Woman denies cruelty to horses left starving, neglected and injured

Valerie Pritchard, 65, allegedly left the animals without food, water and veterinary treatment at the farm she ran with her partner Leslie Pritchard, 55, in Aberdeenshire.

Yesterday an animal charity worker claimed he discovered the corpse of a dead horse in a field on her land and that two more had to be put down.

World Horse Welfare field officer Douglas Howie told Banff Sheriff Court that he found many of the horses to be underweight, infested with lice and with badly maintained feet.

He said he was called out to Mains of Green Farm, between Cuminestown and New Deer, after a report from a concerned member of the public.

Describing the scene, he said: "The horses in the marsh were knee-deep in mud. When I went into the field with Mr Pritchard, he told me there was a dead foal in the field that he hadn't had time to remove.

"I think it had probably lain there for about two days. When I saw the dead foal, I noticed there was a yearling down and was unable to get up.

"It had quite a lot of marks on its body and didn't have the use of its back legs which would indicate a spinal injury."

Mr Howie said he offered to call a vet for the animal and foot the bill but the horse had to be put down when the vet arrived.

The witness described the corpse he found in the field as "stiff" and said birds had pecked out the animal's eyes. Veterinary surgeon Lawrence Brain told the court he had to shoot a colt when he arrived at the farm, describing the animal as "extremely ill".

Eileen Gillen, manager at World Horse Welfare, said she went to the farm to take the animals away after Pritchard agreed to sign them over to the charity.

She said: "I noticed horses right up to their chests trying to get out of the mud.

"This was a group of animals that were not being managed."

She said one of the animals almost died after arriving at the centre because he was so malnourished.

She said the animals front teeth were almost entirely ground down where it had been trying to eat stones or bark from trees.

Pritchard, 65, is accused of causing suffering to horses at the farm which she ran with her partner. She denies the allegations.

The case was continued until next year