Bryan Titsworth / WFAA-TV

Five horses were killed in the barn fire.

RED OAK — A lightning strike apparently triggered a fire at a horse barn in Red Oak early Monday morning.

Five of the 13 Tennessee Walking Horses stabled there died in the blaze at the Double H Walking Ranch, including a baby colt. The horses are used for therapy to help underprivileged and sick children.

"We love the horses and we tend to the horses like they're children," said ranch spokesman Reinaldo Taylor. "It's just... it's just something that happened."

The same stables, in the 1200 block of Pierce Road, were badly damaged by high winds in a storm last year. The owners were just about finished with those repairs.

Red Oak is about 20 miles south of Dallas in Ellis County.