Falling trees and thundering hooves

I know I mentioned a while back that winter had returned to Minnesota, but now it REALLY has.

I might have to slather my hands in warm olive oil to get them to feel less swollen, sore and tight from the constant abusive cold.  We've had dangerous wind chills the last few days and nights, and I even locked the sheep in the barn.  They didn't protest.

Despite the cold, the sheep are hormonal right now, so on several dark nights I have heard running, chasing, and the cringe-worthy thud of skulls and horns crashing together during head butt challenges. Princey's head was pink the other morning from blood stains.

The arborists took three of our giant poplars down.  The first (and largest, at over 60 feet) shattered as it crashed to the ground. The trees only have about a 35 year life span. The tops were dying, and were prone to breaking, and we couldn't have them coming down on the sheep. Too bad though, I feel more exposed now, and those trees were crucial shade trees in the heat of summer.

It was -25 C that morning

Winston's feet had been bothering him.  He was just trimmed and reset with snow pads but he just wasn't acting right. He threw a shoe, so I had the farrier come out to pull the other one and just see how he was going to do barefoot.  He's been laying down to sleep every night, and I just felt he was increasing his chances of pulling shoes off constantly based on this. (it's easy for them to step on themselves when getting up, and his shoes protrude off the edge for extra support)

Well the farrier didn't seem interested in addressing my concerns with the lameness, the shape and angle of the hooves.  He just kept giving me excuses about growth plates, not ever really answering my questions.  We argued for ten minutes or so, and then he grumpily directed his apprentice to 'take off a bit on the inside'.  What Winny needed was an actual corrective trim, not a shave.

So on their way out he turns around and tells me not to expect any change.  One last parting dig at me, to make me feel stupid and overbearing.

I came inside and called my vet office.  Explained that we are paying too much to be patronized like this, and for Winny to continue to have mediocre care.  I begged for a decent referral.  Our vet has heard about our farrier woes many times before.

Well finally, this time we got a good referral.  I called him on a Saturday, and less than 24 hours later, he returned my call. Shock and awe.  We chatted, he asked for a run down on what the problems were, and he just kept saying yep yep yep to everything I said as if he could picture it all in his mind, and had seen it a thousand times.

Not straight, wrong angles, too long, all sorts of things wrong here that the previous farrier refused to see or admit

Underrun heel, wrong angle for pastern (can't see in this photo)
Winny could barely keep this foot under his shoulders properly

The farrier took several hours to fit the shoes and pads to Winny's feet, after very careful exam of how he walked stood, his musculature, any imbalances, he trimmed them carefully. 

I should have taken a photo of the farrier working the shoes on the anvil.  It's such an amazing skill! I tried to close the barn door to block the driving south wind and snow, but the ice had mounded up under the water bucket and prevented it. Oakley kept poking his head in to check on things, with what I saw as a slightly jealous but also worried expression.

It was a very cold afternoon standing there hoping for the best for Winny.  But my excitement at finding this man and to see the final product helped me forget about it. I think I was in shock at our good luck, and the unusual feeling of hoping, despite the odds. 

In the past few days since this shoeing we have seen Winston play and run in the snow like never before.  He reared multiple times, tossed his head, bucked, cantered, tossed his head some more. Then right after Oakley he did one of those high speed stallion-like exhalations that you can hear for miles. We've never heard him do this!! He was actually a herd leader in his younger years.  The neighbours could probably hear us cheering and screaming for him.  Oakley seemed almost taken aback at Winny's exuberance.  The best was when Winny cantered toward the paddock gate, did a tight turn around the t post like a barrel horse, and then showed us what quarter horse acceleration is all about.  In only a few short powerful strides he was up to a full gallop, and Oakley couldn't catch him.  The sound of thundering hooves makes me ridiculously happy. 

Of course Win was sore the next day, but I brought them out to the far paddock again at golden hour to see if he'd repeat his performance, after a few rounds of the riding ring to warm up. He didn't have quite the energy as the night before, but he still had fun, and repeated his sprint back to the barn.  

I think I will head out there now to check on them, and work on a few projects.  The sun is amazing, and despite the wind chills of -30 F overnight and into the morning, the chicken poly tunnels were already at +7 C this morning. I'm grateful for every day that our animals are happy.