My third ride this year has me totally chilling out and not prepping pretty much at all.

I’m still riding.  We did that one 18-ish miles a few weeks ago?  And that’s the last bit of distance work that’s been done.  Speed work has been happening, but mostly because I keep running out of daylight.  It’s September, and now we have to try to be home before 7:45.  It sucks.  (I don’t mind riding in the dark, but I do mind running into other people of questionable conduct and mental state in the dark, and that’s an ever-present possibility here.)

Oh!  We hit a really excellent Giant Trot on Tuesday’s ride.  I felt like I was riding a big horse.  Never felt it before, quite possibly will never feel it again, and if that was a true extended trot rather than adding impulsion, that’s probably fine.

Things I have done:
– confirmed transportation for ‘Fetti (thanks Funder!) and myself (thanks, mother!)
– confirmed with my friend that she’ll be riding the 25 with us, so we are definitely a go for the LD
– looked at hoof boots
— discovered that at least one cable is fraying on my front boots
— remembered that I have not yet fixed the back boot (but I won’t boot the backs for Quicksilver, so that’s still okay)
– acquired clippers – QS was the 100-degree ride last year.  Pony’s getting at least a minimal clip again this year.
– acquired my own hoof stand: boots will require hooves to be rasped weekly for a decent fit in three weeks

Things yet to do:
– actually start rasping her hooves after acquiring hoof stand
– put pommel bag back on saddle, rigged such that my knees can be happy completed this weekend, after a two-hour pommel-bag-rigging session with my ever-tolerant boyfriend
– chop bleach bottle into a scoop (no sponging from tanks at QS) — but I do have a bleach bottle set aside for this purpose! (or maybe I’ll reconsider and actually order a scoop from Henry Griffin, since I’ve been pondering that for over a year now)
– order cables for boots
— and then install them once they show up, at least the day before the ride.
– clip Confetti (goal timeframe: weekend prior)
– wash & braid mane* (goal timeframe: Thursday prior)

* I actually washed her mane AND her tail this weekend.  Her tail looks vastly improved, but you can’t see it because she kept swishing it whenever I took a photo.  Ponies.

and then politely posing for a branch height-comparison after I held the tree down** for her to walk over it: