Eston Equitation Centre

Around 5pm Fri 26th April we saw three teenage boys in our field. They were riding round on two of our ponies. One of them was riding a pony who is recovering from lameness and can only do limited exercise. The other two boys were simultaneously riding a very elderly pony - who is retired and not to be ridden for medical reasons.

They had string round the ponies heads and had put string in their mouths. This has damaged the elderly pony's face.

The boys were too heavy for the ponies to carry and they were trying to force them to move by hitting them hard with large sticks. The boys ran away and jumped the fence up on to the hills when they saw us coming after them. We lost sight of them on the hills. We later saw them come down from the hills on motorbikes.

On Sun 5th May around 7.45 am we found one of our small ponies choking. He had string tied round his throat which was pulled so tight that he collapsed. We had to cut the string so that he could breathe, had we been any later he would have been dead. His mouth is cut and bleeding. He is exhausted and traumatised.

Large sections of outer fencing were ripped down - so it looks like they were trying to get the ponies out of the field. This happened again around 5.30pm where a gang of girls, plus the boys from earlier, were in the field trying to get string round the ponies necks and get on them. Some ran onto the hills and on to quads and some ran onto the A174.

We are working with our vet to care for the ponies involved.

The Police have attended multiple times and are fully aware of the situation.

We are asking those who are out on the hills to keep an eye out and report anything to ourselves and the Police.

We appreciate all our messages of support. Alongside vet aftercare and fence repair, we are aiming to increase security and safety for our ponies and horses. Any donations are gratefully received. Thankyou from all at Eston Equitation x