Primary teacher filmed kicking and hitting horse found innocent

[SushiSuave]

I never start threads about things in the news but this has shocked me. How on earth has this woman been found innocent when she was filmed kicking and hitting the horse?! I don't believe she caused lasting injury but surely being found innocent is condoning treating animals in this way?

Paid off?!? They are anonymous. How on earth do you even do that in THREE days?

This is a pure conspiracy theory.

No they aren't. They are telling you that this did meet the level of harm the law requires to be considered cruelty. The jury don't just get to decide based on wha they like or dislike, they decide based on what the law says is unacceptable. You can say that the law should be changed but don't blame the jury just because you disagree with the verdict.

What surprised me the most about this is that the RSPCA did not even say how disappointed they are in the outcome.

Weird.

It was a jury of 11 men and 1 woman

Erm - there's a video online of her kicking the horse and slapping it around the face. What evidence do you think there could possibly be to mitigate this cruelty? Apparently the jury thought it was okay because she was 'disciplining' the horse. Unbelievable.

No sympathy the bitch deserves everything she's got.

Horsey person here. There are times when phyiscal punishment can be necessary to discpline a horse. They are animals which are far bigger and stronger than we are and occasionally some sort of physical reminder is the best way to prevent someting from happening.

However, hitting a horse in the head is unacceptable. In fact if you do hit a horse on the head, they will become "head shy". This means they will flinch every time someone moves a hand near their head because they are expecting and fear being hit again. If I saw anyone hitting a horse on the head, I would have words.

In this particular incident she has done the worst thing possible,. The pony has been running away but has allowed her to catch it. She rewards this by hitting it. If you do that often you will quickly find you cannot catch that pony in a field or any other place because it associates being caught with a beating.

In 40 years I have seen far worse but that does not excuse this. She should be setting a better example to the cihldren present.

Agreed. The stables, where dd rides treat their horses well. I am appalled by some of the behaviour in the name of ‘training’.

For those asking, a horse has a lot of tiny muscles just under the skin. Studies carried out show horses feel as much pain when being hit as a human would feel. Try whacking yourself with a whip (crop) and see how much that hurts. Any whipping should be a gentle tap, not a smack.

Then only thing worse than her getting off with animal abuse was the tear-fest presser she did after

All about how she was the victim

Nasty woman. I'm glad she has suffered

I am so glad this woman's life has suffered. She looks like a vile human being in the photos and video.

I am absolutely at a loss as to how she was found, not guilty. It surely must be some sort of technicality

@Aaron95 thank you for explaining that so clearly, it makes complete sense. It is such an upsetting video to watch and you also make a brilliant point about the example she is setting to the young riders who were present.

This is how many people used to 'discipline' their wives and children. It was apparently necessary for the wayward and hurt the perpetrator more than it hurt whoever was on the receiving end of this character forming practice. How effective was it? Ask the survivors, there are plenty on MN.

Having got away with it, this woman is all over the media being affronted that she was taken to task. She obviously thinks she was entirely justified in her actions...entitled as well as cruel.

If what she did to that horse doesn't meet the criteria for cruelty then the law needs changing. If this had been a working class woman filmed kicking and slapping an animal in the street would she have been found not guilty?

To those posting on here that hunting is no longer about the kill might want to have a look at the videos and reports on this facebook page. Terriers trained to attack foxes, hounds out of control, animals killed, observers robbed of cameras and beaten so badly they need hospital attention. It's a sport that attracts cruel thugs and this woman is one of them.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT - https://www.facebook.com/mendiphuntsabs/?locale=en_GB

Horse person and no not acceptable unless you're in a field defending yourself from a horse that's attacking you (unlikely)

The most I ever do is if horse gets a bit bargy (trying to walk over me/walk out the stable) is a flat hand on the chest so a shove but more gentle I guess and a BACK up verbally
She happily lets me whack a fly if one lands on her and wave a whip around her head to knock flies off
I don't like rude horses but you don't need to be like she was at all. Verbal and body language works fine and ground work

Same with spurs - I ride with them but they're for refining aids, not digging in

I know about horses, and used to work with disobedient, stroppy young stock. I've only just started reading the thread, and I have also only just watched the clip available on the BBC website.

No, you don't smack a horse about the face or kick it like that. A horse's muzzle is one of the most sensitive parts of its body. I'm disgusted.

The video is clearly very upsetting to watch. I would like to understand more about what was covered in the trial.

I hunt (trail hunting oniy) and I am not a thug and I don't condone any violence against animals.
How about the sabs who purposely endanger the lives of horses and riders?
Do not tar us all with the same brush as that woman.

If what she did to that horse doesn't meet the criteria for cruelty then the law needs changing. This may need to be considered, yes.

Right o. Calm down. That's a bit harsh.

I was also surprised she was found not guilty. She tried to justify her actions by saying she wanted to shock the pony after it ran off. From the video though it looked like she completely lost her temper and was lashing out at it. Besides, hurting and scaring an animal after any deemed bad behaviour is not going to prevent it from doing the same thing again.

It's no more acceptable to kick a horse than a dog. If it's not a crime, it should be. I worry for children entrusted to her care.

To be honest, even from trainers who whip horses in a harsh manner, I have never seen anyone slap and punch a horse across the face or kick a horse in the chest. That's just absolutely disgusting behaviour and I feel like she managed to bamboozle lay members of a jury who have no idea about horses that this is somehow normal. It definitely is NOT normal!!!!

The very fact that there were death threats should have made the Jury and the Judge understand that hitting an animal is considered by society as being completely unacceptable and that many members of the public were upset and or angry at her behaviour.

While I'm shocked she's been found not guilty from watching that video, I don't think death threats do actually reflect what society finds unacceptable and I don't think the judge or jury should be taking that into account as part of the justice system, female politicians for example have spoken about death threats they get, a young woman who speaks against FGM a gets them a lot, that's not reflective of society thinking those actions are unacceptable and anyone threatening to kill her children are abusive bullies themselves.

I also don't agree that members of the jury should have to explain themselves to the public either.

WTF?! You have got to be joking! How can you possibly defend her attacking an animal? She wasn’t defending herself. It wasn’t a dog that was biting her. I really don’t understand your point at all.

I don't agree. A person who lashes out in temper at any person or animal in a weaker position is not someone to be trusted. Horrible woman.