Paula
08-31-2006, 08:11 PM
Horse Dies After Electrocution, Man Injured WTVJ-TV KENDALL, Fla. - A man was injured and the horse he was riding died Wednesday after it stepped on an electrical junction box.
Francisco Antor Machi was riding a horse along the outskirts of a Florida Power and Light substation on 118th Avenue near Bird Road when the colt stepped on an underground electrical junction box and was electrocuted. Machi survived the incident.
"He remembers being thrown off, and a lady saw him fly," said Manny Sanz, a friend of the victim.
Friends of Machi said he complained of chest pains and blacked out after the accident. Machi works as a trainer at Rancho La Rosa.
The 2½-year-old horse, a Paso Fino, had recently gotten his horseshoes mounted.
The horse's death occurred just yards from a neighborhood full of children. A woman said her children ride bikes on the same path every day and that any one of them could have made that same wrong step.
"It does freak me out, because what if that could be one of us?" said resident Michelle Ponce.
The horse's owner, Armando Villar, said that the horse was not insured. He said that besides the financial loss comes an emotional loss.
"When you have horses, you have to dedicate a lot of time. It's like when you have a dog or a cat. You have to like animals. And that one even more, because he was born on the farm. We raised him. So it's very sad," Villar said.
FPL, which did not want to comment on the incident, shut off power in the area as a precaution.
Machi was in good condition at Kendall Regional Hospital with minor injuries.
Francisco Antor Machi was riding a horse along the outskirts of a Florida Power and Light substation on 118th Avenue near Bird Road when the colt stepped on an underground electrical junction box and was electrocuted. Machi survived the incident.
"He remembers being thrown off, and a lady saw him fly," said Manny Sanz, a friend of the victim.
Friends of Machi said he complained of chest pains and blacked out after the accident. Machi works as a trainer at Rancho La Rosa.
The 2½-year-old horse, a Paso Fino, had recently gotten his horseshoes mounted.
The horse's death occurred just yards from a neighborhood full of children. A woman said her children ride bikes on the same path every day and that any one of them could have made that same wrong step.
"It does freak me out, because what if that could be one of us?" said resident Michelle Ponce.
The horse's owner, Armando Villar, said that the horse was not insured. He said that besides the financial loss comes an emotional loss.
"When you have horses, you have to dedicate a lot of time. It's like when you have a dog or a cat. You have to like animals. And that one even more, because he was born on the farm. We raised him. So it's very sad," Villar said.
FPL, which did not want to comment on the incident, shut off power in the area as a precaution.
Machi was in good condition at Kendall Regional Hospital with minor injuries.