A beautiful day for a drive, and in the passenger seat I was reading the anniversary edition of The Chronicle of the Horse and came across this image:

Yes, it has nothing to do with Howdy or the RRP, but what magnificence!  Look at how beautifully Dr. Klimke sits!  Look at the confidence in Ahlerich!  Huzzah!

On the way over we also listened to the “Wine and Questions” podcast put on by the organizers of the RRP where they literally drank wine like Kathy Lee and Hoda and answered questions from Facebook as they came in live, and also outlined details of the RRP.  It was hilarious and informative.  Loved it.

Meanwhile, Howdy and his companions, Bravado and Sammy, who will be hunting this weekend, traveled well.  When we got here we gave them a leg stretcher in the paddock.  Then I tacked up Howdy and rode him in the Burwell Rodeo arena.  Burwell had gotten a lot of rain this week and even in the sandy soil, things were a bit wet, but not too deep anyway.  We worked a lot on stop and stand tonight because he was a bit nervous in the new environment.  It wasn’t terrifically impressive, but small progress was made, despite Sammy whinnying like a foal being weaned in the nearby paddock, even though he had Bravado with him.  Sammy is 15.  Goof.  Howdy, to his great credit, did not answer him.

Howdy had on his new (borrowed) bridle, which is on loan from my working student, Aubrey, who happened to have a simple western bridle which is exactly that I was looking for.  In spirit it perfectly matches my saddle, in that it too is borrowed from a friend.  It takes a village to get this eventer girl geared up for Working Ranch.  Thank goodness for the kindness of friends!