Man convicted after four horses found starving and dehydrated
A man has been found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering after one horse died and three had to be rescued due to the terrible conditions they were kept in.
Alby Peter Smith, 50, of Washington Road, Emsworth, left three horses to starve and shut a fourth in a dark and unventilated stable in West Sussex late last year.
He was yesterday (Tuesday 21 September) convicted of two offences under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act — one for causing unnecessary suffering and one for failing to meet the need of an animal.
Mr Smith will be sentenced on 19 October.
During a three-day trial at Worthing Magistrates, the court heard how World Horse Welfare field officer Ted Barnes and RSPCA inspector Becky Carter visited a field in Cooks Lane, Southbourne on 9 December 2009.
There they found an emaciated grey filly standing over a grey colt that was so weakened through starvation and dehydration it had collapsed and was unable to rise. The colt was put to sleep on 10 December.
In another stable they found an emaciated bay filly with severe diarrhoea, caked in its own muck.
Never miss out on the latest happenings in the equestrian world
A fourth horse, a black gelding, was found in a stable with the top door shut with no light or ventilation.
The three surviving horses were taken to World Horse Welfare’s Glenda Spooner Farm Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Somerton, Somerset, where they remain.
“This is a typical case of neglect, where Mr Smith was callous enough not to attend to his horses on a regular basis as he should have done, and he is now going to pay the penalty for that,” said Mr Barnes.
“The three horses that survived are extremely lucky given that one of their number was so sick that it had to be euthanased”.
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
A graduate of Exeter University, Amy joined our news team from Redpin Publishing in 2008 as news writer. She was promoted to deputy news editor in May 2013 and became news editor in April 2015. She left Horse & Hound in March 2016 to take up an editorial position in Dubai.