On 8/11 while I was at work and my daughter was home packing for college, we had a thunderstorm come through that morning. A couple of hours later, My daughter noticed one of my geldings laying oddly on the ground; went to check and found him deceased in the pasture. As I was an hour and a-half away, I sent my husband, who works much closer, home to check it out, and Bliss had been collateral damage to a lightning strike to a Oak tree he was under.
His being beneath the tree was actually unusual as he and his brothers normally would be out in the open during a storm though they did have access to a loafing shed. The only thing I can figure is it was not actively storming at the time and he had gone beneath the tree as bug relief and it was one of those odd lightning strikes as the storm was moving out of the area. I consider myself fortunate that his two brothers were not also killed but apparently they were not near the tree. Bliss appeared to have collapsed moving away from beneath the tree.
It was tremendously heartbreaking as he was 14years old and in great health. 17hds of gold and white palomino pinto gorgeousness. Not that I truly wish any harm on his year older brother with DSLD but given his prognosis, it would have been so much easier to have lost him.
Here in GA in summer, Thunderstorms can be quite random and working away from home, I can’t be there to move horses in and out with the storms on any given day. Age 57 and have had horses my entire life and never anything like this until now. A surprising number of people I know with horses though, have lost at least one to lightning. Tragic.
I used to love a good thunderstorm, but no more. Farm life/horse life sure sucks at times.