A horse died instantly when it was struck by lightning during a vicious Southland thunderstorm yesterday.
Seven-year-old Jonty was struck by forked lightning in a paddock on Auburn Rd, on the outskirts of Invercargill, about 2pm.
The strike came moments after Colin Russel and his 14-year-old daughter Annie, who were in the paddock working with another horse, had ducked for cover to nearby stables as thunder cracked overhead and hail fell.
"We we inside the stable when the lightning hit - it shook the ground underneath us and the stable around us ... I've never heard anything so loud," Mr Russel told the Southland Times.
The lightning struck the horse in the middle of its back and had burned a hole through both of the covers it was wearing, Mr Russel said.
He had to juggle comforting his upset daughter with contacting the horse's owners, Murray and Margaret Weir, of Invercargill, who bought the horse about six months ago for their daughter Katie, 13.
The storm left roads and buildings in the city covered thickly with hail and the Fire Service dealt with 38 call outs between 2pm and 3.20pm.
Flooding was reported as gutters and spouting blocked by hail could not handle the deluge of rain which fell in a 10-15 minute period.
MetService spokesman Bob McDavitt said the storm saw the temperature drop from 15degC to 8degC and hailstones measuring 5-8mm across fall.