You can place lighting protection, in the form of lighting rods or “air terminals” on any structure, including your home, garage, barn or even a tree.
Horse owners should protect barns and corrals to keep the horses safe.
Horses naturally seek shelter when the weather kicks up, so they head to the barn. Many barns and corrals are metal structures with metal roofs, so there is little risk that a lightening bolt will harm it.
A problem occurs, however, when the bolt follows the structure into the ground. Because the structure’s posts usually are driven less than three feet into the ground in a concrete footer, the bolt can spread out before dissipating. When it does, it can strikes the metal shoes on the horse.
This disaster kills over 600 horses a year across the country. Don’t let it kill yours.
The solution: Add lighting rods to the top of the barn that are connected by wires to the ground. The rods will take the hit if lighting strikes the barn, so it will never disturb your horses.
Driving a post deep into the ground will not protect your barn or your animals unless the bolt happens to hit that post directly. You need to add rods to the top of the barn to ensure that the lightning will find its way to the grounded wire.
