A MAN was jailed for three months yesterday for cruelty to three horses.

Two of the animals, a grey mare and a strawberry roan mare, had to be put down.

The surviving horse, a bay-coloured stallion, had not been out of its stable for up to five years and the dung came above the stable door.

Ernest Horsfield, 66, and his daughter, Deborah, 39, admitted three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the animals, at Northallerton Magistrates' Court last month.

Claire Brinton, for the Horsfields, said they had received hate mail since the earlier hearing and that Miss Horsfield's car was vandalised at the weekend.

The court heard that the horses were kept in dilapidated stables on Mr Horsfield's smallholding -Greenbury Farm - in Scorton Lane, South Cowton, near Scorton, North Yorkshire.

Miss Horsfield, of Meadow Lane, Northallerton, shared their ownership with her father. The horses had hugely overgrown hooves and were struggling to stand.

The case was adjourned for reports, and yesterday they appeared before the court again.

Magistrates jailed Mr Horsfield for three months. Miss Horsfield was ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service and pay £750 costs.

Both were banned from keeping animals for life, but Miss Horsfield was allowed to keep the family dog and budgie.

Sentencing Mr Horsfield, chairwoman Anne Hewitt said: "You had a position of responsibility for the care and welfare of the animals, and serious injury resulted to all three horses as a result of your neglect.

"Help was only a phone call away, but you chose not to contact a farrier or a vet or the RSPCA."

She told Miss Horsfield: "Although you were a joint owner, you were not there on a regular basis, but you still had a responsibility of care to the animals and you could have sought assistance."

Mrs Brinton applied for bail for Mr Horsfield pending an appeal against the sentence, but her request was turned down by the magistrates.

After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Justin Le Masurier said: "These three horses experienced tremendous suffering.

"Hopefully the sentence will be a warning to people out there."