A former teacher has been found not guilty of animal cruelty after video footage showed her kicking and slapping a horse.
Sarah Moulds, 39, had been accused of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal – a grey pony she owned called Bruce Almighty.
The 39-year-old, who said she lost her job as a teacher following the incident, claimed her actions were proportionate and necessary in the circumstances.
Giving evidence at Lincoln Crown Court on Wednesday, she said intended to “briefly shock” the animal, but denied losing her temper.
She said: “In that moment [Bruce] has done something incredibly dangerous and, in that exact moment, I decided that the right thing to do was discipline him quickly.
“In reality, in that moment, it was four seconds.
“My intention was then, and always was, to discipline Bruce in the moment so that he does not do it again.
“There was minimal contact and it was so quick and so short.”
Moulds ‘chastised’ a grey pony named Bruce
Moulds told the jury she owns four horses, has ridden them since the age of four and had owned child’s pony Bruce for two-and-a-half years at the time of the incident on 6 November 2021.
Bruce, 11 years old at the time, was being ridden by a child in the Cottesmore Hunt, one of Britain’s oldest foxhound packs, in the vicinity of The Drift, Gunby.
As the horses were being untacked, Bruce was being held by the child before he unexpectedly “took off” and moved about 25 metres down the road.
Moulds instructed the child to let go of Bruce’s lead rope as she believed there were “a number of horrific things” that could have happened had the child attempted to hold on.
Bruce eventually stopped to graze on a grass verge and was seen on camera returning to his owners before being chastised by Moulds and being led into a horse box, the court heard.
Sarah Moulds has been cleared of an animal cruelty offence
Pony still lives with Moulds
The pony is still owned by Moulds, lives on her property in Somerby, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and has a “wonderfully idyllic” life, she said.
Moulds also said that she, her family and Bruce, had not returned to trail hunting due to death threats made to herself and her children.
She said: “I certainly will never strike a horse, discipline a horse, in that manner because my life has been torn to pieces as a result of that four-second decision.”
She said she had to go “into hiding” due to the reaction to the video, but took Bruce to be examined on 16 November 2021.
Footage of the incident – which was shared on social media by Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs – was played to the jury on Wednesday.