Thunder and lighting

We just went through 2 days of a series of thunder storms. Making sure that the outside animals were always safe or under cover was the highest importance at our house.

During the height of the storms when the flashes of lighting was over head I was reminded of how many horses I have known that have given birth or that were born during a thunder storm. One Appaloosa that I knew was one such horse. He was aptly named Thunder, of course. He was a big gentle giant of a gelding that was used as a lesson horse at the boarding stable I was at almost 20 years ago. Another little horse was Cloud. She was a Shetland pony we had for a few months on lease many years ago. She gave birth to a colt the owners name Stormy. Yes he was born during a wild winter storm about a month or two before we met Cloud.

The name Thunder has even found it's way to movies and books about horses. Here is one called Old Thunder and Miss Raney, a child's book.

One of the most well known children's books that surrounds the birth of a famous horse is Stormy, Misty's foal written years ago about the birth of a Chincoteague pony in Virgina. You can still find her books on sale in many book stores. They are among my favorite horse books when I was growing up.

If those thunder storms return I might be taking up more reading since the power often goes out during those storms.