Riding in the round pen

E had the first official ride on Ginger!

It was a gorgeous day (55 and sunny) so we rushed to the barn after school. I quickly cleaned stalls (finally got some pellets for Ginger's pee spot) while E brushed as much mud as possible off the horse. Ginger was still too dirty to put a saddle on though, so E decided to try her bareback.

Ginger was a bit of a wreck at the hitching post. It appears that she has never really been taught to stand quietly for any length of time. We had to continually remind her where she was to stand and had to reinforce that she was not allowed to bump us or get into our space.

E then took her into the round pen and quickly discovered that Ginger is TERRIFIED of grocery sacks. So we did a little desensitizing exercise and began the process of getting her used to those horrible horse-eating monsters. Within five minutes we could walk past her while dragging a bag.

Putting the bridle/bit on her was completely different, though. She immediately stood quietly and calmly while E performed this task - better than Curly, really. She was a little nervous when E tried to get on her back, but quickly settled. E walked her around the pen for a bit, trying different cues and requests. She was able to get her to turn with rein cues, and was able to stop and back her. E did not have much luck with leg cues, but friend T (who also had a quick ride on Ginger) was able to use some leg to turn her.


Overall, we were so happy with the ride. Ginger needs a tune-up and is sometimes pushy, but it all seems to be things we can work with.