Fancy Training Update! STOPS!

Gma Kathy, the Little Brat and I made our monthly trip up to see Fancy-pants today...if you like to sit in gridlock for hours on end, you would have enjoyed the trip immensely!! Suffice it to say it was a looooooooong haul....we got on the road a little later than usual so as to give Gpa Craig some extra hugs after we laid his best good dog to rest this morning...JuliEn (I finally figured out how to spell his name right and proper!) was understanding and had Fancy ready for us later in the day when we arrived...next month, we plan on leaving at the bum-crack of dawn like normal though...that traffic was something special!

It seems there were some pretty nasty storms up there in Damascus last night, so the outdoor arena was out of the question...I apologize for the less than stellar photography and dark video...the indoor arena always challenges my already borderline awful photography skills...if that's what you would call them....so, if you want to take a look at some great outdoor footage of our last trip to visit fancy, click HERE! You can click on the embedded links in each post all the way to when we dropped her off and watch her progress along with me!

Julien promised we'd finally get to see some stops this month...he's such a pesky perfectionist...in a good way :) He doesn't want us to jump ahead to quickly, and is letting her set the pace and all, but come on already! Spinning = Cool, Slide Stops - WAY Cool! OMG, I sound like such a doofis...oh well, it's how I feel...and I'm just being real.

Gma Kathy took a spin today and did a wonderful job with the little lady, if I might say so myself...


But if you want to see what all the fuss is about, here's a small snipit of her current course of study...slide stops...the goal is to have her round her back, collect and bend at her poll...driving her hind end up under herself while pulling herself along with her front end...it's a pretty physical maneuver...some are more natural at it than others...it's a bit more of a challenge for our little lady....she has a bit of a self confidence issue....hey, she's young, and she's a girl...we've all been there! So she is leaning on Julien pretty good right now to carry her through the slide....you'll see her grab hold of the bit at the end and brace herself on the reins...this is NOT ideal, but it's a start....she is showing the beginnings of using her haunches well, and rounding her back...she definitely needs some more time and practice...and alas, that is exactly what Julien is there for...to bring her though this awkward, silly, self-conscious stage and right into pleasant young beauty....all good things in time....Enjoy!




Happy Trails,
Leah