Rain, rain, rain: you'd think we live in Washington the way it has come down today! Everyone is talking about flooding rivers and creeks. I'm talking about a flooded corral! Sheesh. It was dry, but we are back to square one.

Hopefully tomorrow is going to be better. I need to get Riyah out for a ride and try out her new boots that arrived today. I need to try booting all four hooves since that is my plan for Saturday's Hell's Kitchen Canyon Ride. I am planning on doing the twenty-five mile ride and need to protect all four feet.

I am a little nervous about this very first ride. The weather should be fine by Saturday according to our weather.com report. Hot, actually; they are predicting 78 degrees for the high! Hopefully Riyah and I will be done long before it gets that hot! The 25-miler starts at 7:30. I am planning on a 5-5 1/2 hour ride, plus the half hour hold. So a total of six hours max, putting us back in camp around 1:30 pm. The day should just be heating up at that point. It's not the weather making me nervous. It's the whole new horse/new experience thing.

I feel that Riyah is certainly ready physically to handle the distance at such an easy pace. Mentally, I think she is ready. I hope she is ready. But there is so much that we can't prepare for until we actually go to a ride and face the unknown. We can't simulate the start of a ride with all the commotion and excitement. We can't simulate the vet check, although we have practiced certain aspects such as trotting out for the vet, etc. I don't know if she will drink from unknown water sources, although I have offered her water from buckets at various times and she is used to drinking from them. We obviously can't create a ride camp to practice relaxation! I have done a lot of homework, but I won't know if it's enough until we take the test.

So before Saturday I need to ride Riyah in all four boots. I need to check/clean my tack. I need to organize my trailer tack room. Yikes--that could take all week! I better get started!