Yet Another Danger To Horses

BrianH

BrianH

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The ragwort thread reminded me of yet another danger to horses of which many, like me, are unaware.

Earlier this month there was a massive storm overnight on the Oxfordshire/Berkshire borders with heavy rain, thunder and lightning. Henrietta Knight inherited her mother's Connemara pony breeding hobby and the morning after the storm when inspecting the outlying fields she was shocked to discover one of the Connemara brood mares dead in the field. She had been struck by lightning and killed outright. Hen says that she had had a two month old colt foal with her and he looked very lost and thirsty and it was all a very tragic sight. There had been two mares and two foals turned out together in the paddock which had been grazed by ponies for years. Luckily the other mare and the two foals were unscathed. The dead mare was very close to the water trough so she may have been having a drink and the water may have acted as a lightning conductor.

They were given plenty of advice as to what to do with the foal and they weaned him with his little friend. They took about a week to settle and stop neighing but they soon learned about the special foal food and the milk nuts. They are now very confident and lead well to and from the little field where they spend their days. They are stabled together at nights. Hen says that lightning damage is very rare and has never been heard of before around Lockinge. On the same night however Jenny Pitman's sister Mandy Bowlby, who lives about five miles from Hen's atables, lost her son's little pony in the same way.

Another problem caused by global warming?
 
My aunt lost her ex-police horse a couple of years ago when he was struck by lightning when out in his paddock in Kent. He was massive too - around 18hh, yet it killed him outright, leaving a scorch mark on his quarters. His companion was also struck by lightning but unfortunately he wasn't killed outright so he had to be PTS as he was in great pain.
 
I was riding lot first lot about 2 weeks ago at about 6am and we were approaching the bottom of the gallop when there was an almighty flash of lightning nearby so I crapped myself & told my OH that we were doing one canter and that was final! There was no way I was waiting around to get hit!
 
It's nothing to do with global warming (regardless of whether that's man-made or a recurring natural phenomenon) - cattle are regularly struck by lightning both in this country and any other. All living organisms emit a certain amount of an electrical charge, to which lightning can be attracted, just as it's attracted to metal. Riders have been struck, cyclists, and golfers are an especially favoured target.

The build-up to the rainy season in sub-Saharan Africa is preceded by very humid weather, followed by lots of thunder and lightning, before the rains break. We've recently had a lot of humid weather, followed by lots of thunder and lightning - it's hardly High Science that with the amount of potential targets in this crowded isle, animals get struck, just as trees, houses, barns, vehicles and, occasionally, people do.
 
We had a massive storm one day when the vet was in scanning mares. Since the eleccy was out we were disscussing horses being struck by lightening. That evening dad got a phone call off one of ours owners who had got his mare back a couple of weeks earlier to say that shed been struck by lightening. That was weird and not very nice for anyone. I know worry everytime theres a storm.
 
Does anyone remember the potential star hurdler that was The Grey Bomber back in the eighties, was he not killed by lightening? I can remember it was something unusual that killed him, it was one of those real gut wrencher moments when he died.

We were in a nasty storm yesterday at Balmoral Showjumping in Belfast. I was amazed at how calm all the horses were as it was a bit too close for comfort at times. Plus the riders although drenched to the bone never batted their eyelids, tough cookies these horse folk for sure.
 
Remember The Grey Bomber well, Soba. Wasn't he trained by Denys Smith? I was really upset when he was killed.
 
Suave Dancer was killed by lightning in Australia a few years ago. I think it was a day or so before he was due to come back to the UK for the northern hemisphere season. :(
 
I could think of another word for someone who doesn't bat an eyelid when lightning's around Soba.

Oops - wrong name :shy:
 
Heard so much about The Grey Bomber when I worked for Denys. There is a stream to cross to get onto his gallops, from what I remember being told, the storms had brought live wires down which were lying in the stream and as he always led the string he was first to cross the stream and was killed instantly :(

I'm guessing the lightening strikes were around the day as the Super Sprint, as we had an almighty storm and the Crowle road and highstreet were like a river
 
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