Horse Puncher sacked from teaching job

If somebody can behave like that in full public view - I always wonder what they do in private. It serves her right to lose her job.

Animal abuse is very emotive and even the most mild mannered would quite rightly be scandalized and sickened by the video of that horse being abused. It matters not one jot what happened just prior to the abuse, nothing that horse could have done would justify it being treated in that way. Unfortunately our lives can now be videoed in detail and put on social media in an instant and anyone with any sense has to be mindful that bad behaviour can (and in some cases) does get back to employers. This woman was very foolish to be so cruel to an animal in plain sight of hunt saboteurs/animal lovers. She won't be the first person to be sacked by being outed on a video and she won't be the last, just ask Matt Hancock (though not sacked, but had to resign).

So, is this thread about a woman wrongly hitting a horse. Or about hunting. And is the hatred for her exacerbated by the fact she was at a hunt? As with Doodledog I ‘m not condoning what she did. But there are horses being ill treated all over the country but the perpetrators are not losing their jobs over it. Has she ever shown aggression towards children in her work? I bet there are horses and ponies in fields right now that are cold and hungry. I don’t know the woman and I don’t know what caused her to behave the way she did. I don’t know if she always treated her horses badly or whether it was a one off and she was stressed in some way.

The biggest anomaly in this is that the woman was a member of a hunt. Hunting is by its very nature a cruel blood sport.

It's not an 'anomaly' at all. Hang around long enough in the horsebox park at a large horse event and you just might see similar behaviour (though you might just have to hang around at several events to catch it, despite another poster's conviction that horse people are frequently vile to their horses). The only reason it was caught on video was that the hunt sabs were there filming; a far more common occurrence than people hanging round horsebox parks, filming, at major events.

I stress this because people are now conflating following the hunt with having a blood lust and being more intrinsically cruel to animals than 'normal' people. Which is absolutely ridiculous.

Most people go hunting for the sake of (hopefully) a good gallop across country, and a few jumps, in places where they normally can't ride. And, whatever you might feel about the disconnect between being kind to their horses and cruel to the fox (that might be hunted, because not all hunts break the law ass a matter of course), the few people I know who hunt, or have hunted, adore their horses (and their inevitable dogs) and would not dream of treating them as did the woman under discussion.

I wonder how many hundreds of hours of filming hunt sabs have done over the years, throughout the UK, just to catch this particular brief snippet?

Sarah Moulds behaved abominably and deserved to lose her job and her position at the equestrian clubs she belonged to; if she can't control her temper with animals, how can she be trusted to control her temper with the children in her care in the classroom. However, her own children and family have done nothing wrong and yet they've had to leave the family home because of the threats made against their mother. Her husband's plumbing business has suffered too and that will have impacted the whole family. It was Sarah Moulds who behaved disgracefully but it's her whole family who have been punished.

And I've just remembered that the terrier men pushed over the woman who was taking photos of them and tried to snatch her camera, roughing her up in the process. DH phoned the police, who actually came, we had taken photos of these characters earlier, as it happens, and we identified them and agreed to attend court. So the hunt was prosecuted but denied all knowledge of the attackers' identity so they got away with it. However much you wave an Act of Parliament, enforcement may simply not happen or be wriggled out of.

I went, just once a few years ago, with some members of our local badger group to a hunt. The 'terrier men' as they're called, so jolly, we're photographed blocking badger sett entrances! I believe in case foxes went to ground in them, not that they were hunting them of course.
The behaviour on the day of the hunting crowd was jaw dropping. My totally laid back, tolerant of everyone DH was scandalised and angry, he's never forgotten it. Those who go and photograph and video such events risk being attacked themselves in order to show the kinds of things that happen.

Doodledog

I'm bowing out of this after this post as there are only so many times I can say it - I am not condoning her behaviour, and nor, as far as I can see, is anyone else. Nor is anyone casually accepting it. There is a law against it - [[ www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/defending/legislation_1.shtml The Animal Welfare Act]]. If the woman's behaviour is not covered by this act, or not deemed severe enough for a prosecution to be worthwhile, then maybe the law should be changed.

However, as long as people take it upon themselves to act as judge and jury on social media, and get people hounded out of their jobs, cause them untold misery in their own homes, reading what may be very threatening comments, get their children bullied at school and so on, there will be more suicides and breakdowns in mental health. That is the point that I am making - not that what she did was in any way acceptable.

I have said that I don't condone her actions several times, but keep getting told that I do, so I'm going to stop repeating myself.

Doodledog we have disagreed many times in the past but I am totally with you on this.
. Thank you.

I think it is just shocking to see "one of us humans" being wilfully cruel.
It's very uncomfortable to see how animal like we can be.

Do you remember the woman who put a cat in a bin?

She hasnt garnered support. Actually both myself and doodledog have talked endlessly about trial by social media.

sodapop

The woman has been punished and lost her job. That should be an end to it now.

Far worse happens but is not publicised.

As GG13 rightly says Foxhunting is illegal but it’s never really stopped. They drag hunt with runners laying a trail but if those hounds pick up the scent of a fox they will follow it. Cub hunting in late summer and Autumn is illegal but still very popular with the hunting enthusiasts. They train the young hounds with the cubs. All jolly good fun - not.

Hunting is on the way out now as more and more landowners are refusing to allow them to hunt over their property even with a human laid trail. The League do sterling work and have been lobbying the National Trust for years to ban hunting on their land.

However, this isn’t about hunting as such. I don’t agree with trial by social media but it’s happening all the time. I don’t know why this woman has garnered so much support on here. As I stated earlier people have lost their jobs for much less and if certain posters feel she’s been treated so unjustly. they should take it up with the body responsible for terminating her employment.

trisher

The biggest anomaly in this is that the woman was a member of a hunt. Hunting is by its very nature a cruel blood sport. So if we have people who indulge in it isn't it obvious that they may perhaps not treat animals with the respect others believe they deserve. Should we therefore ban all members of the hunting fraternity from being teachers or working with children because as many have said animal cruelty leads to child abuse? Or is it simply that some people have double standards for behaviour to animals and whilst it is OK to torture a fox, hitting a horse is beyond the pale because the British love horses.
Honestly it's not only unjust it's completely illogical.
I have already said I hate hunting. I hate all blood sports. I hate boxing. But I wouldn't consider any of those things a factor in deciding who should teach children.

trisher fox hunting is illegal, has been for several years.

It’s probably safe to assume they were drag hunting totally different.

I cant6keep up with the laws around hunting.
I do know that they have many loopholes, meaning that those who have bloodlust can still fill their boots.

Is there any evidence that this was an illegal fox hunt?

If not it is incorrect to link the woman’s behaviour to a now banned activity.

I abhor hunting, too.
I also don't expect the aggression shown while hunting to ever, ever be unleashed elsewhere other than on the hunt. (And there would be no hunting at all for "sport" if could ban it)

The biggest anomaly in this is that the woman was a member of a hunt. Hunting is by its very nature a cruel blood sport. So if we have people who indulge in it isn't it obvious that they may perhaps not treat animals with the respect others believe they deserve. Should we therefore ban all members of the hunting fraternity from being teachers or working with children because as many have said animal cruelty leads to child abuse? Or is it simply that some people have double standards for behaviour to animals and whilst it is OK to torture a fox, hitting a horse is beyond the pale because the British love horses.
Honestly it's not only unjust it's completely illogical.
I have already said I hate hunting. I hate all blood sports. I hate boxing. But I wouldn't consider any of those things a factor in deciding who should teach children.

Lavenderzen is quite rightly upset at the casual acceptance of an act of cruelty because it was exposed by a video on social media. The kind of thing that goes on under the heading of sport deserves to be aired for all to see.

What 'casual acceptance', Jillyjosie? Nearly everyone on this thread has condemned what the woman did.

2 lots of people.
All of the people.

It should be, but animal cruelty is not easily forgotten, because it's so abhorrent.
I think it's one of the very worst of crimes, and yet people people get pitifully poor punishment/rehab.

The woman has been punished and lost her job. That should be an end to it now.

The unfortunate horse wasn't out of control - it had turned into her and was standing still. The punch and slaps around the head were bad enough but it took some effort to land that kick - she really did lash out for such a minor 'infringement'

She also appeared to act so easily and casually. Has she explained her actions and offered any excuses?

Unfortunately for her she was caught on camera - the way of the world, and has to live with the consequences.

I think there was no alternative but to sack her, in the interests of the children, otherwise there would be an unwelcome focus on the school.

I'm bowing out of this after this post as there are only so many times I can say it - I am not condoning her behaviour, and nor, as far as I can see, is anyone else. Nor is anyone casually accepting it. There is a law against it - [[ www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/animals/defending/legislation_1.shtml The Animal Welfare Act]]. If the woman's behaviour is not covered by this act, or not deemed severe enough for a prosecution to be worthwhile, then maybe the law should be changed.

However, as long as people take it upon themselves to act as judge and jury on social media, and get people hounded out of their jobs, cause them untold misery in their own homes, reading what may be very threatening comments, get their children bullied at school and so on, there will be more suicides and breakdowns in mental health. That is the point that I am making - not that what she did was in any way acceptable.

I have said that I don't condone her actions several times, but keep getting told that I do, so I'm going to stop repeating myself.

Animal cruelty goes on on a daily basis , mostly unseen. Hardly any prosecutions.

It's ridiculous to side step addressing what this woman did by saying she should be punished legally when it's obvious that she never would or will be.
The only body that could prosecute her is the RSPCA and they are short of funds, burdened with cases of animal cruelty and have never been the same since the pro hunt organisation, the Countryside Alliance, invaded their AGM and virtually destroyed them.
Lavenderzen is quite rightly upset at the casual acceptance of an act of cruelty because it was exposed by a video on social media. The kind of thing that goes on under the heading of sport deserves to be aired for all to see.