Twenty horses left to starve at farm

A WOMAN has been found guilty of neglecting more than 20 horses at a Scottish farm.

Valerie Pritchard, 65, left the horses without food and veterinary treatment at the farm she ran with her partner in Aberdeenshire.

Banff Sheriff Court heard the horses were removed from Pritchard’s care at the Mains of Green Farm, between Cuminestown and New Deer and signed over to the World Horse Welfare charity after a tip-off.

World Horse Welfare field officer Douglas Howie said he found a dead horse lying in a field on her land and that two more had to be put down.

He told the court he found the horses “knee-deep in mud” and said they were underweight, infested with lice and had badly maintained hooves.

Pritchard denied she had mistreated her animals and said they were properly cared for, claiming she was spied on and “harassed” by workers at World Horse Welfare.

She is expected to be sentenced on 1 November.