions on a loose rein. By Sunday, those transitions were coming without any issue. We also made some progress with her soft feel. She became more responsive and consistent, and her transitions down became softer and more punctual. We also touched on leg yielding for the first time. She was soft and straight each time, which I think can be attributed the groundwork, and foundational skills we have been working on under saddle. I’m really having a blast with this spunky mare.

Photos from the Joel Conner clinic by Kristina Oden:

Fancy is growing into a beautiful young mare with tons of potential and promise. She is will continue working with SAFE to establish the foundational riding work before being made available for adoption. These early months of riding are key to laying the groundwork to insure a future without trouble. Casey has done a masterful job guiding this mare through the process and she’s created one fantastic riding horse.

Here is what Casey had to say about working Fancy in her first horsemanship clinic:

Fancy has been coming along really nicely, and she did amazingly well in her first clinic setting in September. Though she did get a bit bothered when the energy picked up around her, I was able to keep her out of trouble. Moving her hind quarters is soft, and she’s really developed fluidity when she comes across in the front. She is a very forward-thinking horse, so I’ve had to go back to working on having her feel of me to go down through transitions from trot to walk, but each ride I see improvement. I’m starting to pick up on two reins to get a soft feel which is coming along, but she is a bit braced when backing. Under saddle, she can be a bit opinionated, but that spark makes her a great partner. On the ground, she is very respectful, and the volunteers often comment on how well-mannered she is to be around in her paddock and to lead in and out. Fancy has been a great teacher.