Jonty's New Shoes

Frank and Jonty with the farriers

Jonty is a handsome horse who is owned and loved by his owners in Duncan, British Columbia.

We are happy to have been chosen to sit this hobby-farm. 

On Wednesday, a farrier fit Janty’s two front hooves with new metal shoes.

Shane The Farrier

As you may know, Frank was a farrier and was happy to assist by holding on to Jonty’s lead. It was a great chance for him to share some of his shoeing stories.

Frank shares farrier stories

The farrier first dug out the muck and other bits from Jonty’s hooves. The big brown mount stood calm and seemingly satisfied to be the centre of attention.

Farrier cleans Jonty's hoof

Shane placed two shoes into his propane forge. The heat turns the iron red hot and pliable. The horseshoe was put on an anvil and shaped with a large hammer.

Shane's propane forge

When it was pushed against the bottom of Janty's hoof, the searing metal caused a large plume of smoke. The steed didn’t react. His toe is much like our fingernails – no feelings.

Hot metal against Jonty's hoof

The farrier evaluated the shape of Jonty’s hoof several times and then hammered the shoe again to further customize its shape. His apprentice snipped a bit of the toe, filed it with a large sanding rasp, and dug out more grit from the body of the sole.

Apprentice uses sanding rasp

In the end, Shane hammered six nails each into Jonty’s two front hooves. Both the farrier and the horse seemed satisfied.

Farrier secures Jonty's shoe

There was a magical clop, clop, clop sound made by Jonty’s new shoes as Frank guided him over the concrete driveway on the way to his stall.

Jonty's New Shoe

Free-Range Freedom

Free-range chickens

Directing chickens is like herding cats.

Preventing turkeys from roosting on the sundeck is like keeping cats from jumping on furniture.

Getting ducks into their pen before dusk is like convincing an indoor/outdoor cat to come in at night.

On July 15, 2019, we arrived at our hobby-farm sit in the Duncan district. We were welcomed by a young adventurous couple and their three rambunctious boys. Their large farmhouse was being masterfully crafted by the homeowners and naturally claimed by the young kids and their large brown dog, Hershey.

Sheep and turkeys share a field

Outdoors, we were introduced to the sheep eating and drinking within a fenced-in field. A short walk away the homeowners opened the chicken coop door to reveal a few hens roosting.

“You can gather the eggs from here,” the poultry farmer said.

He described the early morning feeding routine and how to try to corral the hens at dusk to bring them to the barn.  The two roosters would find their own way back to the barn he said.

Closer to the house was the duck pen. It was empty with the exception of one of the females roosting.

We had disturbed her and the sweet duck fluttered out and waddled to the small nearby pond.

Ducks are very organized

“The ducks come in a little later, after dusk, around ten o’clock. You’ll have to close their pen using this guillotine mechanism.” The woman laughed at her reference as she pulled a thick rope which forced the wooden flap to slam shut.

When we arrived back at the house there were two hens and four chicks perched on the sundeck.

Hens and chicks roost on the balcony

“We lost all of our turkeys several years ago. These two gals showed up at the end of spring and so we’ve been feeding them. Their getting used to us,” the homeowner said.

Frank is the farmer and gets up early. He performs most outdoor chores while I make meals and maintain the inside of the home.

♪ Well I got me a fine wife I got me an ole fiddle 

When the sun's comin' up I got porridge on the griddle 

Life ain't nothin' but a funny, funny riddle 

Thank God I'm a country boy ♪