A woman who left a starving horse to suffer has been banned from keeping horses for ten years.

Katrianna Jade Rich (date of birth: 04/05/1994), of Lower Peasedown, Peasdown St John, Somerset, appeared before Bath Magistrates Court on Wednesday 9 August.

She was sentenced following an investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA after pleading guilty to animal welfare offences at an earlier hearing.

The court heard how Rich, who ran a small holding with a number of horses, sheep and goats, was visited by RSPCA Inspector Daniel Hatfield and a field officer from World Horse Welfare on February 9, 2023 after welfare concerns were raised.

While there, they discovered Murphy, who despite being covered with three rugs, was in visibly poor condition.

Inspector Hatfield, who investigated for the animal welfare charity, said: "I could still easily see his hip bones sticking through the rugs, appearing in really poor body condition and once the rugs were removed you could see just how poor bodily condition he was in – you could see his ribs, hips and spine easily and he stood there with his head stooped down looking extremely depressed and you could see the dips in the side of his head."

A vet was called to examine Murphy, who was found to be emaciated with a body condition score of just 0.5 out of 5. He also had poor feet with overgrown hooves which were impacted with debris, including embedded stones, and poor dental health, including a fractured tooth.

He was certified as suffering by the vet and was taken into possession by police and passed into the care of the RSPCA.

Further tests found he had a high worm burden but showed nothing abnormal to account for the poor body condition, aside from prolonged starvation.

Murphy gained weight once in the care of the RSPCA by simply being given a normal diet.

Alongside the disqualification, which she can not appeal for ten years, Rich was also ordered to carry out a nine week curfew and pay £400 costs.

Full details of offences:

1. That on a day or dates between the 8 November 2022 and 10 February 2023 at smallholding at Peasedown, you did cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a chestnut gelding called Murphy by failing to do an act namely to investigate and address the causes of his poor bodily condition and weight loss and that you knew or ought reasonably to have known that that failure would have the effect of causing unnecessary suffering or be likely to do so. Contrary to section 4 subsection 1 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006

2. That on and before the 9 February 2023 at smallholding at Peasedown, you did fail to take such steps as were reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure the needs of an animal for which you were responsible, namely a chestnut gelding called Murphy, were met to the extent required by good practice in that you failed to meet his needs in one or a combination of the following ways:

a. Need for adequate dental care

b. Need for adequate hoof care and maintenance

Contrary to section 9 subsection 1 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006