In the saddle...and the dirt

We've been waiting and waiting for decent weather but that just doesn't seem to be happening so we decided that no matter what, we were taking Ginger out to the fairgrounds today to ride. And of course it rained. Hard. And the wind was blowing.

Our trainer, A., came with us to help me decide if Ginger is an acceptable horse. We've all felt good about the animal so far, but this was to be our first time out with a saddle. Also Ginger's first trip to the fairground arena with us. And she's still in heat. And she hasn't done any real work in almost a year. Oh, and did I mention that it was raining, hard, and that the wind was blowing? Nothing like stacking the cards against a good ride!

As before, Ginger behaved poorly while tied. She has not learned respect, but we had already decided that this was something we could live with until we taught her what is expected. Getting a saddle on her was not as easy as I had hoped. She got spooked when E approached her from the "wrong" side, plus the trailer's tack room door slammed shut during the process. Finally, we got her into the arena and E jumped on.


Ginger was tense (and I'm sure E was too!) and it took quite a while for her to relax into the ride. E kept her at a walk for the majority of the time because the horse was anxious. Wind kept blowing rain droplets in, making Ginger even more jumpy. And as E said at one point, the horse was "feeling a little too good" and had more energy than she knew what to do with. Nothing unmanageable, but not exactly easy and trust-inspiring either.

Doing tight circles to regain Ginger's attention...

Finally, E asked for a canter. Ginger immediately transitioned into the requested gait and then promptly bucked E off. Luckily E fell on her bum (which hurt enough to make her cry) and was not injured. Ginger, also luckily, stood in place. I'm not exactly sure what caused her to buck - was she protesting and being thoroughly naughty? Or did another burst of rain drops come in and spook her? E did get back on to walk her for a bit more.

So now I'm even more unsure about what we should do. E and I are planning to take the horse out at least 2 more times this week. We are supposed to give her owners a decision by Sunday. I hope the answer is more clear by then....