One horse killed, another wounded near Linton

Submitted photo INJURED HORSE: Ken and Karen Diehl's horse "Tigger" is one of two of their eight horses found shot Monday near County Roads 1250 West and 545 North in western Greene County. Tigger, who was shot with a deer rifle, is expected to recover.

A beautiful black horse with a bright white blaze on its nose, Oreo was shot with a .22 caliber gun and found lifeless in a Greene County pasture Monday.

Oreo was one of two horses shot on the same property. The other horse, Tigger, was shot with a deer rifle but is expected to recover.

Oreo and Tigger's owners, Ken and Karen Diehl, live in a heavily wooded area on a Linton rural route and had eight horses. Now they have seven.

"It's deer season and we've heard shooting all week," said Ken. "Around dark, I started looking for the horses, went down past the creek and over to the other field and found Oreo dead. I led one of the others back up to the corral area and the rest followed. Once we got up to the corral, I saw that Tigger had been shot too."

The Diehls called their veterinarian and the Greene County Sheriff's Department and both arrived about the same time.

"The vet looked at Oreo and told us it was a .22," said Diehl. "He wasn't able to tell us if the horse had been shot right there or if he might have been shot somewhere else and just dropped there."

The call record at the Greene County Sheriff's Department is a report of shots fired near C.R. 1250 West and C.R. 545 North. A report is not available yet but the case is being investigated by Greene County Sheriff's Deputy Leon Dunigan.

For now, the Diehls are left to speculate about what happened to their horses. They could have been shot accidentally by hunters, but two horses, one black and one red, by two different guns does not sound like an accident.

Lana Robertson, president of the Greene County Humane Society and member of the Greene County Horse Council, says it's been a long time since she's heard of any horses being accidentally shot.

If this were an accident, Robertson wondered why the hunters did not contact the owners rather than just leaving. If this was done on purpose, Robertson said she hopes the people are found and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

"I would strongly advise hunters to take every care and precaution they can to make sure they know what they're shooting at before they raise that gun," said Robertson.

Oreo was a Haflinger, a breed of horse that looks like a small Belgian horse. They're about 54-56 inches tall, shorter than most horses but they have a stocky build.

Tigger, who is a reddish half-Haflinger and half-quarter horse, is now recuperating inside the Diehl barn.

"The vet thinks he's going to be OK, as long as there's no infection," said Ken. "We're lucky it's not fly season. He's had penicillin and tetanus shots and we're using a special cleaning solution and a salve on his wound."

The rest of the Diehl horses are going to be staying in the corral by the barn for the rest of hunting season.

Robertson says that would be a wise precaution for all horse owners to take at this time of year.

"I advise people to keep their horses up near the barn or even inside the barn during hunting season," said Robertson. "I've even known of people who splashed white or orange paint on their horses if they're in an area that's heavily hunted."