I read in another thread that you lost a horse to lightning.  I just wanted to say how sorry I am for your loss.  We also lost one to lightning a few years ago.  It's tough.

We were to leave on a camp/trail trip on a Friday.  Thursday morning, Dwight went out and found his favorite gelding dead in the barn lot.  There had been quite a storm the night before.  We think the lightning actually hit the barn and traveled through the ground.  There was another horse in the lot with Dancer who was unharmed, but she was barefoot and Dancer had shoes on.    

We didn't cancel our trip, though.  We pulled one of the brood mares out of the field, slapped some shoes on her and went.  That mare had not even had a saddle on in over two years, but she seemed to sense that Dwight was hurting emotionally.  She carried him all weekend without a bobble.

We bred Dancer's dam and sire three more times after he died and never got another one that looked or acted like him.  You just can't re-produce the perfect trail companion.

Dwight's current trail mount is by the same stallion but out of a different mare.  Disco will be six this year and the two of them are finally developing a relationship.  But Disco is not nearly as smart as Dancer was.

Again, sorry for your loss.

Dwight and Disco