A Middle Tennessee man found his horse shot to death at close range, and Metro Nashville Police Department officials are investigating it as a possible hate crime.

Devinder Sandhu called police when a man delivering grain to his farm from a local brewery found his horse shot in the head Tuesday morning along Toney Carroll Road.

It happened sometime between Noon on Sunday and 8 a.m. Tuesday morning. The road near the pasture where the horse was found is a private, dead-end road.

The Sandus raised 17-year-old Misty Blue by hand since she was born in their pasture. His son named her after the misty morning of her birth. They said the Tennessee Walking Horse had a big, friendly personality.

"She would have greeted somebody who came up to the fence," Sandu said sadly.

Police said her death was not a hunting accident.

The North Prescient and specialized investigations unit is checking to see whether this was a hate-crime.

Sandhu is Sikh and wears a turban. He fears someone may have targeted him, but hopes that wasn't the case. He says his beard and turban are as old as the Sikh religion.

"So that we couldn't hide or blend into the crowd, so we could stand for our beliefs which was protecting the innocent," he said.

He says the family misses Misty Blue terribly.

"It's been a couple days and I still can't do it," he said, "I cannot imagine coming out here and not seeing her. It's very difficult."

The family has offered a $5,000 reward to anyone with information leading to an arrest. They've also set up a gofundme page to raise that reward to $10,000.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crimestoppers at 615-742-7463.