Ten year ban for owner who illegally grazed horses who suffered toxic burns

A man has been banned from keeping equines for 10 years after our charity discovered his eight horses with ‘horrific’ burns on their faces, muzzles and bodies.

Left to fly graze on public land contaminated by poisonous plants, the horses’ lesions are believed to have been caused by a combination of direct UV sunlight and exposure to St John’s Wort.

We were first alerted to the animals by a member of the public and contacted the RSPCA to help us remove the animals as a matter of urgency as they were clearly suffering.

The horses were on a patch of council-owned conservation land in Farlington, Portsmouth, without permission, that was heavily contaminated with dangerous weeds, with no evidence of additional hay or feed and no shelter.

Three of the ponies had extensive facial lesions which were thick, raised, brown and crusting. They covered the muzzle, including the nostrils, lips and chin, and extended along both sides of the face encircling both eyes. There were also raised, crusting, lesions over their bodies that were sloughing and the horses had a depressed and dull demeanour.

Veterinary tests revealed all eight ponies were not in good health with evidence of inflammation and a chronic infection.

In the report the vet went on to explain how the lesions occur: “Certain weeds, like St John’s Wort, contain photodynamic agents that when the horse has contact or ingests the weed there is an exacerbated reaction to sunlight causing burns to the skin. This would be termed a primary photosensitisation, other weeds, such as Ragwort can cause damage to organs. The resulting damage prevents the filtering of photosensitive waste products, so they are retained in other areas of the body, such as the skin, which cause, what is known as, a secondary photosensitisation.”

Horses suffering from photosensitisation should be removed from direct sunlight and prevented from having further contact with the photodynamic agent, protected from the sun with shelter and burn injuries treated.

Burns on a horse’s muzzle would be particularly painful as it is a naturally sensitive area.

Alongside the 10-year ban on keeping horses, the man was ordered to pay £750 costs, a victim surcharge, and carry out 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days when he was sentenced at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court in August.