Grateful the Horses Weren't Hurt

Did you see the photo journal of the snow storm yet? Here's the rest of the story:

The snowfall was taking a break and the sun was just coming up over the ridge as I headed down the stable road with buckets horse grain. I absolutely love walking through untouched snow. It's so perfect, pristine. There's something so blissful about it. I was marveling about that when I realized my "pristine" snow had been "touched" already by another...But, no one's been out yet today but me, I thought. And, what I saw looked like horse prints. Odd. I took a few more steps eyeballing the prints as I went trying to make sense of them. [Yes, I was a little slow because I hadn't any coffee yet :( ]. Something caught my attention. There was my horse...standing on the wrong side of the fence! What? Why?

Here's Why

The weight of the snow plus a few strong gusts of wind sent this great big oak limb down on top of Favor's stall, scaring him into flight mode.

I think he ran from the noise, down the hill and either leaped over or skid through the back fence. The fencing connections were broken and the T-posts were pushed over.

From his tracks I can tell that he headed right back to the gate to get in. When he wasn't successful at one, he tried the next. I'm sure he didn't want to be separated from his barn buddy, and he certainly didn't want to be separated from all that hay. I also think he was out there about half the night and I'm thankful he wasn't hurt (that's a praise for Finish Line fencing!) and didn't get lost. 

Repair Time

After I returned Favor safely back into the stalls (not too hard to do with buckets of grain in my hands), Homestead Boy 2 and I gathered up the tools to repair the section of fence. When my husband returned home, he, a friend/neighbor and our sons went to work cutting up the tree limb, removing it from the shelter, and beginning the process of repairing the damaged stall section. 

 

Phew! Big job! We're not quite done yet, but we're close.

We're Thankful

• We are grateful to our friends and neighbors. 
• We're thankful the horses weren't hurt and 
• that the stall can be fixed; 
• the damaged fence was an easy fix; 
• for getting a head start on next season's firewood [ ;) ] and 
• that we no longer have to worry about that limb falling on the shelter....

 

Here are some more photos.