Hawke’s Bay: SPCA finds miniature horses left in overgrown paddock without enough water for months

The miniature horses were left in a paddock without adequate water, and some of them were lame. Photo / SPCA

Two Hawke’s Bay women have been banned from owning horses for five years after leaving miniature horses in an overgrown paddock without enough water for months.

Leeanne Faulkner and Dale Oliver appeared in the Hastings District Court on charges of failing to ensure the needs of the horses were met.

The SPCA, the prosecuting agency, said one of its inspectors went to a Hawke’s Bay property in January 2023 after getting a call from a concerned member of the public.

The inspector found seven miniature horses grazing in a paddock with overgrown grass, tall thistles and shrubs, and with no water provided.

The inspector gave water to the horses which they drank rapidly and to excess.

The inspector reported four of the seven horses had severely overgrown hooves curled upwards at the toes.

The horses were reluctant to move and could not walk normally.

The Inspector removed the four horses for veterinary examinations.

All were dehydrated and lame from chronic laminitis - a disorder where there is damage to the soft tissues of the hoof.

Some of their hooves were split.

The vet concluded that the horses suffered from severe and chronic neglect.

“The state of these horses brings tears to the eyes,” SPCA chief executive Todd Westwood said in a statement issued outside the court.

“The pain will have been constant and inescapable.”

Over the following five months, 12 re-inspections at the property revealed the three remaining horses still did not have enough water.

At the end of May 2023, they were removed from the property.

“These horses were left without adequate water for months at a time,” Judge Christopher Harding said in the court on Wednesday.

Faulkner was sentenced to 200 hours of community work and Oliver to 100 hours.

Both were disqualified from owning equids - horses, asses and donkeys - for a period of five years.

The women were ordered to pay a total of $4800 for veterinary and court costs.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.