Even the horse which so amazed the natives at first contact was received into Maya religion. Cortés' horse, left behind disabled by a splinter in its hoof, was presented with bouquets of flowers, a common form of religious offering, and was given birds (probably turkeys) and meat either as food or in sacrifice. A stone statue of the horse was set up in one of the temples and became one of the principal gods under the name Tzimin Chac, "Tapir Lightning" (the Maya named the horse "tapir," the animal closest to it in appearance; "lightning," because the Maya at first thought the horse was discharging lightning when the man on its back fired his gun). The thigh bone of the original horse seems to have been preserved in another temple.