Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Ours stay out 24/7, no matter what.  Of course, we're still building our barn, but it will only have 2 stalls, and we have 6 horses.  The stalls will be for sick/injured horses, or to bring our 29 yr old in during the winter when we get cold rains coupled with wind.  I figure they have a better chance of being safe out in the open in the event of a tornado, etc.  They have lots of huge oak trees in the pasture to get under for shelter from hail, rain, etc.  The only thing I worry about is lightning, but I just keep my fingers crossed.

On the trail, I tend to just keep riding...had a severe thunderstorm hit moments after starting a 50 in Texas 2 years ago...a couple of huge pines came down, the wind was howling, and then the downpour started.  I keep telling myself that maybe lightning has a hard time hitting a moving target, and we were moving pretty darn fast.  <G>  Of course, when the trails got really boggy and very slick, I pulled at 25 miles...got scared that my horse might hurt himself.  It was actually kinda fun riding in the rain...I was warm as long as we kept moving.

Of course, this ride was in a dense pine forest...out in the open, I'd be more worried about lightning.

Dawn in East Texas