Posted on 02/12/2011 5:46:28 PM PST by Cardhu
Two horses died after apparently being electrocuted in a mysterious incident minutes before the start of a hurdle race yesterday.
Hundreds of spectators watched Fenix Two and Marching Song rear up and scream before ‘dropping like stones’ in the parade ring at Newbury racecourse in Berkshire.
It is thought they suffered electric shocks from underground cables that may have been punctured during recent drilling to aerate the ground.
There was disquiet that the race, the Novices’ Hurdle, which would have been Fenix Two’s first race, went ahead despite the tragedy, although the rest of the meeting was abandoned. Other horses which showed signs of distress in the paddock – one was seen to ‘wobble’ – were reportedly found to have burn marks on their mouths after they crossed the finishing line. Although the investigation into the deaths centred on electric shocks as a cause, course chairman Christopher Spence said none of the cables beneath the paddock showed signs of damage. None of the stable lads who led the horses in the ring was harmed.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
underground electrical cable?
Horses usually wear metal shoes flat on the bottom of their hooves. Moisture, even a small amount, can efficiently conduct electricity from the ground and up an animals legs.
Horses in particular have been known to be electrocuted in pastures when lightening has struck nearby and traveled through ground water. It is those metal shoes that make them particularly vulnerable, I believe. Though there was the case of a group of elephants wandering along a mostly dry stream bed in India who died when lightening struck nearby. They probably died from electricity traveling via groundwater and into the moisture along the stream bed.
The Eight Belles incident turned me against horse racing.
No kidding—that is entirely possible.
wow. I think I’ll protect myself and carry a lightening rod around. heh.
Apparently these two were the only ones wearing metal shoes the others had shoes made of a composite material.
Unless you go barefoot or wear metal-bottomed shoes, I doubt you’ll feel anything.
None of the people leading horses in the parade ring were affected, possibly because their shoes had nonconducting soles.
The unaffected horses could have been wearing shoes made of a composite material specifically made for racing.
Good point.
Somebody needs to set up an electric car recharging station out there.
I'm pretty sure that Lasix is prohibited in Europe. We, unfortunately, have allowed it her for the last 35 years or so.
ML/NJ
Then there was the case of Topsy the Elephant who died when Edison struck in 1903 ...
Topsy killed three men.
Well, this story is just shocking.
Buzz kill.
That’s horrid.
Let’s get rid of this “Electrocution myth”.
If the cable was completely burried in the ground and was faulty, there is no way the current can flow from the cable, through the ground, (wet or not), through the horses shoes, an back to earth.
What would happen is that the current would short to earth and that would be the end of it.
Earth CANNOT become “Live”.
Current has to flow from live back to neutral, or earth.
It cannot flow from earth to earth.
If the horse picked up static electricity as it walked around,and it was discharged, (which doesn’t need to be to earth as static is not referenced to earth) although it is high voltage, it has very little current and it is current that kills. Not enough to kill a horse.
Poisoning is the more likely answer.
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