A woman left her neglected pony for so long that it was struggling to walk due to having overgrown hooves and had a high worm count due to eating food contaminated with faeces.
Sugar the pony was found tethered on scrubland behind a leisure centre in January 2021 and had clearly not been fed or cared for in some time.
Tammy Smith, 34, pleaded not guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animal in an earlier hearing in May 2021, Hull Live reports.
During a hearing at Hull Magistrates' Court on February 14 Smith, of Bankside in Hull, was found guilty of not taking steps to ensure the welfare and wellbeing of her animal.
RSPCA prosecutor Mr Phillip Brown told the court that concerns had been raised by members of the public about a grey pony with overgrown hooves seen tied up on empty land behind Ennerdale Leisure Centre.
An RSPCA officer attended the horse on January 28, 2021, and found that it was tethered to a metal steak with no access to hay or water.
A nearby water bucket had been knocked over and was empty and it was clear that the animal had been eating everything that it could within reach of its tether.
The officer reported that the horse had very overgrown hooves, both a result of lack of treatment and the tethering, and was "struggling to walk" when they visited.
A warning notice was left at the enclosure to tell the owner of the horse to get in touch with the RSPCA immediately, the animal was judged to be so at risk that a vet signed a possession order at the scene.
Further inspection of Sugar found that the pony had an extremely high worm count, a result of eating food contaminated with its own faeces which means it was constantly ingesting more worm eggs.
The inspecting vet said that had this been left unchecked it "could have led to serious gastric problems and even death".
An investigation of the circumstances also found that the land Sugar was kept on was not authorised for use as pasture and was in fact disused council land not owned by Smith.
Defending solicitor Mr Coggin told the court that Smith had previously been a good horse owner but had struggled after the loss of two close family members caused her depression and anxiety to take hold.
A change in status of the vet she regularly used led to Smith falling out of her care routine for Sugar and to the animal going for long periods without necessary attention.
Smith was described as mentally fragile having been in and out of the care of local mental health services since the age of 18 and having recently spent three months receiving targeted help at a centre.
For the charge of not taking steps as were reasonable to ensure the welfare of an animal, Smith was sentenced to a 12 month community order with 16 rehabilitation activity days.
She was ordered to pay costs and fines totalling £365 and was banned from owning horses, donkeys or any other equine animal for a period of five years.
Sugar the pony was taken into the possession of the RSPCA to be rehomed.
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