land of wonders ~ september 2/2

September feels like such a long time ago. Twenty three days to be exact. The second half of our ninth month continued hot and turned drier. I wore my head net walking in our woods for most of it. Eventually, flying pests and more unusual nature wonders slowed down. Except for magnificent clouds! They were plentiful. Floating above without a care. Luring me outside, to spend a few minutes pondering their wonder. Blink and clouds change shape. Especially as the sun dips below our Western tree line. Casting vibrant light on different parts of the airy fluff. 

9.16.25

Some cloud shapes instantly resemble one thing or another. I thought the above looked like Goofy riding a magic carpet. Shapes rarely last for long.

There are evening where cloud fascination can be enjoyed in all directions. I get instantly wide eyed. Stop whatever I am doing and hustle in/out our doors, in all directions. It happens so often, I no longer hear "what are you doing?".

facing West

flocks of Geese heard then seen, high in the Eastern sky

formations of various sizes kept a-honking, as they flew northwest

I noticed more fuzzy crawlers appearing in September. Always on their way to who knows where. I have no idea what most of them are. My Google search results have been wrong a lot lately. Proving, you cannot believe everything you read on the internet!

Yellow Woolly Bear Caterpillar 
9.17.25

Autumn Crocus

Large Maple Spanworm Moth

The little blue wildflowers found in our pines continued to captivate my attention. We have one plant/patch growing. I watched for blooms every day. I can tell you when they do flower, the bloom lasts longer than one day. Depending on weather.

Dayflower
9.18.25

I can't get over the color, as well as the tiny bright yellow perfectly formed orchid looking stamens. There is also conflicting online info when one tries to ID these. Grows by wetland, grows in dry locations...whatever.

All know for sure, is what I see with my own eyes.

more tree window frogs visited
9.19.25

Check out the wild sky outside my West windows. Squeal!!

Closer views:

Turkey feathers of all sizes could be seen just about everywhere. I used to collect the feathers I found. There are so many. Now I leave them where they lay.

9.21.25

sunset

close-up

Woolly Bear Caterpillars started appearing. Fork lore claims the width of their black and orange bands can predict the coming winter's severity. A wide orange or brown band is said to forecast a mild winter, while a wide black band predicts a harsh, cold, and snowy one. 

My prediction: 50/50

9.23.25

Tank is always happy

My Epi Cactus bloomed off/on all Summer outside on the front porch. Another round of blooms started in September. I recently moved the plant back inside. It requires long sleeves and gloves (and still getting poked). Many memories are attached to this special plant. It is currently blooming like crazy indoors. Again! 

9.24.25

pop of early color

not your mothers pearls

waterlily autumn crocus

I was so surprised to find more than one of these had popped up in my bird feeder bed: 

9.28.25

hocus pocus, excuse the focus

many more creepy crawlies were spotted

With September coming to a close, the anticipation of cooler Fall weather increased. Especially when Summer's heat decided to hang around f.o.r.e.v.e.r. At some point, I was able to stop wearing my head net and just swat. swat. What a relief! 

Our last day ended with a visit to see Brad's blondeee. Post to come. Eventually :)
 

Padame (at trainers) 9.30.25

Fall horse update

Our Fall Horse Wellness vet day came and went. Well, for most of our horses the vet visit was about wellness. Not so much for Koda. Everyone got Fall shots etc, taped weights (part of the package) and the girls got their teeth floated. Including Hope. Hope is a good place to start, and end with this post.

Hope: 932 lbs (821 in Spring). As usual, Hope was funny. "Pick me, pick me" Until it was her turn. She remembered the guy who poked her with needles last Spring. Regardless, her exam was uneventful and her first float went well.

Brad has increased his work with Hope. She is making him look good. It took about four short sessions for her to carry a cinched saddle while lunging at all three gaits. He started the first day walking in hand with just a pad. Next session was a cinched pad while twirling. Then pad & saddle in hand, and then cinched while lunging. Hope did not care or "go off" like the others did when introduced. They have been working on adding stirrup pressure etc. With teeth floated, he can introduce Hope to a bit. It should be a non issue as she still (still!!) wants to put everything in her mouth. Every day includes leading in hand, ground tying in some way shape or form, and leaving her dang lead line alone.

Cierra: 1117 lbs (1183 in Spring). There is not much to add about CeCee. Her allergies/breathing were re-discussed with the vet. Nothing different. Her breathing is improving with the weather and bites are less intense. Although the biters still seem to find just her. Must be because Cierra is so so sweet.

Harmony: 1117 lbs (1132 in Spring). Good ol' Harmony. She has great genes and does not look close to 25. Our daughter did mention to the vet, she still wishes Harmony could have been registered...long story. Yep, that was part of her plan that didn't happen.

Ironically, the day after our vet visit Harmony came in walking like this:

Harmony (10 secs)

Nemo: 1187 lbs (1217 in Spring). This big guy remembers our vet well. All the times he made him feel better. I can see it in Nemo's eyes and the way his demeanor softens. 

Our vet is easing into retirement and is now part time. He has helped us care for all our horses, since the day each one of them joined our family. 

Koda: 1257 lbs (1279 in Spring). What can I say about Koda. His lameness is going went the wrong direction. He recently got an abscess. A first for him. Our farrier found it had just opened. I felt like a bad owner. We do check Koda's legs and feet often! I just assumed his gimping was his new normal, chronic navicular/arthritis that we've been dealing with all along. We decided to stall Koda for a couple days. He improved. We tried half day turn out. Not helpful. He has been on full stall days ever since. 

Koda's daily routine includes twice a day solo arena turn out. It gives him a chance to stretch his legs/roll/change of scenery, while we clean his stall. Altho many times he just stands at the gate. He was getting to graze in hand a little as well. 

Our vet wanted to x-ray Koda's right foot. I was stunned with what I saw while he was getting the machine ready. Look at the difference in the back of his front feet! Jaw drop.

what is wrong with this picture

(right/white back foot is "straight-ish")

up on x ray blocks

Some where along the line, Koda tore a tendon. My heart sunk. Poor guy. There is *always* something wrong with him. At first, it felt like a death sentence. It isn't. Yet. Pretty sure his lameness will be his demise. We were asked to "keep doing what we are doing" with Koda, for a minimum of six months. Except for the hand grazing. The vet wants Koda to only move on his own, briefly.

Our vet is confident there is a tear. He is pretty sure it is where the Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon connects at the lowest point is detached/torn. Mostly because of the way Koda presents his foot. That tendon is the turquoise line (above) and attachment area is circled below. The yellow arrow I drew indicates where Koda's longer pastern bone should be more forward.

Koda's right foot

Our vet warned us there wasn't much we could do for Koda. At this point, his lameness will forever be off/on again. Apparently there is a plate surgery option that he does not recommended. We wouldn't do it anyways. As long as Koda doesn't tear more tendons/ligaments, there is a glimmer of hope that he can still have some quality of life as a pasture horse. After he heals.

Six months (to a year plus) of healing is a loong loong time to live in a stall. So far he is handling 23.5-ish hours of stalling surprisingly well. I hope this time Koda can maintain his sanity. 

We are still processing next steps and how we can best help Koda. We could haul him back to the MRI vet specialist. But I am not sure Koda can even haul comfortably or what it would gain us. Other than confirmation. We may try some alternative treatments. Even if for comfort. Koda will continue wearing his Streamz Bands part days. His four week trims will need to be medicated for now.

Two out of five horses at home have been in the barn all day/night lately. It makes for more work, and hopeful healing. 

nemo & cierra (9/2025)

If you are wondering about Padame, I will do a separate post on her when I have more details. She is currently not being ridden. We are actively also trying to figure out her on/off lameness issue(s). Sigh.

SO yah. Half of our horses are lame. There is hardness in this life we chose, yet there is hope.