I used to love thunderstorms but not anymore; horse struck and killed by lightning on 8/11/23

[DiamondJubilee]

I’m so sorry for your loss. Thunderstorms do suck ;(

We lost a pony this way as well. He was by a stream and was the only one with shoes on so the lightning hit him and not the others around him.

We also lost a 2 year old lab this way. A freak storm popped up when we were at work and he was on a line that was tied from tree to tree so he could be outside and could go in his doghouse. It struck the tree and travelled down the line to his collar. It was a coated wire as well (like a laundry type of line) but it fused all of the metal links inside and you could see how it went down to his collar.

[Syrynx]

I am so very sorry for your loss.

[FatCatFarm]

That’s terrible! So sorry!

[DiamondJubilee]

Thank you. It was a sad day on my return from work.

We did build a free standing dog house after that. A covered 7 x 12" house with pot lights, fan and a doggie door so they could go inside when its bad weather out.

[Alex_and_Bodie_s_Mom]

I’m so sorry. I lost a four-year old mare this way - a freakish little popup storm while I was an hour and a half away at work. Storm couldn’t have lasted more than 10 minutes, and like you, they had a run-in shed, but chose to stand under the trees instead. Of the six horses in the pasture at the time, she was the only one killed; not sure if she was the only one under the trees or not.

My biggest fear is always the large hail, though. Lightning is bad, but watching your horses go crazy in baseball sized hail (because putting them inside the barn with its metal roof would be a disaster) is terrifying. Not only did I not have stalls for everyone, but hail on a metal roof? I wouldn’t have had a barn left.

[happilyretired]

So sorry for your loss. Living in Central Florida I can relate to the fear of thunderstorms and lightening. We do not turn out at night even during the summer heat here for exactly that reason. Way too many storms and lightening. We turn out in the mornings when there are fewer storms and watch the sky and the radar – bringing horses in when storms threaten.

[candyappy]

That is so awful

I have never gotten used to T-Storms and I have been here 30+ years. This happened to a local retired veterinarian’s horse years back in the exact same way. Very random but it is always a risk when you have storms.

I am sorry for your loss.

[fledermaus]

Two years ago my stable was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. My mare broke out of the run – she broke the latch on the pipe gate, wounding her chest – and took my pony with her to the bottom of the pasture. The goats, locked in, were dragged out in the smoke by my husband.

We rebuilt the stable and put up lightning rods. When there’s lightning I let the horses out because my mare will go crazy if I don’t. She runs way down to the bottom of the hill where she is a lot safer.

And yeah, I don’t like lightning any more.