Kahlua was a sweet pony who gently carried children on his back and was always the first in his pasture to trot up to and greet visitors.

On Wednesday his owner was horrified to find the blind pony dead in his pasture in Shenango Township, Mercer County. Large pieces of skin were missing from both back legs, and a bone in one hind leg was broken.

"We think he was hit by a vehicle or roped and dragged," said Renee Dorogy, humane agent for the Humane Society of Mercer County. "There are tire tracks in the pasture, we think from an ATV."

Ms. Dorogy held a press conference today to announce that $500 has been donated as a reward for information about the incident.

Four other horses in the pasture were not injured, though they have some cuts and scratches. Their owner, Tory Morgan of Sharon, believes they were spooked and ran away from whoever brought a vehicle into the pasture.

"But Kahlua was blind," Ms. Dorogy said. "He wouldn't have seen what was coming. And he was very sweet. He always went up to people."

Kahlua is a breed known as POA -- Pony of the Americas. The breed was started in 1954, when a Shetland pony stallion was bred to an Arab/Appaloosa mare. Kahlua was 10 years old and Ms. Dorogy described his color as "pale champagne, almost white."

The number to call with information is 724-981-5445.