Hornet Attack!! Sept 22, 08

The weather had been so great and we knew it wouldn't last, so we saddled the girls up and off we went. Little did we know what the next hour had in store...

It was an absolutley beautiful and quiet evening. We'd decided to start heading for home before it got too dark. I stopped Charmer short when I heard Brandy let out a high pitched squeal. She was thrashing her head and spinning around at the bottom of the hill. Jim quickly dismounted to see what was wrong. And his yell of "Oh, God, there all over me!" made me realize what was wrong... HORNETS!

All hell literally broke loose. Swatting wildly at the swarm attacking him, Jim threw me Brandy's reins. But they were starting to sting Charmer and me as well, so I let the horses go, yelling at them to send them up the hill without us. I could feel them stinging me, but all I was worried about was Jim. He was running the opposite way, slapping all over to kill the darn things, yelling at me to get away, he'd be all right. But I knew better, because he's allergic to bee stings. I told him to keep running and meet me at the other trail. And then, I too began to run, stumbling and yelling for the horses one way and turning back at Jim to make sure he was alright. It was panic and pandemonium, slapping at hornets as I ran up the hill.

A few minutes later I found Brandy, stopped because she was standing on her one of her reins. I yelled for Charmer, and she, far up the hill, whinnied back with an alarmed cry. In no time she came running back to me, just as Jim appeared from behind us coming up the other side of the hill. He was bleeding from the bites on his face and ears and his voice was horse from running, yelling and his allergy to stings. We had to walk 1/2 mile back to the house, as Charmer had stepped on and lost a rein somewhere along the way.

Jim took some Benedryl when we reached the house and then called the vet. Brandy was showing signs of stress from the whole ordeal, soaked with sweat and welts from the stings were starting to show. I started to count them, but stopped after 65. They grew to the size of softballs as the night progressed, but she was fine otherwise.

We were OK too, just painful "stinging" sensation where the hornets had left their mark. In the next few days they would turn to huge swollen itchy welts, which we handled with some cream...but the horses scratched theirs until they were raw sores and all the hair around them fell out.

We knew they were hornets because I found a dead one under Brandy's saddle and went on-line to find out exactly what it was. Going back the next day, we found that Brandy had apparently stepped on a their nest, which was in the ground. All you could see was a dime sized hole where they were coming in and out of. According to the Internet sites, these buggers don't die or lose their stingers when attacking. Instead, they actually hang on with their mouths and sting continuously until they get swatted off or let go. We hope never to encounter such a nest again, nor wish the experience on anyone!