Saffy starts to grow

In handling, groundwork, lunging, long reining and hacking out she's a real doll. We still had problems under saddle though. She is a very dominant mare and is more than happy to argue the toss with you. She is also very persisent and will not back down easily. I've spent many a lesson with a neck in front of my nose and TWICE got bashed in the face when she was pratting about and bashed me with her head while I was on her back (as before).

Another time we tried canter in the school (her canter on a hack is delightful, very controlled and comes back easily when you sit up). She got, erm, slightly overexcited and took off around the school at a gallop. She did a very controlled 20 metre circles in gallop and I was appalling. The only two thoughts that I had were "oh **** she's going to fall over" and "shall I bail out? No, she's going too fast". Finally she galloped towards the wall at the end of the school .... I, apparently, was shrieking "ooooohhhhhh s********t" very helpfully!!

I was convinced that she was going to attempt to jump the wall (she'd previously attempted to jump a hedge when she got overexcited until I (to my shame but it had to be done) had to almost pull her back teeth out to pull her up). Jumping the wall would have been bad enough BUT I knew that there's a humungous drop down into a sloping field on the other side. We would have been toast. I had completely blanked out by this time and was completely ineffective. She, however, got to the wall, flicked her bum around, deposited me out of the side door up against the wall where I slid unceremoniously to the ground. As she cantered away (about 3 metres) she caught me in the chest with her (unshod thankfully) hoof. She then stood, turned around and looked at me as if to say "what are you doing down there?".

My trainer wandered across and then sped up as I lay there winded and rather battered. Thankfully there wasn't too much damage though my back was completely scraped up and bruised and I had a wonderful hoof shaped bruise in my cleavage. Oh, and I somehow got a humungous bruise on my calf.