A STOURPORT man has been banned from keeping horses for 10 years after admitting causing a pony to suffer.

Isaac Hall, 35, of Watery Lane, was also ordered to do 120 hours of community service and to pay costs of £1,000 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering by failing to adequately explore and address his pony’s weight loss.

Kidderminster Magistrates heard that Dora, a 12 hands-high skewbald yearling, was found by a World Horse Welfare officer in February last year on common land near to the defendant’s address.

The officer contacted the RSPCA and inspector Mark Lewis visited with a vet and the police as no-one nearby was claiming ownership of the horse.

When the defendant arrived he admitted he was Dora’s owner and re-released the pony, leaving the officers to catch it again so it could be examined. Dora was underweight and a vet said that it would be likely to suffer if its circumstances didn’t change.

Mr Lewis said: “We try to work with owners where possible to improve the condition of their animals. We would have preferred to have done this had the defendant been willing to work with us at the outset. As he wasn’t we had to arrange for Dora to be removed for her own safety.”

Dora was transferred into the care of World Horse Welfare.