Beautiful

Today was basically a repeat of yesterday. Rode again with Elena and Grema. I had invited Mary, Willa's owner, to come with us, but it didn't quite work out.

 Have some more photos of the same trail, taken today. :)

Peanut, Mary's Lab, kept trying to follow us up the driveway.

We turned around twice to lead the dog back to the barn, but both times she followed us back.
Mary decided to stay behind and ride at the barn.

You can see where some of the ferns are drying up.

WonderMare

Holding the reins one-handed and almost on the buckle.

Head down, totally chill, the entire way.
She is in heat right now, too.
I think having her on a low dose of NSAID during this time might be helping.

The woods are SO.BEAUTIFUL.

More early signs of fall.

We only rode for an hour, all at the walk while in the woods. Lily led the entire way, crossing the various obstacles (tiny streams, rocks, and mud holes) with barely a pause.

We trotted 2 laps around the meadow afterwards. Lily got big compliments from Elena on her willingness to keep the same pace throughout.

It was overall a very relaxing ride, for both horses and riders. 

Once back at the barn, Lily received a well-deserved bubble bath.

The wash stall is a decent size but is only for one horse at a time and the set-up is a little odd. There's a washing machine and a dryer in there (for the first time ever, I can actually do my horsey laundry at the barn if I want to!) which might be a problem if a more skittish horse is in there while the washing machine is running.
The hose is on a boom, and while there is a pair of cross ties, you can only really use one if you don't want the hose to get tangled up in the cross tie closest to the boom.
So I attach Lily on only one side, put up the stall chains, and let her do her favorite thing: peek out and watch the goings-on.

Everyone was being turned out, so the sights and sounds were particularly interesting.

<3 her.