Newspaper Page Text
August 18, 2021
Page 2A
.&saS\
Reporter
Father Patrick
Tuttle leads
the memorial
service for the
horses struck
by lightning
at Blanche
Farms. From
Left are Father
Patrick, Jacob
Blanche, Bernie
Blanche, Maya
Blanche, Monti
Hight, Andi
Glasscock,
and Margaret
Blanche (back
to camera).
Lightning kills 5 horses
By Sloan Oliver
sloanoliver@earthlink.net
Last week, tragedy struck
Blanche Farms when
lightning killed five of their
horses. Early afternoon on
last Tuesday, Aug. 10, one
of the workers went out in
the pasture and saw a group
of horses “being lazy” -
sleeping under a tree in the
middle of the day. It wasn’t
until she got closer that she
realized what had happened.
The horses were out in the
pasture, under a tree, when
a bolt of lightning struck the
tree, instantly killing five of
the seven horses gathered
together. The horses lost
were Major, Mugs, Ace,
Shorty, and Blue. According
to Margaret Blanche, owner
of Blanche Farms, there was
no storm, no storm warning;
the lightning was completely
unexpected.
Blanche Farms is on
Estes Road, just outside
Bolingbroke. Bernie and
Margaret Blanche and their
four children moved to
Monroe County in 2013.
Shortly after re-locating to
central Georgia, they opened
Blanche Farms, specializing
in introducing children to
horses and horsemanship
and all that goes with caring
for horses.
Immediately after the di
saster, the local community
pitched in to help. Blanche
said, “The community
has been spectacular.” Dre
Faulkner brought his tractor
to dig a burial hole. Andi
Glasscock, barn manager at
Blanche, set up a Go-Fund
me page to raise money to
replace the animals. And
countless people reached out
with support, flowers, cards,
and offers to loan horses
until replacements can be
found.
Replacement is not an
accurate word to describe
finding new horses because
there are no replacements
when such animals are lost.
Blanche said it takes years
to find the right horse and
to train the horse exactly to
the desired level. It takes a
special horse with just the
right personality; a horse
that wont test children or
injure the child. Bernie said
that Margaret had finally
found horses she was com
fortable with; horses that are
good with small children
both while being ridden and
being cared for. In addition
to their riding horses, Blue
was a competition “cutting”
horse which means he was
specially trained to separate
a single cow from the heard.
Major was perhaps the
favorite horse of Margaret’s
students - very gentle. Ac
cording to Blanche, Major
could sense the horseman
ship level of the riders and
behave accordingly.
Basher, one of the Blanche’s
dogs, the other day was
barking incessantly at 4 a.m.
Margaret went to see what all
the barking was about and
found one of their horses
lying under the exact tree
that had been struck by
lightning. Perhaps the horse
was mourning the loss of his
buddies. However, Basher
refused to let the horse
remain at that location. Ob
viously animals have feelings
for each other as well.
On Thursday, a memorial
service was conducted by
Father Patrick Tuttle of Holy
Spirit Catholic Church in
Macon at the site of the light
ning strike. It was attended
by about 60 people. To
support Blanche Farms, visit:
Fundraiser by Andi Glass
cock : Five Horses Killed by
Lightning at Blanche Farms
(gofundme.com)
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A salute to the people of Monroe County
Names: Jessica Bates, Paige Bates, & Kallie Bates
Title: Owners
Work Place: Bulldog Nutrition
Fun Facts: My girls and I wanted a fresh start. We had
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Hours Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
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U.S, Congressman Austin Scott is appearing only as a featured speaker and is not asking for funds or
donations. Contributions to the 3th District Republican Party are not tax deductible.