Lightning strike to field

[Lotsoflemons]

Sadly one of our yard horses died from a lightning strike to our field yesterday and the vet thinks the electric fencing was striked then the horse, Some of the fencing is solar paneled and Im devestated and petrifed of putting my horse out as the electric fencing seperates our paddocks, luckily my horse was in the stable when it happened but im so scared of it happening again I know it's rare especially in the Uk but it's so scary

 

[meleeka]

Gosh I can understand why you are worried. I suppose the only positive is, because it’s so rare, the odds of it happening again must be minuscule. I’m sure that won’t stop you worrying though.

 

[lynz88]

Tbh, although lightning strikes happen, I think they are quite rare to strike a horse/field and in particular, where your horse is kept (though used to be something that we always worried about when big, proper storms rolled through back home). In the 20-something years I lived back home where we got horrendously scary storms (tornadoes aren't uncommon and would sometimes get tail ends of hurricanes) I don't think I know of any horses getting struck though would hear of the odd report of a horse and rider being struck or people on a golf course being struck.

 

[Lotsoflemons]

Tbh, although lightning strikes happen, I think they are quite rare to strike a horse/field and in particular, where your horse is kept (though used to be something that we always worried about when big, proper storms rolled through back home). In the 20-something years I lived back home where we got horrendously scary storms (tornadoes aren't uncommon and would sometimes get tail ends of hurricanes) I don't think I know of any horses getting struck though would hear of the odd report of a horse and rider being struck or people on a golf course being struck.

Yeah it's so scary we are in the Uk and have been at this yard for nearly 4 years and have had worse storms nothing out of the ordinary our fields are normal electric fenced individual paddocks like any other yard.. I think we were just really unlucky to get struck, it's so sad that one of the horses died and I'm just scared about my own.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

I really don't think the electric fencing is relevant. Sadly the horse was struck by lightning. Unfortunately it does happen occasionally

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

I really don't think the electric fencing is relevant. Sadly the horse was struck by lightning. Unfortunately it does happen occasionally

yes it is sad, I am sorry to hear poor horse.

About 10 years ago we had a major storm and 6 horses died that night from lightning, one was an x livery

 

[Snowfilly]

I’m so sorry. I think it really is one of those freak awful things and I would try and come to terms with it and keep leaving my horse out there. If it hadn’t been the fence, it might well have struck a tree, a hedge or a horse first anyway or even something like a metal trough for water.

It’s truly one of those awful things you can’t entirely safeguard against.

A yard near me lost two to a strike maybe twenty years ago, had grazed the fields for years and still do and it hasn’t (touch wood frantically) happened again.

 

[Foxglove]

I sadly lost a horse who was struck by an electricity cable coming down in the field she was in. It sadly one of those uncontrollables

 

[lynz88]

Yeah it's so scary we are in the Uk and have been at this yard for nearly 4 years and have had worse storms nothing out of the ordinary our fields are normal electric fenced individual paddocks like any other yard.. I think we were just really unlucky to get struck, it's so sad that one of the horses died and I'm just scared about my own.

It's not got anything to do with the electric fencing. Lightning is attracted to the tallest thing in the surrounding area as it's the easiest path to reach the positive charges coming up from the ground. I remember my next door neighbour had their house struck by lightning growing up. Sheer bad luck, sadly.

 

[Lotsoflemons]

Thank you everyone it's so sad and quite scary you don't think it will happen to you.. we have no trees in our field or cables Just hedges and fencing. Sadly the pony must have got struck and panicked and has gone through all the wooden posts and fencing its devestating As she has been best friends and next to my horse for years.. our field is up a hill so he can't see the other ponies so he's currently in at the moment while we try and sort things out It's just quite shocking to our yard.

 

[TheMule]

Thank you everyone it's so sad and quite scary you don't think it will happen to you.. we have no trees in our field or cables Just hedges and fencing. Sadly the pony must have got struck and panicked and has gone through all the wooden posts and fencing its devestating As she has been best friends and next to my horse for years.. our field is up a hill so he can't see the other ponies so he's currently in at the moment while we try and sort things out It's just quite shocking to our yard.

If she ran then it's pretty unlikely she took a direct hit by lightning?

 

[Lotsoflemons]

If she ran then it's pretty unlikely she took a direct hit by lightning?

Yeah I worded that a bit differently..but alot of people are saying she got directly struck by the lightning.. she would have never went through fencing unless something happened to her so Its a mystery vets and specialists think its to do with the fencing she was next to if she got directly struck I think she would have died straight away she could have went in to shock from a little strike who knows but the fact all the fencing is gone even wooden posts it makes me think that's to do with it..

 

[DSB]

It's the storm season on OZ ,storms building up late pm and a light and thunder show.One neighbour had 4 cows killed last week,sheltering under a tree,never moved.
It seems possible that your horse was frightened by a strike,nearby and took off aquiring fatal injuries on the way.
Was ther a post mortem?

 

[Spotherisk]

A friends horse was killed by lightning a few years back - vet thought it had hit the electric fence and jumped to the mare as an earth.

 

[SEL]

It sounds like this poor horse panicked and was fatally injured. Tragic but it shouldn't stop you putting yours in the field.

Mr sel is an electrical engineer and tells me any 4-legged animal is at greater risk around lightning sadly just because they have more points of their body in contact with the ground.

If you're ever out in a storm and your hair starts to stand on end then lightning is a risk. Lie on the ground and curl up in a ball so you are a single point of contact.

 

[Ratface]

My first pony was out overnight, in a field next door to a neighbour's big dressage mare. One summer night, there was a violent thunderstorm overhead. The following morning, when I went out first thing to check my pony, the mare was dead on the ground. The owners told me that she had been struck by lightening.
Ever since, I've had a visceral fear of thunderstorms.

 

[easteregg]

A pony on my yard was killed by lightning a few years ago whilst grazing next to electric fencing. The lightning hit the fencing at various points around the fields as well as a field shelter. Its made me very anxious about thunderstorms now. The poor pony was only young as well.

 

[Lotsoflemons]

It's the storm season on OZ ,storms building up late pm and a light and thunder show.One neighbour had 4 cows killed last week,sheltering under a tree,never moved.
It seems possible that your horse was frightened by a strike,nearby and took off aquiring fatal injuries on the way.
Was ther a post mortem?

She only passed away yesterday so not yet but we have confirmation that the strike hit our yard

 

[Lotsoflemons]

A pony on my yard was killed by lightning a few years ago whilst grazing next to electric fencing. The lightning hit the fencing at various points around the fields as well as a field shelter. Its made me very anxious about thunderstorms now. The poor pony was only young as well.

Yeah it's so sad and terrifying my horse is in the furthest field away from the yard so it just makes me worry more

 

[eggs]

A few years ago my friend’s horse was hit by lightning and died immediately. There was no electric fencing but the field was on a hill.

It sounds as though something gave the pony a big scare if she went through the fencing.

Very sorry for the owner who has lost their pony.

 

[Follysmum]

My horses grandmother was killed my lightening after sheltering under a tree during a storm

 

[PeterNatt]

Unfortunately because horses have metal shoes on them they are more at risk in a lightning strike as the shoes act as a conductor to earth.
You can buy an attachment for an Electric Fence that ensures that if lightning strikes the fence that the high voltage charge is sent to ground rather than the fence becomes highly electrified.

Lightening Arrester - Agrifence

agrifence.co.uk

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

A relative lost three horses to lightning strike in a very large field (UK) with about 8 other horses in it. This was about 40 years ago and he certainly didn't have any electric fencing back then. I don't think the electric fencing has much to do with the poor horse that you mention, just coincidence. More likely it was running around panic stricken in the storm and damaged all the fencing, and died somehow during the panic. A horse very rarely can be partially struck and still able to move around. But it is possible it could be so in this case.

It will be interesting to know the cause of death, usually there is some signs of burning or singed hair if it was a direct lightning strike. A very distressing way to lose a horse, I am very sorry for you and the owner. But please try not to worry it is a relatively rare occurrence.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Yeah I worded that a bit differently..but alot of people are saying she got directly struck by the lightning.. she would have never went through fencing unless something happened to her so Its a mystery vets and specialists think its to do with the fencing she was next to if she got directly struck I think she would have died straight away she could have went in to shock from a little strike who knows but the fact all the fencing is gone even wooden posts it makes me think that's to do with it..

It sounds more as if she panicked to me. Try not to worry, lightning rarely strikes twice in the same place.

 

[Wishfilly]

A pony I knew when I was a teenager was believed to be killed in a lightning strike- there were no witnesses, but she was found dead after a storm with no obvious cause, and that was the vet's best suggestion. Shod horses are at additional risk, apparently.

It is scary and traumatic when it happens, and if lightning is forecast, I will sometimes keep my pony in. This obviously isn't a guarantee, but that type of storm is relatively rare in the UK and hopefully you won't have a lightning strike near you again soon!

 

[Bellalily]

We had ours out in the worst storm in living memory in NE Scotland back in August 2004. Three other liveries, plus our two, plus a small flock of sheep. The fencing was hit and our solid wooden fence posts pinged out of the ground like matchsticks, our fields were literally a pond, but no animals were harmed.
Please try not to worry, freak accidents happen.

 

[Fransurrey]

Tbh, although lightning strikes happen, I think they are quite rare to strike a horse/field and in particular, where your horse is kept (though used to be something that we always worried about when big, proper storms rolled through back home). In the 20-something years I lived back home where we got horrendously scary storms (tornadoes aren't uncommon and would sometimes get tail ends of hurricanes) I don't think I know of any horses getting struck though would hear of the odd report of a horse and rider being struck or people on a golf course being struck.

I thought I was going to be struck last year. Storm brewed whilst I was out, but seemed to calm down to just rain as I got back to the hay field I had to cross. We were halfway across (so properly in the open) and suddenly I felt all my hair stand up. I had just enough time to think 'f***!' and then it hit, a couple of miles away we think. The noise was horrific. The flash blinded us both. Horse spun twice and then stood quite calmly considering. My legs shook so much I had to get off to make them function again.

Never known it to strike on the yard, though, despite being top of a hill and having electric fencing.

Edit: just read your comment about going through the fences. She'd have gone down immediately in a lightning strike, so I would assume she's panicked in the storm. Poor love.

 

[lynz88]

Now THAT is scary if you can feel your hairs stand up. I just remembered being down in South Carolina and a storm rolled in with the blackest clouds I have ever seen - so dark that in the mid afternoon all the streetlights turned on. We were watching the storm from the balcony and suddenly the loudest crack and brightest flash I have ever seen in my life occurred. Next thing I knew the power was out and the fire alarm had gone off. The hotel next to us got struck by lightning. I didn't have any hairs stand up though.

We used to debate whether it was worth getting the horses in during such storms though. Was it worth the human risk? If it's calling for a tornado, are horses better in or out?

 

[Bellalily]

Apparently, I have it from meteorologists that if you can hear thunder, you can be struck by lightning. Food for thought. UK TV programme ages ago had examples of people being struck when the thunder was miles away. None of them made a full recovery.

 

[Birker2020]

It sounds like this poor horse panicked and was fatally injured. Tragic but it shouldn't stop you putting yours in the field.

Mr sel is an electrical engineer and tells me any 4-legged animal is at greater risk around lightning sadly just because they have more points of their body in contact with the ground.

If you're ever out in a storm and your hair starts to stand on end then lightning is a risk. Lie on the ground and curl up in a ball so you are a single point of contact.

I think that too. Normally there is a lightning strike mark of slight singeing on an animal struck by lightning. If an animal is stood in a field with surface water on it, then the strike can be some distance away from the animal if that makes sense.

So sorry for the loss of the horse on your yard OP