The Rest of September

It's been a busy few weeks. Autumn always seems to be that way when you're a photographer though! In an effort to continue documenting this ridiculous year, I'm going to work to bring the blog up to date over the next week or so. Buckle up for a lot of photo-heavy posts!

Smoke from the western fires made its way east and gave us Apocalyptic Lite skies (in comparison to our western friends). Peep the sun on the left...

I painted a random chevron design on the back of my trailer to help attempt to draw attention so people maybe (probably not) won't tailgate as badly. 

I took Q (and Kenai) and headed a little west to Salt Fork Lake in Ohio for a solo weekend adventure. It was perfect. The haul was the most relaxing I've ever done, Kenai was psyched to be out, and I didn't have to stop outside of my home except one time to get gas. Very COVID-friendly venture!

I also bought a new saddle - a Specialized Ultralight. I've been coveting a Specialized saddle for nearly 7 years. I got a stupid good deal on this one and am so very pleased!

The single track trails at Salt Fork were pretty sweet! 

Smiles for the first of three rides over my two day visit.

Ample time spent along lake shores...

This was our second ride, the first on Saturday. Q was not having it at this point.

Forward, but skeptical.

Happy little girl as the day trended onward. We rode two 11 mile loops on Saturday and a 7 mile loop on Friday eve after arriving.

Gotta include a rider selfie.

Their goldenrod was just getting started.

Random pine forest at the start/end of our final 11-mile loop.

My cushy car camping setup. Complete with a queen sized air mattress and down comforter inside. Kenai LOVED it.

The cutest old man.

Doodle with her buffet at the end of all our riding. She's still the quietest, easiest horse to camp with.

Staring at Taiga in the yard.

It made for nice photos even in the low light. She rarely poses for photos so I have to take what I can get.

A year after moving in, Grif was the first horse to have shoes put on in the new barn!

Dave even made a rare visit to say hey to Dan. Arya "rode" Griffin for the first time. One day, if I can get media, I'll need to share a post about Griffin and "his" cats. Arya especially. She'll weave and rub on all of his legs, sometimes getting excited and grabbing his leg with her front paws like she's going to climb. For a horse with a history of trying to stomp small animals, it's amazing how gentle he is with them. He is definitely a cat guy....which explains so much about his personality lol

We went with the EasyShoe Versa - my an Dan's first experience with a composite shoe. So far, I'm LOVING them. I'll definitely be putting Q and Grif in these in the future for the times of year we're riding heavily. Stan...maybe. He doesn't hold shoes as well as the other two and these little moonboots are a bit expensive to put on a horse who's notorious for casually losing shoes on the reg.

A crooked but relaxed Griffleby while Dan finishes.

Miss Austen stopped through for a brief visit. We made a point of heading in to Dolly Sods for her first horseback venture.

Doodle pausing to sniff some cotton grass blooms.

Grif was a pretty good guy! He's getting a lot better at navigating rough trails.

The color was starting to peak in the Sods at this time.

Can you spy the three huskies?

Two huskies hidden in this shot...

Rocky Ridge - see the tiny flat knob rising from the center of the valley right of center? Starlight Lane Farm resides on the top of that landform!

Riddle Diddle being a little creeper in the bottom of the photo.

Where Canaan Valley and Dolly Sods meet.

Of course I had to take what has quickly become a "classic Sods/Canaan" photo of Austen cantering Q along the edge of the valley.

Get after it, Qdle!

Simply the best.

Q wasn't sure about playing this "game" again, but she acquiesced for Austen.

Gotta get the arms out photo!

Shot of the Versas.

Taiga made another friend from the Itty Bitty Pittie Committee. Maisey isn't quite as small as Alli's Della, but she's pretty damn close!

And then I ended the month spraining the ever-loving hell out of my ankle. I'm seriously surprised (and beyond grateful) that I didn't break it! This was about 36 hours after I tried to murder it.

The swelling remained for about 3 weeks and the colors were impressive.

There is usually a lot more definition where my leg meets my foot. In general, I've got pretty dainty little ankles. Not so much while this injury healed.

Not a fantastic way to end my month. But a month after it occurred, I'm happy to say that the bruising and swelling are now gone. My physical therapist has given me a range of exercises to help get me back to 100%.