Family mourns beloved horse killed after barn collapses during severe storms
By Kate Devine
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MARION COUNTY, Kansas (KAKE) — Severe storms that swept through Marion County Monday night left behind damaged buildings, downed trees and widespread power outages. For one family, however, the storm also brought a heartbreaking personal loss.
Veronica DeSelms said her family’s horse, Puddin, was killed when a barn collapsed during the storm.
DeSelms said she received a warning from a friend before the severe weather arrived.
“She was giving us a heads up that storms in our area were going to be pretty bad,” DeSelms said. “She actually told us to treat it like a tornado because the wind speeds were going to be so high.”
After the storm passed, DeSelms and her family began checking the damage around their property.
“First thing I saw was the roof on the ground, which immediately made me realize that something was probably terribly wrong,” she said.
She then went looking for Puddin.
“I was actually just hoping I’d see her running out in the pasture somewhere or making noise,” DeSelms said.
Instead, she found the barn had collapsed.
“I noticed that the wall had collapsed, and you could see part of her because the rest of her was under the barn,” she said.
According to Marion County Emergency Management, there were 30 reports of storm damage as of Tuesday evening. Most of the damage was concentrated in a five-mile stretch of northern Marion County, including Durham, Tampa, Ramona, Lost Springs and Lincolnville. Officials also reported downed trees, damaged roofs, power outages and a confirmed 90 mph wind gust near Lincolnville.
For the DeSelms family, Puddin was much more than a horse.
“She was my husband’s first horse that he bought with his own money after he started college,” DeSelms said. “He raised her all on his own and trained her. Then when we had our daughter, she helped raise her.”
The horse became a constant companion for the family’s daughter, Clara.
“They grew up together,” DeSelms said. “She was our family horse.” Puddin was 23 years old.
The loss comes just months after the family lost another horse, Scotch.
“We lost our older horse in January of this year as well, so it’s a pretty devastating loss,” DeSelms said.
“We buried Scotch in January, and now Puddin is buried right next to her,” DeSelms said.
DeSelms said she finds comfort in believing the two horses are together again.
“We’ve had a lot of animal losses over the last year, and I guess I just find comfort that they are together,” DeSelms said. “And she’s just enjoying being with her buddy again.”
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