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Ginger - The Horse That Makes People Cry

© Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate

In the early spring of 2002 my husband and I were wakened to the sound of someone pounding on our back door. A man, clearly concerned, was standing there. He asked, "Do you own that horse walking down your driveway?" Of course, I panicked thinking that the horses had gotten loose. But, no. Instead I saw a sad looking, disheveled black horse sadly walking down the driveway headed straight for the main gate to the paddocks. The other horses were all standing at the gate seemingly waiting for this stranger. There were a bit of low rumblings but no squeals, no loud trumpeting of whinneys. Just a grumbling that almost seemed comforting. The horse walked right up to the other horses and stopped with a sigh. They all began the custom ritual of sniffing nostrils. Again, no squeals, no whinneys. Simply the quiet, inquisitive sniffing that happens when strange horses meet one another.

After a few moments I realized where this horse belonged. I called the horse by name and she allowed me to quietly walk up to her and put on an old halter and lead. I then walked her back to her home which was about 1/2 mile up the road. When we reached her driveway, I had to convince her to continue up to her own paddock - a small enclosure with a shelter amidst caged dogs, broken household appliances, discarded childrens' toys and other belongings that clearly had been thrown out for trash. There was no break in the fenceline of this pen. The twine gate had been untied and this is apparently where this mare 'escaped'. She allowed me to lead her to the middle of her pen and then lowered her head and shuffled to the side of her shelter. I tossed some hay that I found to her. When I left, she had remained there, hay untouched, head still to the ground and feet unmoved.

A few days later the horse's owner sent one of her children down to my home to ask if I wanted "Ginger".

I said, no, I didn't think so. Thank you.

I had been praying for another "Schooling Horse" with the visions of a young, healthy, well- mannered horse that would fit in with our existing "family". Little did I know that I had my answer right there in front of my face. I did include a little bargaining tool in my prayer; I told God that if this horse were to walk down my driveway a 2nd time in the next week or two, I'd "believe" that He was "sending" me this horse.