Horse’s stable blows away in storms

In a scene reminscent of The Wizard of Oz, a mare found herself out in the rain and wind when her stable blew away in Wednesday night’s storms.

Bad weather

Riding instructor Janine Lamy couldn’t believe it when she saw what had happened to her mare’s wooden stable. It had lifted clean up off its skids and blown into the next field, bashing into some trees and knocking down the perimeter fence.

“It was windy that night, but the stables have survived worse storms,” Janine explains. “It was more gusty and rainy, and generally foul. But the wind must have caught the stable at a certain angle and that was it.”

Loose horse

Janine and her partner Martin rent a number of stables on a yard near Tonbridge in Kent.

The missing stable was discovered the next morning when the groom arrived to do morning feeds. She noticed one horse in particular was unsettled, then as she did her feeding rounds she found Lexie, a16-year-old mare belonging to Janine and Martin, wandering loose in the yard.

“When the groom saw Lexie standing there, she thought her stable door had been left open – then she realised what had happened. Lexie was soaked through and frozen,” says Janine.

Unscathed

Fortunately, the mare was none the worse for the experience. “There’s not a mark on her,” says Janine. “Of all the horses it could have happened to, it was probably best it was her – she’s very chilled and has seen it all.”

The ex-Intermediate eventer has been having foals for four years and is now being brought back into work before being found a new loan home.

“Once we turned one of the other horses out, Lexie walked straight into their stable, so obviously she wasn’t bothered,” says Janine. “Unfortunately there isn’t a spare stable so we’ve had to turn the field shelter into a temporary stable for her.”

Work is now underway to return the stable to its correct position and repair some of the damage. Janine will also been keen to ensure it will remain fixed to the ground in the future, so that Lexie can return to her usual home.