What happened
On a dark night with no moonlight, the pilot conducted a low-altitude flyover of the airport at 500 feet AGL to check for animals that frequently enter the airfield through a pedestrian gate. Although both runway lights and aircraft landing lights were illuminated, the pilot encountered livestock on the runway during the landing roll.
While decelerating, the pilot attempted a leftward correction to avoid a horse positioned ahead and to the right of the aircraft. As the pilot straightened the plane, a second horse appeared approximately 50 feet directly in front of the aircraft. The pilot was unable to react in time, and the left wing struck the horse just left of the engine at approximately 70 knots.
Following the impact, the airplane deflected to the left toward the airport perimeter fence. In an attempt to avoid striking the fence, the pilot applied right rudder and braking, which caused the aircraft to enter a left skid. The left main landing gear subsequently collapsed, and the left propeller struck the ground multiple times before the aircraft came to a complete stop. There were no injuries reported in the incident.