New Year's Day

We spent our day at a ride put together with the gymkhana group Lorna belongs to. I didn't get any pictures because I was too preoccupied with trailer problems.

We left the house in plenty of time to get there for the breakfast potluck but we barely made it in time for Lorna to ride. When we got to the bottom of the hill I go out to check the trailer, as I always do, and I found the trailer wires pulled out of the plug. One of the tight turns coming out of the driveway most likely pulled them out. It took about 45 minutes to get it put back together enough to drive it the 15 miles to the ride. Once there I played with the wiring a bunch and at least got the breaks working but nothing else, that will be a project for next week.

Lorna had a good time until about half-way through when Ginger threw her off. She got back up on the horse but spent the rest of the ride nervous. This was after having tack issues that caused her saddle to slip. Overall it wasn't the best ride. The head of the group suggested we consider getting another horse and selling this one. We've considered this numerous time over the last year but we really feel she is getting better. It's been over a year since the last time she threw Lorna off and she's really only been worked with consistently for the last 5 months. She's never been on a trail ride before so we figure something spooked her. Besides there is never a guarantee that the next horse won't do the same thing or even something worse. If we had a lot more money it's possible we could buy a horse that would never do this sort of thing but those types of horses cost as much as a small new car!

I really want Lorna's lessons to start including the horse too, that way we can see if it's the way Lorna is handling the horse or a training problem. We are considering changing trainers because the one we work with charges an additional $20 to bring your own horse. She also has rescheduled 5 out of 12 lessons. The last lesson was cancelled with no make-up day in sight so right now we have no idea when her next lesson will be.