BENNETT, Colo. — An equestrian is seeking answers after she found her horse dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
The Adam’s County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the death of a horse named Boo. A spokesperson with the department told Denver7 they believe the shooting happened between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m. around E. 56th Avenue and Peterson Rd. Deputies did not recover bullet casings at the scene and added that they have not arrested any suspects.
Maggie Dickinson,17, called Boo her best friend. She met him when she was 4 years old after her aunt bought him at an auction. Dickinson says Boo was so fast he scared her, but when she was 9 years old, she mustered up the courage to train him.
“He was like my child,” Dickinson said. “He always untied himself to come and find me.”
During an eight-year span, the duo won two saddles and more than two dozen buckles at competitions. Dickinson said Boo loved barrel racing and he was fast. Boo was more than a horse, he consoled Dickinson when things in life got tough and when she felt alone after her friends went off to college. She says Boo would wrap his neck around her when she cried.
On Monday morning, Dickinson received a call from her mom to check on Boo. She said she found him away from the fence in the middle of the pasture dead with a gunshot wound to the head.
“The vet told me that whoever did it did it execution-style,” Dickinson said.
She says she’s not sure who did it, but feels Boo was targeted due to his location. Dickinson is now pleading with the criminal to turn himself/herself into the Adam's County Sheriff's Office.
“They took away my best friend and the horse that I wanted my kids to be able to see one day and be able to ride,” Dickinson said.
She says she saw Boo on Sunday around 8:40 p.m. and hugged him. She retired Boo from the competition this year. He was 21 years old.
In 2015, Boo was diagnosed with cancer and went blind in one eye. Dickinson said they paid to remove the cancer and adds that Boo was healthy.
