Appeal after horses injured by teenagers

Police received of reports of teenagers riding horses at the Eston Equitation Centre without owners' permission

A horse-riding school said animals were seriously injured after teenagers were seen attaching strings to horses and riding them without the owners' permission.

Cleveland Police received reports of incidents at Eston Equitation Centre in Middlesbrough on 26 April and 4 May.

The animals were found to have been stressed, with some needing veterinary treatment, police said.

Officers have urged parents and carers to know what their children are doing while out of the house.

Staff at Eston Equitation Centre said they saw three teenage boys riding around on two ponies during the first incident in April.

WARNING: Some readers may find images in this article distressing

One of them was seen riding a pony who was recovering from lameness and could only do limited exercise, and two boys were also seen simultaneously riding a very elderly, retired pony, who was not to be ridden for medical reasons, the riding school said.

The school said the boys were also seen tying string around the ponies' heads and mouths, which damaged an elderly pony's face.

"The boys ran away and jumped the fence up on to the hills when they saw us coming after them," Eston Equitation Centre said in a post on social media.

During the second incident, Eston Equitation Centre said staff found a pony choking, on Sunday 5 May at about 07:45 BST.

The centre said the pony had string tied around his throat which was pulled so tight that he had collapsed, and that if they had found the pony any later, he would have been dead.

String was put around an elderly pony's mouth causing injuries, Eston Equitation Centre said

Large sections of outer fencing had been ripped down, the riding school said.

It also said later that day, more teenagers were seen back on the field trying to get string around the ponies' necks to ride them, before they ran away.

A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said they would identify and deal with anyone causing harm or suffering to animals.