Editorial

All Safe After Dawson's Barn Struck by Lightning

By USEA | June 12, 2008
Tragedy was narrowly averted on Tuesday, June 10, when lightning struck Phyllis Dawson’s barn in Purcellville, VA, burning it to the ground. All of the horses and people at the Olympian’s 16-stall facility were unharmed, but she did lose quite a bit of equipment, hay, and feed. The barn was Dawson’s personal barn, and luckily the boarder barn and the indoor arena were undamaged from the flames.

The barn had 18 horses inside, including two mares and foals, Dawson’s competition horses and her Irish Sport Horse stallion, Brandenburg’s Windstar, as well as Melissa Hunsberger’s Advanced mare, Expedience.

Dawson represented the U.S. at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and the 1997 European Championships, and has been based at Windchase Farm for the past 22 years.

Neighbors and friends have pitched in to find temporary housing for some of the horses. To contact Phyllis and offer a helping hand, visit her website.