SUFFOLK – Two juveniles face animal cruelty charges after setting off fireworks that spooked a horse, police said.

12-year-old Lauren Norman was walking her neighbor's horse, "Bubba," past the shed of a home on Corinth Chapel Road when fireworks went off.

"It scared me so bad tears came to my eyes," she said.

A witness told police he saw the two suspects set off the fireworks as she went by. The horse broke free and went running off through six electrical wires, tearing them. He suffered a cut on his leg, and Lauren got a rope burn on the palm of her hand.

Video: Fireworks spook horse, juveniles charged

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"It scared him so bad he didn't even look like the same horse anymore," she said. "I heard the fireworks. I turned to that direction and I saw the smoke go up in the air."

"Had the horse run out to the road, whoever would have been driving by would have been in extreme danger," said Lauren's father, Ray. "Possibly killed."

Bubba is healing, but Lauren says it will take a while for him to get over the trauma. She has to work extra hard to calm his fears.

"Coming back here, he's still very scared when he comes back here," she said. "He shakes the whole time he's here. It freaks him out. It will take him a while to heal emotionally from this."

Police say the two teens who they believe set off the fireworks have been charged with animal cruelty.

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