# My New Rescue Mare (Fancy)'s Progress Thread!



## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Hello Everyone! I recently brought home a new mare, and this thread is all about her, her progress, and her future. The first post will be pretty long, since I've had her for about two months and need to get you up to speed! This thread will be very picture-heavy, too. 

Zip N Pretty, aka Fancy, is an Appaloosa mare born in 2004. She's 15.2hh and built like a tank! Several owners before me, she was used for showmanship, competitive and non-competitive trail riding, was started in reining, and apparently did some barrels for a while. She came to me as sort of a rescue… in perfect health, but the woman who owned her before me came to dislike her and was going to put her down for absolutely no reason. A close friend told me the circumstances and, without seeing her or really knowing anything about her, I committed to bringing her home.

Fancypants, as I call her, definitely needed a lot of work when I came into her life a short two months ago. Her previous owner used her for two reasons: to run the snot out of her on the trail, and to sit in the middle of the ring, talking to other riders. She was very fidgety on the cross ties and needed some work on the ground and all her gaits were extremely fast. I was told going into this that she had a lope like her hind legs were tied together, she needed spurs, she bucks occasionally, and that she’s so off-balance I shouldn’t even attempt to lope her until I get her balanced. Well, none of those things ended up being true. Fancypants turned out to be the greatest blessing to ever come into my life (besides my other rescue!).

She is the sweetest mare I've ever met in my life, and has the kindest eyes. When we first met, she nuzzled me and hugged me like, thanks for rescuing me, mom, we're going to be best friends. I got her saddled up with no problem and everyone commented on how calm she was with me on her back- her head dropped like a western pleasure horse, and she listened to all of my cues perfectly. I only rode her walk-jog, as I was wary of her lope, but I instantly felt completely bonded with her. 

Once I brought her home and she settled in, we started the re-training. I finally loped her to find that she was pretty much totally balanced; could lope in small circles and everything. She definitely had a very fast-paced lope, though! In a matter of weeks she went from a very fast, clumsy trot to a collected, western pleasure-like jog. She also can pretty much do a slide stop (except the footing isn’t good to do it in) and pivots great. We connected so well, so quickly, that she can pretty much pick up on anything and everything I want to do with the slightest cues.

As far as groundwork- she learned that extremely quickly as well! She stands on the crossties great and won’t move unless I ask her to. When I go to wrap her legs, she really won’t move that leg until I’m done. She also is great for the farrier and will stand there without anyone holding her and let him do his thing. Fancypants follows me around in the field, the barn, the ring, the field- wherever I go, she goes. We’ve also worked on showmanship and she definitely has a talent for it!

The first time I took her on the trail we went on a pretty short ride, but saw a lot. We went through a field, a yard with chickens and peacocks, a creek with pretty deep sand, a lot of extremely tall grass, and over a bridge. She did all of it perfectly without a blink of the eye. She will walk, jog, lope, or gallop, and then come right back down to a walk. We went on a three hour long ride a couple weeks ago and she loved it! We’re hoping to go swimming soon, if it doesn't get too cold. 

And that’s pretty much where we are now- good basic gaits, great on the ground, amazing on trails, and learning quickly. We have started looking at the barrel pattern and I hope to have her up and loping it by next spring! Currently we are working on slowing down the lope, riding one-handed, and the barrel pattern of course.

So, I’ll be posting updates probably almost every day about what’s new and how we’re doing. I know a lot of people won’t care, but I am so excited to share our story. I have truly never connected with a mare this quickly and I’m amazed at how much she loves, trusts, and listens to me. My experience with mares, especially appaloosa mares, hasn’t been a good one, but she’s renewed my faith. My goal is to be posting about the rodeos we will be tearing up in a couple years! I believe we have a very bright future, and I couldn’t be happier I saved this mare. 

I'm going to put pictures in a separate post!


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

The first pictures of Fancy I saw:












The first time we met:



Our first ride:



Our first time loping:



Our first trailride:



The first time she met my boy, Comet (and he got his hooves done the next day) :


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

And some random pictures of us I like!


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## 40232 (Jan 10, 2013)

Beautiful, beautiful horse!


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Thank you, KylieHuitema! She definitely is a stunner, especially being free! Someone asked me today how much I paid for her, and when I told them they were shocked.. They thought she was a $10,000 horse!


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

She is a nice horse. The two of you look like a good team!


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## MsLady (Apr 18, 2013)

Great story, so glad she has worked out for you, can't wait to hear more.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## xxdanioo (Jan 17, 2012)

Super cute!


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks everyone! I just wanted to share that I tracked down one of her first owners and found out a lot of her history. She has points in showmanship for ApHC! Before I was in contact with this lovely woman I had no idea she had any points in anything. She said she would send me some pictures of fancy as a yearling and the following few years, I'm so excited! She also signed the transfer papers so Fancy will be registered in my name. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## amp23 (Jan 6, 2011)

She's beautiful! You two look great together. I'm looking forward to see y'all's progress!


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

You certainly got a great deal! She is lovely. And there are few Appys that I like.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Glad you guys were able to bond  <3 The pics didn't show up for me... I guess you'll have to post more :>


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks everyone for all your kind comments! It's been crazy here the past few days, my quarter horse, Comet, got bit right on his ribs and it's not looking too good.. poor boy! 

Fancy and I have just been going on short bareback rides the last few days. We'll do some ring work, or go out on the trails... she really does everything I ask her and more. Yesterday we galloped up the hill bareback and when I asked her to "whoa", she immediately went back down to a walk and walked back to the ring. 

This weekend I'm hoping to go out on another long trail ride with her, and then we will do our tri-lesson like we do on the weekends. First we practice showmanship, then work on our regular three gaits, then we practice barrels. So far we're only at a walk with the barrels, but hopefully we'll be moving up soon! With the way she learns, she'll be running 17s in a month! 

Today her new blankets came in! I got her a 420D for the fall, and a 1200 for the winter. We learned three things today: 1. She's perfectly fine getting blankets put over her head and body...

2. She's a size 78.............










and 3. Lime green is NOT! her color!!!










But, you can't beat a good deal! And won't she be easy to find now! 

Hopefully I'll have some more exciting stuff to report tomorrow than I do today!


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Another amazing day with Ms. Fancypants!!

We practiced the barrels and bending today. At first she seemed very stiff going around the barrel, but after a very short time she was bending great. At the end, just for giggles, I decided to try to lope her through one barrel, like barrel dash. And, SHE TURNED IT PERFECTLY. Right down on her haunches, bent right around, and executed it perfectly. I'm in awe. I guess she really _did_ do barrels at some point. Either that, or we just understand each other way too well! So proud of my little Fancypants!! <3

Here's some pictures of the day 

She loves me!









look at that Appy butt!


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

More exciting news!! Fancy and I will be doing our first show next month on the 13th! We will be competing in showmanship, walk/jog Western Pleasure, and barrel dash at a trot, possibly a lope depending on how far along she is then and how she is at the show. I want to bring her back into the show ring slowly, since she's been out for quite some time, and figured the best way to do it was with slow classes! We're not competing to win, just for experience. Though I have a feeling she will actually do quite well in showmanship! 

Also exciting news, I (hopefully, if I stop spending money) will be having a photographer coming out for a private session in a couple weeks when the leaves are changing to take some pictures of Fancy and my quarter horse, Comet. Super excited about that! She might also photograph Fancy at the show for me! Sooo much excitement waaay too early in the morning, it's only 5 30 here. But tomorrow's the weekend, which means lots of saddle time!! 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Marcie (Jul 25, 2013)

I'll be subbing. It sounds like you hit the jackpot when you rescued her.


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks, Marcie! I definitely did hit the jackpot with this little girl.

Today I did something I have been dreading doing since I got her... I pulled her mane even. As I'm sure some of you have noticed, she has a GORGEOUS mane, except that half of it is really short. The old owner used to pull on her mane to get on, and somehow ripped out all of her mane in that spot while doing it. Soo many people told me just to chop it all off, but I wanted to wait to let it grow back at least a little. So, today seemed like the perfect rainy day to do it and... well... she now has a short mane. Personally, I don't like short manes, but hopefully hers will grow back quickly. 

Also, this is my first time pulling a mane EVER so I'm pretty happy with the results.

Here's the pictures!

Before:



Last few long hairs left!



Aaaaand DONE!









... Hopefully it grows back quick..


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## amp23 (Jan 6, 2011)

I think it looks good! I wouldn't stress over it growing back quickly


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Thanks amp23! After seeing it today I'm starting to like it a little.  It looks more natural now!

Today we had a great 2 hour ride- we started out with our basic gaits practicing western pleasure. Then we went out on the trails for awhile and enjoyed the amazing weather! Fancy's so calm on the trail, she leads really well, too.

The last thing we worked on was barrels, and for doing it for her second time at a lope, she did it basically perfectly. I'll include some pictures (not the best quality) so you can see how well she turned the barrel. I'm so proud of my girl and am in awe of how quickly she learns! At this rate we'll be able to show full speed barrels by the spring! 

From her barrel run of the day:





Her mane:



And giving my amazing mare some love


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## QuarterAppy (Aug 28, 2013)

Been on vacation since Thursday and just saw Fancypants for the first time since Wednesday! She is just one big ball of energy, I'm really starting to think I should lunge her before getting on - to get some energy out of her and save me the arguments! Once she got her energy out a little bit, though, she was really quite good. I've been reading up on some barrel racing articles so I make sure that what I'm teaching her is right, since I've never trained a barrel horse before. We did some bending exercises and she bends really well.

So today I figured I'd dress miss Fancypants up in all my show stuff, to fit it and see how it looks. Why have I not used turquoise on her the entire time?! She looks incredible. Pictures to follow


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