The Tenth Month

 October was super busy in all the best ways and I still have several posts to go before I'm caught up, but in the meantime, here is my monthly photo purge.

October is my favorite and Mike and I got some great hiking in.

In really awful news, there was a horrific accident at Fort Valley this year. A horse spooked and stepped off the trail. The two other horses who were with them  reacted to the first horse spooking and also went over the edge. Two of the horses had to be euthanized and the rider/owner of the horses had to be airlifted out with multiple really serious injuries. I know the rider and have ridden for her. I did not know the horses, but it still hits really close to home. Rider is expected to make a full recovery. The two girls who were with her not seriously injured. All were very experienced horses and riders and the incident has left me rattled.

Holly was also involved in a really scary car accident on her way to FV. She was rear ended by a tractor trailer that had been smashed into by a tanker truck. Her truck was pushed into the car hauler in front of her. Luckily, she only had one horse in the trailer and was able to get the horse sedated and calm. The horse suffered some scrapes, but nothing serious. Holly and both of her dogs were ok. I saw the photos on the news and was like, "OMG I  know that rig..."

There was definitely something in the air that weekend, and I'm glad we were safely at home.

We have definitely outgrown our little haunted mountaintop apartment, but boy do I love living here.

A short clip of Booger jogging around in the cart. Driving is one of her favorite activities.

Mike continued to work on Project Horse Trailer. All this stuff and more was in the tack room. There was a Christmas tree and some old show clothes from before I was born. Oh, and a grease gun exploded in there at some point, which was super fun. The chemicals in the front were so bad they started to corrode through the metal floor. Wait til you see the after pics.

Eryca and I went to the Covered Bridge hunter pace and had a blast. Separate entry to follow, but  liked this picture of Lucy jumping some barrels.

As I mentioned, Mike and I went out to Mustang Memorial to catch up with a few people. We got lucky and didn't get rained on, but several rigs had to be pulled out with tractors.

Allie and Lunar with Bam and Maddy in the background.

Trying to get a selfie with Julio in his jammies.

Lick attack!

His ears.

We had another follow up appointment and everything looks good so far. Bloodwork is great. The mets in his lungs have shrunk so much they're practically invisible.

Worked with Stacy Pratt of Heartland Scoot Boots to get Lucy fitted. She sent a fit kit and helped me figure out what shell size of the new Enduros would work best.

We've been ring riding in the evenings and it has been moody out.

The sky was quite eerie this night.

The vineyard has been using giant bird-shaped kites to protect the grapes. This was the moment Booger spotted them for the first time.

Put that eyeball back in your head, miss.

Jess came out and rode Gunner. The size difference always cracks me up.

Gremlin face.

The giant mushroom at MCR.

The tack room after Mike was done with it. 

Going to get some racks and storage containers, etc. 

For those who are wondering, Tookie and Oreo are still here and doing well.

Lucy's Scoots arrived. She has small, upright feet with large pasterns so it's nice to be able to mix and match accessory sizes. I have not had a chance to test these out on trail yet, but they're holding up well while I break them in in the ring.

Handsome Gunner watching my ride.

Booger and Gunner act like an old married couple and it cracks me up. 

I actually ended up pulling Felix out of there because the other two were bullying him. Lucy and Lilly don't love him, but they mostly ignore him so that's an upgrade. Poor guy is not good at making friends.

Another gorgeous evening ride. 

Took Lucy for a quick trail ride after Julio's appointment and accidentally interrupted a turtle love making session.

I would be very curious to know what everyone's barn policy is regarding manure in the arena. My personal thought is that if your horse poops in the ring, you are responsible for cleaning it up. I don't think you need to get down right away, especially if you're the only one riding, but it definitely is your responsibility. It's not my barn so I don't get to make the rules, but I do all the arena maintenance myself so it's a touchy subject for me. Needless to say, it wasn't my horse that left this in the ring.

This never gets old.

Took Booger on her first solo adventure at Colliers Mills. Separate entry coming.

Mike and I revisited Pulpit Rock and The Pinnacle. Found this observatory along the way. Separate entry about this coming too.

Some nice strangers took this picture of us at Pulpit rock.

I forgot how rugged this hike is.

We took a new trail on the way down.

Nose to toes! I love when his ear stands up.

Sometimes weird things appear in strange places around the farm. I take pictures to document. This empty muck bucket on a random Thursday was interesting.

Lucy was quite wild this night. She was bucking and farting and zooming around and I let her just to see if the boots stayed on. 

They did.

I put thicker pastern straps and a spacer on to compensate for her tall heels.

So mushy.

The trails are closed by the time I get off work, but I snuck in a short road hack one evening.

The deer were all congregating on the fill piles in the back field.

Stopped at a random restaurant in NY and ordered a spinach salad that turned out to be absolutely incredible.

We went hiking up in Harriman. Separate entry soon.

The downside of social media and the internet is that it's easy to find good hiking places, which means absurdly long lines for parking. We had to hike half a mile just to get to the trail head. 

The sunset was awesome on the way home.

Wrapped up our season with a second place finish out of 53 riders.

Lilly is the queen of getting dirty.

Felix at the drive thru window.

Felix watching from a distance.

Bought myself a new toy and love it.

Went hiking at the Palisades. Separate entry coming.

Free Dom indeed.

This sticker on the mangled wreckage of a car that went off a cliff was cracking me up.

This was a lot of cardio.

Sandy borrowed Lucy and we went for a ten mile ride. Details to follow.

Doodle is still enjoying his walks, especially now that there's water in the creek again.

Not gonna lie, I thought I was going to have a cardiac episode on that first climb. I am not as fit as I was when I was training horses, that's for sure!

I couldn't help myself.

Not my photo, but this is where we hiked. We parked at the top and hiked down to the river, along this boulder field, and back up.

As always, I save memes for last.