(AP) — An elderly horse that drew worldwide attention for his owner’s refusal to comply with a local ordinance barring livestock inside city limits has died.

Peter Rabbit, a Morgan-quarter horse crossbreed, died in mid-January at the age of 38 — or about 120 in horse years.

Veterinarian Kelly Anderson took Peter Rabbit to live on his property just south of Hickman in 2009 following the horse’s eviction from town. Anderson says this year’s harsh winter may have contributed to the horse’s death.

The horse became a celebrity after its owner, 82-year-old Harley Scott, fought Hickman City Hall for two years in an effort to allow Peter Rabbit to live out his life in the pasture where he was born in 1976.