I hit a horse

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Too cold to ride in this morning. Had to start at 3:45am, but went in a little early to get something to eat. 3/4mile from my destination, I hit a horse. There were 6 all black Percherons running free. I hit one, came over the hood and hit the windshield and fell off. I hit another one but just on it's rump with my right fender. The one that went over the hood ran into the field beside me and laid down, then ran further into the field. The rest of them ran off.

Called 911 and while I was on the phone with them telling where I was, the rest of them ran out in front of another truck, but he was able to stop on time then followed them a couple miles up the road. My suburban is totaled, the kids and I put a lot of work into that thing. Spent a lot of time under the hood and under the chassis. Still had a lot of life in her for having 228K on it.

The horse had to be put down. Police called a vet and he gave it something, it wasn't shot. When I left the scene after the suburban was towed, they were still looking for the other horses in the area. A couple of the Amish came to the scene to assist in trying to figure out who owns percherons in the area.

 

[catgirleugenics]

that's absolutely insane. glad you seem to be ok, sad to hear about the horse though. hopefully you will be able to get a new means of transportation soon i know it can be very difficult not having a vehicle. those old suburbans are built like tanks that horse sure did a number on it.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

that's absolutely insane. glad you seem to be ok, sad to hear about the horse though. hopefully you will be able to get a new means of transportation soon i know it can be very difficult not having a vehicle. those old suburbans are built like tanks that horse sure did a number on it.

Yup, it was a 1999. That was 5000+lbs hitting 2000lb horse at about 30mph.

 

[Bill G]

Wow, terrible situation. So sorry; hope you bounce back from this setback. Love all of your posts....well not so much the last one. Take care and be well.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Here's the dashcam

If you're squeamish, don't watch it, not because of blood or gore, just that it's a horse getting hit.

 

[sc00ter]

That's crazy! Glad you didn't get hurt. Suburbans are outright tanks. Only thing I ever hit was a goose with a Subaru Baja, it fell out of the sky and landed on my windshield. And a rabbit with a Dodge Omni in the early 90's. I remember the rabbit because small animals loved running out in front of that car. I think it transmitted a suicide frequency while in motion.

 

[fooferdoggie]

see stick with bikes less damage to the bike if you crash and the horse.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

That's crazy! Glad you didn't get hurt. Suburbans are outright tanks. Only thing I ever hit was a goose with a Subaru Baja, it fell out of the sky and landed on my windshield. And a rabbit with a Dodge Omni in the early 90's. I remember the rabbit because small animals loved running out in front of that car. I think it transmitted a suicide frequency while in motion.

I almost did some geese not too long ago too.

I hit the brakes when I saw the geese crossing, rear brakes locked and sent me into a skid towards the pole and the field. I released the brakes and thought "I'm killing geese today". I controlled the skid and by the time I was done the geese decided to be somewhere else and I made it past without hitting any.

Last year I almost had a turkey buzzard come through the windshield, but it turned and we heard it's wings scrap the side as we went by. It decided to dive to the road at the worst time.

I never thought I'd be hitting a horse like this though. I've been up and down that road thousands of times at all times of day or night.

 

[PatriciaK]

So glad you're ok - sorry about the horse, and your car!

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

These were Amish horses, we know that, but we don't know who owns them as there's a couple dozen farms within a 5 mile radius of where it happened, and all of them have horses. But Percherons are rare in the community, it won't be long until someone comes looking for them.

I already contacted two Amish and asked them if they hear anything to let me know. The owners will take care of things though. They know that they're responsible and they'll be glad that no one was hurt. There's also a good chance that I know them, but I have no idea who owns which kind of horse.

 

[dodgeman]

That’s a shame, that damage isn’t going to buff out. Glad you weren’t hurt.

 

[J.R.]

A lot of Amish farms around me as well and I nearly hit a horse in the road at dusk. Driving west into the setting sun I rounded a blind curve and the horse seemed to appear in front of me. I got lucky and stopped in time. I'm told hitting a horse is akin to hitting a moose. Long legs and the body mass hits the hood and windshield. Bumpers are little help. Glad you were going slow and survived. Really a shame about the horse, such a noble beast.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

A lot of Amish farms around me as well and I nearly hit a horse in the road at dusk. Driving west into the setting sun I rounded a blind curve and the horse seemed to appear in front of me. I got lucky and stopped in time. I'm told hitting a horse is akin to hitting a moose. Long legs and the body mass hits the hood and windshield. Bumpers are little help. Glad you were going slow and survived. Really a shame about the horse, such a noble beast.

I actually thought I hit a moose at first, that was the first thing that came to me, but there aren't any moose down here. 5' of hood, and a tall vehicle saved me from any injury. The other 5 horses ran off to a farm about 1/2 mile away, but still within sight of where I hit. They almost got hit again by another truck. I heard it skid as he saw them coming around a curve. They spooked and ran up the road towards the road I was on again, with the truck following.

We thought that was the farm where they belonged because they seemed like they were running home. The farmer there came up to us and told us they weren't his, but they were running around his back field. This happened at 3am, at 4am when I finally got a ride home, they were still chasing them around there area, but all within a mile of my hit.

I would have been riding my bike and not driving, but it was just too cold to ride.

 

[Viking1]

Sorry to hear Jedidiah!! Sorry you had to go through that and the one had to be put down, not to mention the status with the loss of your vehicle too. I hope you are able to get another vehicle to get you back in business. You’re in our prayers for sure.

 

[procreator]

Quite a few years ago, a bunch of kids were in a car tooling around Amish country near where I lived at the time. They topped a hill at 60mph at night and hit horse just on the other side of the crest. The horse came through the windshield, killing the two in the front seat.

I am very happy for you that you were not injured.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Some memories.

#2 dressed as Carl for a Halloween event.

#2 helping on the rear brake lines. He's completely under sitting upright.

He's my goto kid when mechanical work needs to be done. He just understands how things work, knows the names and where all the tools are and is strong, like bull.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

One of the owners of the service stopped by today and picked up my wife and I and we went lookin' for the owner. Couldn't get a hold of the PD today because their office is closed. First we went to the property of one of the guys that showed up. He directed us to another farm about 2 miles away that knew had Percherons. I went there, and he said all his horses were in his barn, but had heard about it, but didn't know the owner. He directed us to another farm a couple miles from him, that I know. We asked him, because we saw Percherons in his pasture as we were pulling up. He said he had all his horses, but knew the owner of the one I hit. A couple miles from him, but within 3/4's mile from where they got hit.

The owner came out and I showed him the video. He agrees there was nothing that I could do, but did ask if I had time to brake. I replayed it and told him where I hit the brakes. If you watch the video slowly, you'll see the one to my left first, I scraped across it, snapping off the mirror, but I hit the brakes the moment I saw it, but it was already too late, there was no stopping 5000lbs in 12 feet. I hit the second one which came over the hood and it's head hit the windshield. The third one pushed in the right fender. The first and third weren't injured at all.

He's actually on the committee for the Amish Insurance that they carry and he asked me about values of things and wrote everything down. Within a couple of days, they'll meet and determine how much to pay me for my vehicle. They'll just write me a check. They will be fair. He's happy that I wasn't hurt, sorry that my vehicle was destroyed and sad that his horse was killed. That was his team lead horse, which is sad, because he'll have to train another lead. Thankfully, he has the winter to do that before spring planting.

Some daylight pictures. The frame is bent inside the driver's wheel well. We got everything out and the license plate will be hung in the workshop in a place of honor among the other plates.

This is all very sobering, especially coming around the fence and seeing it in the daylight. Thanks everyone for your warm wishes.

 

[procreator]

I'm kind of surprised the airbags didn't deploy, given that a Percheron can weigh up to 2600lb. Glad no one (besides the horse) got hurt.

 

[SC00CHB00CH]

Visibility at least in the video looked low and the horse appeared to be a black color. Sad day indeed. You can replace a car but not the horse.

 

[JedidiahStolzfus]

Visibility at least in the video looked low and the horse appeared to be a black color. Sad day indeed. You can replace a car but not the horse.

Yes, they were all black, and they appeared to be sleeping, so their eyes were closed. I think the military should look into their coat for stealth technology.

I looked on Google Earth today and the farm they came from is just 5200' from where they got hit. I suspect, they wandered off, and then didn't know how to get back. They were all facing roughly the direction of home, but might have been confused. These aren't road horses, they're field horses, so they've probably never been away from the farm before.

They might have been standing around in that same spot for a while because there were a lot of loose mud clods that would have come off their hooves right there.

You're right about the visibility. The headlights were original from 1999, and the idiots that design cars now decided that plastic was a great idea for headlights instead of glass. I had intended to replace the fixtures, but since this was our backup vehicles, and barely gets driven (less than 2500miles per year) it just wasn't a priority to replace them. It rarely got driven at night and was only out that night because our other car was in the shop getting it's TCM replaced.

If you look at the good side of things, it was better I was in the Suburban because had I been in our other car, I'd probably be dead.