Alaskan Feedlot Hoof Trim Chute Twilight

Cool blue light washes the galvanized metal of a livestock chute standing along a muddy feedlot lane in Alaska. Thick straw and wet earth coat the floor, clumped around the heavy steel gates. Tagged plastic markers dangle from the railings, fluttering in the whipping wind that distorts the edges of the metal sheets. The ground is a slick mix of dark mud and pale straw, churned by hooves and hooves. The sky above offers a flat, featureless gray, merging with the low horizon of the polar night. Cold air seems to ripple the air itself, visible as a slight haze around the windblown debris. One strip of red plastic hangs loose, trembling against the gray steel frame.