Horses

[mayfair]

Sky news statment :-Southern Electric Power Distribution says its on site investigation says there was no Danger to the public. So if horses can be electricuted why cant the Public are horses more conductive than us or what ? Wonder what sort a pratt made that statment?

 

[j.mawer]

wouldn't fancy doing pressups with no shoes on.

 

[Adam W]

Something to do with a horse's front and back legs being further apart and their heart being between them, so having a pd across the ground can create issues (unless you cross bond it's legs), which is why special measures need to be considered on pastoral farm installations.
And people tend to wear 'people shoes' which yes, are less conductive.

 

[rocker]

If a cable is broken under damp soil there will be a fairly small area where the voltage is 'leaking' into the ground, before the resistance of the soil 'stops' it. If we stand on it with our legs close together, the voltage potential is going to be 400v (or whatever the cable is carrying) at both of out feet, so no real issue. If a large animal with four legs stands on the patch which has the voltage with his front legs, his back legs are going to be on a patch with significantly lower potential, let's say 20v - as voltage always wants to get to zero, the remainder of the voltage (380v in this case) will flow through the animals body from the front legs to the back - straight through the heart of the animal.

That's how I understand it, anyway.

 

[Knobhead]

Look up ground voltage gradients. Horses, cows and sheep are all susceptible, they have 4 legs.
OK I forgot goats! Pigs Et al.

 

[Knobhead]

If you walk towards a HV OH switch you only put one step in front of the other by ½ a step! The voltage gradient won’t get you then! But it looks bloody funny! Beneath the switch handle there will be an earth mat. The first thing you check is that some scroat hasn’t nicked the earth link.

Playing about with 11KV OH switches isn’t for the faint hearted!