Local News

Locals Have Theories In Horse Deaths

CALHAN, Colo. (CBS4) ― Lightning appears to be the cause in the deaths of 16 horses found in a pasture east of Colorado Springs over the weekend, El Paso County sheriff's investigators said Tuesday.

Veterinarian John Heikkila "is fairly confident" the animals were killed by lightning, investigators said. The horses were found Saturday.

Six other horses and a burro were found dead in a pasture in the same area on Oct. 11. The cause of death in that incident has not been determined.

All the animals were found near Calhan, a community on Colorado's eastern plains. The 16 horses found Saturday in rancher William DeWitt's pasture were within 50 yards of one another, including one still perched on its knees, snout to the ground.

The other seven animals found earlier were owned by rancher Ned Sixkiller. Heikkila performed autopsies and found round puncture wounds in their hides or skulls. The wounds, however, were no more than three-quarters of an inch deep and no bullet fragments or slugs were found.

"Fifteen horses, you can't kill 15 stock at one time with one bolt of lightning, even if all the horses were standing head to butt," Sixkiller told CBS4. "I really don't think that they'll ever come up with anything and I think if they ever do, nobody will ever know."

"Ned's was not a case of lightning," Heikkila said Monday. "In real life, there are a lot of incidents where we just don't know."

Sixkiller told CBS4 his animals are his livelihood. Losing his six horses and a burro cost him more than $22,000.

He and his neighbors said Tuesday everyone with horses in the area remains on edge.

Other local theories include the 16 horses in one group died after eating too much green hay. There is also speculation that puncture wounds found on Sixkiller's animals came from poisoned dart.

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