Owner banned after taking emaciated ex-racer to events

A horse owner who rode an obviously emaciated Thoroughbred in equestrian events has been disqualified from keeping horses for 10 years.

Charlotte McPherson, 21, from Park Lane, Kidderminster, appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court today (Tuesday 6 December) for sentencing.

She was charged with two offences – causing unnecessary suffering to the horse by failing to investigate and treat the cause of his poor body condition, and failing to take steps to ensure that the needs of the animal were met, by failing to protect him from pain, suffering, injury and disease by riding him when he was not in a fit state to be ridden.

McPherson was also given a 12-month community order, and has been ordered to do 160 hours of unpaid work. She has to pay £300 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

She pleaded guilty to the offences at an earlier hearing in August this year.

The RSPCA were made aware of the case when images were posted of 10-year-old ex-racehorse Hoare Abbey (known in the stable as Thor) after images of him were posted on social media.

“Thor looked incredibly thin and you could see pretty much every bone in his body,” said RSPCA inspector Suzi Smith. “It was obvious to anyone who saw him that he was not well. A vet examined Thor and gave him a body condition of zero out of five – he was that thin.

“While in this body condition, McPherson rode him twice a week, including at a fun ride in Bissell Wood, Blakedown, in March this year, where his condition was noticed by people at the event. Not only was he thin, but he had a sore on his spine which was directly underneath the saddle. Thor would have been in a lot of pain while he was being ridden.”

The horse’s weight loss was due to inadequate condition and a high worm egg count, as he had not been wormed properly.

“It was a slow progress to get him on the road to recovery as he would not have survived a wormer straightaway due to the condition he was in, but within five months he had put on weight and been properly wormed, where he soon showed that he had a zero worm egg count,” said Inspector Smith.

“Thor has done amazingly well and he has now been rehomed. He is loving his new life and when he trots across a field, you would find it hard to believe what he was like earlier this year.”

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