Ban for man who neglected ponies — and was seen beating one
A man who neglected three ponies in Wales has been banned from keeping animals for five years.
Arron Lee Dixon, 27, of Aberfan Fawr, was found guilty of five Animal Welfare Act offences at Merthyr Magistrates’ Court on 11 December.
Each of the offences related to one or more of the three ponies — a grey and two skewbalds.
He was handed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to undertake 20 rehabilitation days. Dixon was also banned from keeping animals for five years.
Dixon’s signing over of the horses and complying with the investigation were taken into account.
Fortunately, all three ponies have undergone an “amazing transformation” in RSPCA care and are now available for rehoming.
The charity had given the man advice on the care of his horses in February after the ponies had little to no natural grazing at a Bryngoleu site in the Merthyr Tydfil village.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
But when they returned the following month — on 21 March — to check the welfare of the ponies, they were all found to be underweight with no supplementary feed available. One pony had also escaped the field and found grazing elsewhere.
While the RSPCA waited for the police and a vet to arrive, Dixon returned to the land and was witnessed by the officer beating one of the horses.
One skewbald pony was so underweight and had such a poor body condition that veterinary opinion was that he had suffered unnecessarily.
Dixon was found guilty of inappropriate handling and ill-treatment of the pony he beat on 21 March.
He was also found guilty of offences related to failing to address the low weight and poor body condition of two ponies, as well as a failure to provide a suitable diet and suitable environment to all three of the ponies.
Continues below…
‘We saved each other’: teenager says her pony helped her beat brain tumour
The 14-year-old girl was diagnosed with the condition at the age of six
‘Survivor’ award for pony found with horrific third-degree burns who went on to be a champion
‘What this plucky pony has gone through is unbelievable, but her strength and ability to bounce back and beat the
Subscribe to Horse & Hound magazine today – and enjoy unlimited website access all year round
In addition to the animal ban and suspended prison sentence, Dixon was also given a curfew between 6pm and 6am for a period of 10 weeks, and told to pay £1,000 costs and a £115 victim surcharge.
“These ponies were grazed illegally on inappropriate land without supplementary feed, and therefore were not having their needs met — and one was so underweight, vets found him to be suffering,” said the RSPCA’s Gemma Cooper.
“We tried to work with Dixon previously but returned to the site to find improvements had not been made. One pony had even escaped the field, and subsequently found grazing elsewhere.
“Thankfully, we were able to rescue these three ponies and offer them a second chance of happiness. All three ponies have made an amazing transformation in RSPCA care and are now available for rehoming.”
Would you like to read Horse & Hound’s independent journalism without any adverts? Join Horse & Hound Plus today and you can read all articles on HorseandHound.co.uk completely ad-free
Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now
Rachael joined Horse & Hound in 2014, initially as a digital sub editor then became part of the news team as a writer in 2015. The philosophy graduate studied journalism at the Press Association before working as a local reporter at the Brentwood Gazette. Rachael is now a mum of two and still loves all things equestrian, including hacking, dressage and jumping with her cob Bert. Rachael left the H&H staff to go freelance in June 2019, but still contributes to our magazine and website, as well as our sister magazine Country Life, among others.