Thunderstorms and Horses

[Howard4567@aol.com]

In a message dated 6/28/01 11:07:43 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
guest@endurance.net writes:

>  Now it is thundering again and it scares me to
>  death for my other guys.I know we can't control mother nature but if
>  anyone has any good advice let me know. I've owned horses all my life and
>  this is the hardest loss.

This is a very real fear, living where I do in Central Florida.  Last year 
one of my neighbors lost her horse from a lightning strike.  It was one heck 
of a storm.  When I got home from work (a touch of irony is I work at a 
National Weather Service station) that day, all my televisions were fried, 
the electronic garage door no longer opened, several lights in my house were 
blown, the washing machine no longer functioned and my computer was fried.  
Luckily, my three horses were all alive.  My house definitely had a direct 
hit.

I think the only answer is to keep your horses inside your barn, if you're 
lucky enough to have one, during an electrical storm.  I do, and I put my 
guys inside almost every afternoon if I see lightning or hear thunder.  I 
tune in to the weather channel and watch the weather radar, the movement of 
the storms, and if one's coming close to my place (I know almost exactly on 
the radar map where my house is) I put them inside.

The summer time is the only time of year when I don't have shoes on my 
horses.  This is mainly because I kind of take a break from heavy riding, 
with the heat and all.  I do think not having metal on their hooves is a wise 
thing to do during thunderstorms, especially if you don't have a barn and 
have to leave them outside.  A wet horse with metal on their feet just 
doesn't sound very safe when you see constant flashes of lightning flying 
thru the air near your house.

I am so sorry for your loss, Kristen; it's one of my biggest fears this time 
of year.

cya,
Howard