Today we took Tempi down to the Solway showgrounds for her very first ridden outing. She loaded and traveled like a seasoned campaigner again and unloaded at the other end quietly and sensibly. We popped her and her buddy Sox into their yards and proceeded to prepare Sox for riding whilst Tempi soaked it all in. There were plenty of horses in the yards around her and with Sox ready to roll, we took a deep breath and left her. We did however leave Clarissa's groom with her to keep and eye on her. Just as well we did as there was a minor hiccup whilst we were down at the arena with Clarissa riding her own horse. One by one the horses in the yards around Tempi left her until she was literally all on her own and she decided that was just one step too far and jumped clean out of the yards to go in search of friends! Apparently she showed excellent technique! Fortunately she was good to catch and remained IN her yard until we returned with Sox. Phew!
Riding went without a hitch and, whilst a little worried about the new surroundings and horses coming and going all around her, she was happy to walk, trot and canter around very sensibly and even popped over a few poles on the ground. I couldn't be happier with this as a first outing, especially when you consider that 22 days ago she hadn't even had someone up on her back!