NO, i put my horses in their stalls when it rains, or is lightning

Hi No But I no that horses are really ez for that to happen idk its somthing about them....Sorry to here that thow i no its hard to lose something u love

A friend of mine lost BOTH of her horses. They were standing head to tail, the lightning struck one and went through to the other one too, killing them both!!!

My grandfather's horse Packer, was being pastured with a herd of mules during a lightning storm in southern colorado when he died. Out of thirty-two mules, the lightning struck packer because of his horseshoes. I miss that collosal charger. I'm sorry for your loss... even if, technically, the horse wasn't yours.
Cheer up, though. The rest of the horses will soon be running again and at least Shimmer died while she was still in the game.

yeah my mums horse's mother she was giving birth and when mums horse came out no joke round 5 minutes after she unfortunately got struck by lightning and died... the horse had no rug on cuz if she did it would interfear with the birth process and she wasnt in a stable because the foal needs to be able to get up and have a run around. my horse is now 16-17 yrs old now

i read an artical in your horse magazine of a woman who lost 13 horses in one night due to lightning they recon the metal shoes act as conductors i never leve mine out when they are shod and its stormy now after reading that it was very sad

It really isn't uncommon. I know of several horses that were lost this way.

Horses seek shelter under trees. Trees get struck by lightning all the time.

I don't know why they don't go to the shelter when it storms, but mine don't either. They have a large, open ended covered area accessible 24-7 but they are out in the pasture when it's pouring down rain.

I've got a friend who lost 4 horses in one storm and another friend who lost 16 head of cattle. They all gathered under one tree in the pasture during a storm and BOOM! They were toast. I try to get my horses into the barn during lightning storms but I know it could happen to me any time.

BTW, can't blame metal shoes because none of the horses were shod and, of course, neither were the cows.

out where i live it happens more than people realize and not just in thunder storms.during one blizzard six horses and nine cattle were struck down a mile from my ranch.lightning and wild fires are our concern at this time of year.

This doesn't happen very often, but it's not unheard of. The horse I took my first lessons on was a 25 year old Arabian gelding, and he was also killed this way, later in the same summer that I first rode him. I was only 9 at the time, and as you can imagine, I took the loss pretty hard. It makes no difference whether the horse was wearing shoes or not- horses which are out in the open during thunderstorms are ALWAYS vulnerable to lightning strikes, especially if they either have no shelter ( which was not the case for this horse you knew) or they elect to stand under a tree or something similar, instead of going into a shelter which has been built for them. Weather and the study of the weather has long been a hobby of mine, and since I grew up in Northern Indiana, I got to see a wide variety of climate changes. One of the things I learned during my study is that the rule to remember about lightning strikes is that lightning will strike whatever target is the EASIEST, but not necessarily the TALLEST thing around. A horse in the open makes a perfect lightning rod- and it makes no difference whatever if the horse has shoes or not. This same principle applies to golfers, which is why golf courses are dangerous in stormy weather. The same thing can also be said of swimming pools- there is a reason why public pools will close during thunderstorms in the summertime. It's to protect the safety of the swimmers by keeping them out of the water, because lightning can strike pools.

I am sorry about Shimmer- but you can take some comfort from knowing that her death would have been instantaneous- and that it's likely she never knew what hit her. That won't bring her back, but it may make you feel a little better. Shimmer is at the Rainbow Bridge now, and she's happy and free, and enjoying spending time with her friends. You'll see her again one day, when it's time.

Good luck.

I have never seen it personally but I have heard of it a few times. I am sorry for your loss it is always hard when you loose a dear friend.