Ginger was a blood bay quarter mare-Missouri Foxtrotter, smallish in that part of Missouri where most foxtrotters were 15 1/2 to 17 hands, she was a measley 14-3. But she had a champion's heart. We bought her from a broker, Juanita, who had been searching for a good match for us for a few weeks. I had wanted a specific coloring and size and temperment and Juanita was proud to have found exactly what I wanted. A big sorrel quarter with an even temper and a soft mouth. We drove out of Leonard Wood to the hill country to see what she found, excited and ready.
When we got there, Juanita was kickiing up dirt and grumbling. Seems she had caught the guy who owned the sorrel trying to pass him off with false papers. He owned the horse ok, but the papers were from a different horse...one with a pedigree...the sorrel had turned out to be a grade horse with no certain lineage. She ran the guy off, with his horse, and swore she would never do business with him again. I was flumoxed. I told her we could have gotten that horse for dirt, catching the seller in a lie like that, we could score big. She scowled at me and told me she didn't do business with skunks.
The consolation prize was a small blood bay she had purchased from a local teenage girl, the mare was sweet and well trained and the best of both worlds, a gaited quarter horse. She, the horse, was almost the opposite of what I wanted but while we were talking about it I made the mistake of petting the horse and...well...she was sweet. We saddled up for a test drive around Juanita's place...she rode an apaloosa mare with a jerky trot. Ginger was a trail horse supreme. She lowered her head down about half way and stepped out. The appy had to trot most of the time to keep up with Ginger's walk. I cantored a little, it was like sitting in a rocking chair...I kicked it up to a gallop and man, she could fly. I was sold. We sealed the deal right there. We spent $500 for her, found out later that Juanita had spent somewhat more than that for her, but 500 was the amount I had set for the deal from the start, she figured she had to swallow the "skunk fee", I guess.
We only had two years at Leonard Wood, when it came time to leave I thought my oldest daughter (Mamielady) would disown me . It was a hard thing to do, leaving that horse behind. Nothing short of another tour in Germany would have made me do it.