Thor seemed fine at the time, just very shook up. When I checked out the wires in his paddock they had been fused together. Thor didn't act much different but he started to lose some weight.
The vet said that he probably had some residual effects from the lightening strike and hadn't been struck directly but since it melted the wires in his paddock, it probably affected him somehow. Otherwise Thor seemed almost normal. The vet said there was really nothing we could do other than just watch and wait.
Thor was born on our place and was a super funny character as a donkey.
I will miss Thor's constant antics. He would take his water bucket and flip it outside the paddock. If he could find a branch...well,...
He'd hold up sticks and present them to you like a dog. Sometimes in the summer he'd stack all sticks he could find in his water tub. He loved attention and would bray at the sound of a vehicle, coyote, owl, or the neighbor's mini jack a mile away on the ridge top.
Thor was vocal. So vocal that one of the guys at CrossFit said "Oh, you are the donkey lady! The one with that loud Donkey!"
Yes, he could heart Thor from 1 mile away on certain days.
Each morning Thor would greet me when I brought him hay. It was generally a series of grunts and groans that precluded a long loud bray.
Yesterday morning, he wasn't there. I dropped his feed and went looking for him. He was laying down but didn't wake up when I approached.
He was still slightly warm but had no pulse.
Gone.
Your voice will echo through this hills for a long time and I will miss you every day.
Goodbye you big goofy donkey.