I’m really cross that the teacher shown punching her horse …..

I couldn’t agree more Smileless. No animal should be mistreated in any way. Taking your temper out on an animal is unforgivable.

And when she's angry or frustrated does she stop at animals?

Disgusting, she should be banned from keeping, or working with, horses ever again.

Such a shame that the horse cannot appeal! It was really disgusting behaviour on the teachers part.....we can only hope that the horse remembers her and throws her off at some point in the future, preferable in a pile of manure....she wouldn't come out of that smelling of roses!
What a vile woman, wouldn't want her teaching any of my GC!

Thanks germansheherds mum. I hoped you’d contribute. Your assessment sounds correct and I agree, her behaviour was abhorrent. As others have said, this is unlikely to have been an isolated incident
People who act so aggressively to a dog/pony in those circs -it’s their default action

To those using the excuse (including the perpetrator) that she was being judged on a snippet of what happened and and that it was taken out of context - can anyone please explain what circumstances could have possibly preceded her hitting and kicking her horse to justify it? It beggars belief that she tried to imply that if the public had seen the whole footage, then they would have seen that the horse deserved it!!! Her behaviour was utterly disgusting and there's absolutely no excuse for animal cruelty, which it most certainly was.

There can be no excuse, whatever happened before. The jury will have seen and heard far more than we have but I have offered above what I believe is a plausible reason for their not having convicted her. Their thoughts were probably very much like ours, but if the prosecution hadn’t proved beyond reasonable doubt that she had caused unnecessary suffering they would have to acquit her despite her deplorable behaviour.

Chardy

Dickens I don't think parents in days of yore thought punching a child hard in the face or kicking them was teaching them a lesson.

I'm sure they didn't.

But I think you missed the point I was making... or I failed to make it clear.

I don’t know how she got away with it, people like her should be banned from having animals, really upset to hear this.

My post explains, I hope, how she ‘got away with it’. The crime is causing unnecessary suffering, not punching, kicking or being angry. I would have liked to have seen her found guilty and banned from keeping animals, but for there to have been any possibility of that the prosecution would have had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that she caused unnecessary suffering and I have no doubt that the defence produced an expert witness to say with sufficient authority that she had not. We all hate to see animals mistreated but as I have already said, had she done what she did to a much smaller animal the standard of proof may well have been met.

So every film you all see where someone appears to be hit or kicked hard you evidently believe that you are seeing exactly what happened do you? If you don't understand that film really doesn't give you an accurate or clear picture of the actual events then you need to do a bit of research. You cannot tell from the video how much force was involved or what contact there was. Interestingly the RSPCA advertised asking anyone who witnessed what happened to contact them. Obviously there were no witnesses who wanted to give evidence against Sarah Mould.
This was a prosecution which wasted money the RSPCA could have put to much better use. It was not only a trial triggered by social media it continues to be one. It's plainly unjust.

Are you addressing me? Few video clips are likely to show the whole story but do credit the prosecution with putting forward all available evidence.

I would be interested to know how many vets in the country thought the animal suffered unneccesarily, and how many didnt.

Thanks Germanshephersmum for the explanation and we obviously both agree that there is no excuse for kicking and slapping (no matter how lightly it was administered) a wayward animal. None.

Germanshepherdsmum

Are you addressing me? Few video clips are likely to show the whole story but do credit the prosecution with putting forward all available evidence.

Of course but there were many people standing around when the incident happened. The fact that no one came forward to give evidence for the prosecution indicates that none of them regarded it as cruelty. So either they are all unfeeling people who support cruelty, or there really wasn't any.
The remark about the video was to all who seem to think it is a reliable source of information. It Isn't.

So either they are all unfeeling people who support cruelty, or there really wasn't any

Well, that's an interesting thought. Perhaps most of the people there thought that kicking and punching horses is an acceptable way to behave.

Disgusting individual. She should have been given a prison sentence for animal cruelty.

Or the people standing around were her friends and saw nothing unusual in her behaviour because it is normal behaviour for her maybe?

Kate1949

Or the people standing around were her friends and saw nothing unusual in her behaviour because it is normal behaviour for her maybe?

Exactly. And I'll ask again - does anyone who has actually seen that video think that is an acceptable way to behave towards any animal? As I said before, I've been around horses all my life and I would never have slapped or kicked any one of them.

Glorianny, the point is not what she did, which is inexcusable, but whether she caused unnecessary suffering to the horse. Despite what we all think about what she did, it is clear that the prosecution could not prove, beyond all reasonable doubt, that her actions caused unnecessary suffering. If we were members of the jury and had heard all the evidence including the testimony of expert witnesses, we would probably, and with regret, have reached the conclusion they did.

I can't imagine any circumstances where you would need to kick, slap or punch any animal. She didn't deny that she did it. She was just trying to discipline him apparently. Please correct me if I am wrong, but isn't she part of a fox hunting group?

The video clearly shows that woman kicking and slapping the horse. Though we can't tell from the footage how forceful were the slaps and the kick, we can clearly see her doing it. She admitted it anyway as her way of disciplining the animal. Shameful.

Callistemon21

^So either they are all unfeeling people who support cruelty, or there really wasn't any^

Well, that's an interesting thought. Perhaps most of the people there thought that kicking and punching horses is an acceptable way to behave.

Perhaps they did. Perhaps they thought it was an adequate way to control an animal. I don't know I wasn't there. But neither were any of the people on this thread who are being judge and jury based a short video clip. But a jury given all the evidence found her innocent of the charge.

The charge would have been causing unnecessary suffering Glorianny. The jury would have heard expert evidence as to whether unnecessary suffering was caused and simply had to decide whether causing unnecessary suffering had been proved beyond reasonable doubt. It is a matter of fact. Emotions have to be set aside. It’s nothing to do with whether that was or was not an acceptable way to behave or an adequate way to control an animal.

Well said, GSM. And Glorianny, based on the video alone, do you think that's an acceptable way to treat any animal? I'm not talking about the charge of causing unnecessary suffering - but do you think slapping and kicking a horse can ever be considered acceptable?