Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, December 28, 1994 TAG: 9412280082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PALMYRA LENGTH: Medium
Michelle Hurtekant said a bullet tore through her house around 8:45 a.m. and hit a stairway where she had passed only two minutes earlier. A game warden found the bullet lodged in the wall near Hurtekant's bedroom window.
Hurtekant's husband, Don, and son-in-law, Carl Potts, went outside to investigate the shot and saw a man in an orange hat chasing a deer on property the family was leasing for their horse farm. Then the man fired again, back toward Potts and Don Hurtekant.
``You could hear the bullet whistle'' as it went by, Potts said.
As Hurtekant walked back to the house from the end of the driveway he saw Big Foot, their 2,200-pound draft horse, hanging his head.
``He was having trouble breathing. It was like he was calling out to Don. He didn't make a noise until he saw Don,'' Michelle Hurtekant said.
The horse died of a gunshot wound to his side. The animal was buried on the farm.
Big Foot was one of nine horses the Hurtekants raise on Gentle Giants Farm. At horse shows, he was a showoff strutting about the ring, Michelle Hurtekant said. And at home, he would drop his head to get his forelock combed and let family members hug him.
``He was like a big puppy dog,'' she said.
The Hurtekants say a draft horse such as Big Foot broken to harness and trained to work could fetch $5,000 to $10,000, but they never thought of selling him.
``There was no price on Big Foot,'' Michelle Hurtekant said. ``You can't put a price on a friend.''
by CNB