GR translation: Never been closer than roadside ditches in time of war to any horse in her life

[Mike Jing]

V482.29-483.2, P490.33-491.5   In Weisse Sandwüste von Neumexiko she
played a cowgirl. First thing, they’d asked, “Can you ride?” “Of
course,” she’d answered. Never been closer than roadside ditches in
time of war to any horse in her life, but she needed the work. When
the moment came to saddle up, it never occurred to her to be afraid of
the beast pressing up between her thighs. It was an American horse
named Snake. Trained or not, it could have run away with her, even
killed her. But they pranced the screen full of the Sagittarian fire,
Gretel and that colt, and her smile never drew back.

What does this sentence mean exactly? Does it mean that she had been
to or near "roadside ditches in time of war", and that's as close to a
horse as she had ever been? Or is it something else entirely?
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