Six Months Later, Horse Shot in Head Doing Well

Link [There's a picture. He's a cute guy. :)] Unfortunately it looks like the guy that did it was never caught.

RIFLE (AP) - Liz Chandler still checks in on the horse called Lu.

Lu was shot in the head and left for dead near Rulison last November. According to Chandler, of Emergency Veterinary Care, Lu has made a remarkable recovery.

“He is looking really good," Chandler said.

Lu has gained weight and now is healthier and can hold his head up. He was unable to do so when a passer-by on Interstate 70 first discovered the injured horse covered in blood from a gunshot wound, near the Rulison exit.

“It appears that he will make a miraculous recovery," Chandler said. “And that is due to the care of Mike and Linda Walck. They have done a fantastic job."

Lu is a grey gelding who suffered from what authorities expect was a botched shooting of the animal in November. Chandler suspects that whoever shot the horse did so because he suffers from arthritis in his front left leg.

Chandler said the ailment affects Lu enough that he is not fit to ride.

But that is no excuse for what happened.

According to the Garfield County Sheriff's Office, deputies discovered the horse the evening of Nov. 9. They then called in Mike Walck, who is a state brand inspector, to see if they could identify the horse's owner.

However, Lu was not branded and did not have any other identifying marks.

Lu was shot with a .22 caliber gun in the front of the nose. An exit wound was discovered about five inches below his right ear. The bullet penetrated and fractured his sinus cavity, narrowly missing his brain, according to Chandler.

Lu wandered more than a half-mile from where he was shot, according to Walck, who followed the blood trail to the shooting location.