Accidental Death at Barrel Racing Event

thelmanelle · Accidental Death at Barrel Racing Event

This was an event last week-end where a storm came in and severe lightening and thunder occurred. One horse died. It is said on a NC newsletter I get that others were affected,also.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/video/7989260/

This from the newsletter, name with held:

Found the story/video: http://www.wral. com/news/ local/video/ 7989260/

According to friends of mine, more than one horse was electrocuted Saturday. One died, but several more are at NC State's vet hospital.as of yesterday, they were continuing to have seizures and may have to be put down. Rumor has it that it was the result of a lightening strike that travelled through the ground and then up through the shoes of the horses' feet. They did not mention this in the story, so I don't know if it's rumor or truth, but there's also no mention about the "problems" at the 4 H show the previous weekend...

I also was there for the 4 H show, and there was a horrific thunderstorm which took out the PA system in the barns. Perhaps it is more than a coincidence with the two thunderstorms affecting the same barn.... all i know is that there is more to the story than is being told....

PasoBaby_CarolU

Horses are VERY susceptible to electricity and it doesn't take shoes to make them conductive. I'm not sure people realize it, but lightning doesn't JUST travel down from the sky, it comes up from the ground to meet the arc from the sky. It will use any pathway available.

A friend in Colorado had her neighbor loose 14 horses in one lightning strike. All the horses were grazing in a valley.

I looked into lightning protection for my barn - which is not a large barn - I was quoted over $200K. No way could I afford that.

Peeperpuppy

I don't know how sound this is... I just know that someone did a good job of convincing a dear friend of mine that very VERY thick rubber mats on the flooring in the horse's stalls & that it would help protect them during lightening storms. Not a cure or a sure thing but it would help. He had several retired race horses in his barn as well as the breeding facility. Michael put a lot of money into protecting those horses & keeping them healthy & he lost 8 in one storm, 5 in another.

Mind you he did eventually get the whole place done for a staggering fee but between the time he lost the 2nd group of horses & the time he got the barn fixed he didn't lose anymore horses. I have no scientific data to back it up. He's passed on otherwise I'd ask him for the information on the rubber mats.

He believed in them so much that he'd always get extras & offer them to his friends & neighbors as he never wanted to see another horse go through that.

thelmanelle

We get a tornado so quick and the storm rolls through...you have no time. I was out in one once and trying to get the horses inside the barn. But, if it got hit? Either way, it hard to know what to do. One area of our property is a area where if lightening is going to strike it will be there.

I never let my horses be in that area or a person if a storm cloud appears. It is just attracted to my arena. So if clouds are dark or dogs are acting weird...I know bad weather is brewing.
Yes, that was a sad story.

Another thing people don't think about is how close the electric fence is to the water bucket or trough.

We had a tree in the pasture get hit about a week ago. Fire came out of it. It got struck twice. I just do not mess around with lightening. It burnt about 40 feet of the electric fence and part of the PVC fence. Good thing we did not have dry hay on the ground. Or horses hear it.

Clarissa

Where I used to live before I moved to this property, I used to get bad lightening strikes. The property ran up to a ridge & there were very tall trees along each side of the gravel road which was my boundary & ran along the ridge top. There was thick bush beside the road too.

There were 2 stroms a few days apart & both times I got zapped.

The first time I was just about to grab the top wire of the fence to get through to open the gate down the laneway as the horses wanted to get up near the shed close to me. Lightening struck a big gum tree 200m up the road which completely blew apart splattering 6-8ft long shards all across the paddock. Luckily the horses were waiting at the gate for me otherwise they might have got struck there. But I got a zap when the electricity ran along the wire fence & arc'd across to my hand as I reached out to grab the wire. I was bending over a bit as I grabbed the top wire to get through the fence & the spark ran out the corner of my eye to a weedy bush near my face. It stung like hell

The burst blood vessel took months to go away. The thunder was so loud I was deafened for days. Horses scrambled everywhere.

Then a few days later we had another storm & I was washing the float out when another tree got hit closer to the shed & since I was inside the float I got hit by the shockwave which reverberated inside the float & almost knocked me out. The pain of it was terrible & I had a major headache & extra tinitus for days. Then as I stepped out of the float, head spinning, & leant against the fence there was another strike which went along the electric fence across the insulated handle into the wire fence & got me.

I actually saw it arc across the handle.

I was a real mess for days after that week

thelmanelle

Wow! that's three strikes in a short time, Clarissa. Makes you think about the horses in the trailer in a storm? Seriously, I had Zippy in a steel trailer on the highway when a hail, lightening and thunder storm came up after a ride. I was driving home. I wanted to pull over at some farm, but I kept driving. It was too dangerous to stop as the traffic was heavy.

Finally it quit and I pulled in at a gas station to check on Zippy. He screamed at me...

I said I know! I closed him back up and home we went.

After, we got to the barn. His rear was raw from the hail hitting him...despite the doors???? Or he somehow panic and hurt himself. I am glad that was a one time deal. If the weather is serious. I promise I do not get out in it with them.

cynthia peterson

About 4 years ago we had two sets of neighbors have horses killed by lightening. The first 2 horses were struck while my friend watched out the window in the house. Her husband ran out as both horses were on the ground. He could feel the current through his boots so he backed off. One colt got up, the other laid there dead. They were both insured (valuable horses) so the vet confirmed they were struck. The one who survived just went crazy and never got over it. He had to be put down.

The other case was a horse under a big oak tree. Apparently the vet thought the current ran along the oak roots and came up his feet. He was dead with scorched hooves from the shoes.

thelmanelle

Not trying to one up, we had a plantation near us that had two draft mules under a tree...just like you described Cynthia...gone. A matching pair worth $20,000 if they do it right for a hunting season. They get 9months off and pull for 3 months...but, it's easy work and good feed. Good life. Certainly easier than the few folks who keep the place running.

Heck, I go an scout for free.

Because the dog handler can't go alone...if he gets hurt or a horse bucks him. Plus, he is alone with wildlife and as a friend I show up and help. But, not on a dangerous rainy, stormy day.

You've been there. Times are tough, They cut back. I am a free labor friend.