South Dakota cowboy J.B. Lord was just one of those who lost horses in the unexpected early-fall blizzard that blasted western Nebraska and South Dakota on October 4.

Seeking relief from that wind and blinding snow, Lord’s 21-year-old roping horse, Baywatch, perished after he walked over a snowbank covering the fence that surrounded his shelter. “He must have gotten delirious and gotten lost,” Lord said.

Lord, who was in Texas at his son Eli’s college rodeo during the storm, is thankful that his other son, Levi, who remained at home in South Dakota, decided not to go out looking for Baywatch, their 2012 Badlands Circuit Heading Horse of the Year. “He wouldn’t have made it back to the house,” Lord said.

Dubbed Winter Storm Atlas, the freak snowstorm dumped several feet of snow driven by winds up to 70 miles per hour. As of Oct. 15, ranchers have reported 36 horses dead in South Dakota alone