General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhat do horses and other animals do when a tornado hits? Assuming the horses are free to
go wherever.
badtoworse
(5,957 posts)MuseRider
(34,111 posts)divided by a smallish dry lot. When the weather gets bad I open up all the stalls in their barn so they can have shelter there if they want and I open up both pastures so they can run. Granted if a big one came along it would not matter most likely. If I could get up to them before a big one got here I would let them out. Still, my 53 acres would most likely not survive a big one. My goats are shut into their shed that is on low ground and tied down tightly with hurricane ties (I think that is what they are called). I would bring them inside since there are only two but they are a mess and my husband objects. if I could get them to not tear off a diaper they would be inside with us.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)raccoon
(31,111 posts)newfie11
(8,159 posts)Who knows what they would run through or into running in full panic.
Never want to see this scenario.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)They went to lower parts of farm too. Not sure about tornados.
But memory is probably a bit fuzzy, and I would not doubt poster above who said they freak out.
Phentex
(16,334 posts)it seems like a terrible thing but I guess they get used to it.
Hayabusa
(2,135 posts)Lightning hit the tree. As for the cow, it wasn't pretty...
DetlefK
(16,423 posts)leveymg
(36,418 posts)Sorry about that.
GreenStormCloud
(12,072 posts)The recent super tornado in OK killed a lot of horses.
ellenfl
(8,660 posts)raccoon
(31,111 posts)ellenfl
(8,660 posts)JHB
(37,160 posts)magical thyme
(14,881 posts)They generally will stick together as a herd and try to run out of the way. If it is a big one, like the recent one in OK, they probably won't be able to escape without a good head start. Horses inside and out were killed by the direct hit (one of their caretakers turned as many loose as he could so they would have a chance) although a 3 year old survived inside. She was heard the next day calling from where she was trapped in her stall. The roof had caved, but apparently it left a large enough area underneath for her to fit without being broken.
Horsepeople tend to be mixed on whether it's best to keep them in or out. Studies show that out is best, but in a really big one, it pretty much doesn't matter.
They will run as a herd, and in a big one get picked up as a herd and dropped in a heap. There was a horrifying picture after OK of a pile of dozens of dead horses
A cyber horse acquaintance had a direct hit by a small tornado in Virginia a few years back. Her 3 mares were huddled in a runout shelter in their pasture when she last saw them before the tornado. After the tornado, they were on the far side of the pasture huddled together, ok, but the elderly mare was very stiff and sore afterward, so she thinks they were picked up and dumped there. Their halters had been sucked right off their faces
Another one had her new barn unfinished when a hurricane was striking, so she brought her mares into her kitchen. I can't remember now what she said lined the floors with, but there was no way she was leaving her girls out in an unfinished building...
LWolf
(46,179 posts)an area prone to tornadoes with horses.
My experience says that they would run. They would run in circles, or into obstacles, as far and fast as they could.
My horses seek shelter during thunderstorms. They generally prefer to be outside. They'll seek trees for shade before coming into the barn or other shelters in their pastures.
The seek out the barn in thunderstorms, excessive heat, or excessive cold. They get snorty and run around in wind storms.