GREENVILLE — Even though the Great Darke County Fair has scaled back their events for 2020, there is one special race tomorrow, because the horse behind the harness is the “Rocky” of the equine world.
Lightning Frenzy, a beautiful brown colt with gentle, yet inquisitive eyes, is the two-year-old son of Dontyouforgetit out of Stormy Valentine. Struck by lightning during the tornado storms of May, 2019, he suffered extreme damage to many parts of his body. As lightning entered through one side of his neck and exited through the stifle on the opposite side, the colt endured numerous other areas of tissue damage which is often considered a death sentence for a horse.
At the time of the accident, Lightning Frenzy was bred and owned by the Bolyard family of Greenville, Ohio, and boarded at Polhamus Farm in Pleasant Hill (Ohio). After consulting with several veterinarians, Bolyard initially decided to put the colt down. Yet, Marjorie Polhamus, owner of Polhamus Farms, is a registered nurse and asked Bolyard to give the Lightning Frenzy a chance. He did just that by saying, “You can have him.”
Spending several months recuperating under the direction of Dr. Charles Hartzell, Lightning’s wounds finally began to heal after many hours of wound care treatments, and the cold water hosing from contracting Potomac Fever. Once recovered from this ordeal, the young horse began to flourish, and by September, 2019, showed little signs of physical deficits.
Lightning Frenzy was put into training with Dan O’Mara. Dan’s wife, Kristi, and Marjorie Polhamus, are so proud of this amazing horse. Other than his stifle scars and constantly pulling his tail out, he’s a big, happy, healthy, bobtail horse, loving life and grateful for the chance to survive. He isn’t special because he qualified in 2:01.2, or because he got his first win on August 16 at the Mercer County Fair in Celina, Ohio, trotting in 2:05. Lightning Frenzy is special because he speaks to the fighting spirit within us all.
As the British poet, Ronald Duncan, once wrote in his Ode to a Horse, “Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy, or beauty without vanity? Here where grace is laced with muscle and strength by gentleness confined.”
Here, indeed, is Lightning Frenzy.
