Cooperstown (CSi) — Authorities are investigating the shooting of a horse south of Cooperstown that occurred on Tuesday morning.

The owner, Kim Damsgard found her horse, “Buckskin,” lying half frozen in a pond shot through the neck.

A Cass County Sheriff’s Department detective is investigating the shooting, and a separate open case of three or four cattle that were reported shot within the past month in Cass County

Damsgard says a hunter may have mistaken the buckskin-colored horse for a deer.

Investigators plan to take a metal detector to the area today to see if they can recover a slug.