Farrier who carried out ‘barbaric and cruel’ hammer attack on horse sentenced in Cheltenham
A specialist farrier who carried out a ‘barbaric and cruel’ assault on a horse he was meant to be helping has been sentenced for animal cruelty.
Scott Manson was caught on CCTV hitting the horse with a hammer 9 times in excess of a interval of 6 and a 50 percent minutes.
The 34-yr-aged has been banned from working with animals and was given a suspended prison sentenced at Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court docket on Monday (20 March).
Manson, of Whitecross Cottages, Bridstow, Ross on Wye, pleaded responsible to animal cruelty at an before hearing.
On 1 April 2022, the farrier was used to re-shoe a customer’s horses but missing his mood and repeatedly struck a single of the animal’s so challenging that his hammer broke.
The sufferer of the attack was also tethered and unable to escape the blows, which Manson aimed at its entrance legs.
Unaware he experienced been caught on CCTV, Manson educated the proprietor that their horse had broken his hammer, but stunned that their ordinarily docile horse had acted out, the owner made a decision to assessment movie caught by their digital camera in the yard.
On checking the horse over for accidents, they observed its suitable front leg was larger than common and there have been numerous marks on both of those entrance legs and close to the shin spot. The fur had also been taken off and the shin uncovered.
Equine vet: Attack was ‘unprovoked, unacceptable and entirely unnecessary’
Solicitor Lindi Meyer, who represented the RSPCA in court, explained what the specialist equine vet concluded in their report soon after viewing the footage.
She claimed: “He regularly conquer the horse all-around the forelimbs of the legs where there is incredibly small in the way of delicate tissue masking and as this sort of the blows were just about instantly to the bone. This would have been very painful for the horse and the farrier is very lucky not to haven triggered fractures of any of the limbs.
“The horse was hit 9 situations viciously in a 6 and a 50 % minute video assault which still left it with comfortable tissue swellings and cuts to the limbs. The attack was unprovoked, unacceptable and absolutely unwanted and has brought on this horse to experience from each physical and psychological hurt.
“The abuse falls far down below what is envisioned of a human working with horses allow alone a experienced farrier who has been entrusted by the proprietors to acquire care of the horse.
“At no position was the farrier hoping to educate the horse to stand nonetheless, decide on its feet up or any other action. The steps have been merely to conquer the horse out of anger, a small temper, or stress.
“Whatsoever the rationale, the steps were so barbaric and cruel that the farrier broke the head off a hammer onto the delicate parts of the front limbs of the horse”.
Following the attack, the horse was hesitant to let his owner to touch his legs and experienced to be sedated 2 times by the vet when the new farrier came. He was also concerned to go again into his stable and was wary of people, but has considering the fact that recovered.
Even though pleading responsible, Manson mentioned he was remorseful, and that he was stressed as he was viewing his dying mother in Scotland twice a week at the time.
Manson has been given a 12 week suspended prison sentence, a ten 12 months animal ban, a 150 hrs of unpaid operate and 20 Rehabilitation Action Specifications (RAR) days. He need to also pay out £400 costs and a £128 sufferer surcharge.