ILLTREATING RACEHORSE

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5021, 1 September 1926, Page 3

ILLTREATING RACEHORSE

INTERESTING SIDELIGHT.

CASE AT STRATFORD. A case which His Worship described as an interesting sidelight upon the ethics of racing was; heard- at the Stratford Poilce Court the other day, before Mr R. W. Tate, S.M., when Sydney Oakley was charged with cruelty to a horse. Evidence was- give,n by two civilians and a police constable to the effect that on July 11 the horse,’ a racehorse, which was being ridden by the defendant, played up, apparently being frightened by the playing of the Pipe Band. The defendant struck the animal over the head and ears with a riding whip in a manner which they considered was allrtrea,ting it. The .defendant, a jockey, said he had hit the horse with the butt of the whip as hard as| he could. A blow across the ears would not hurt .the horse, and it was necessary to hit the animal to keep it from rearing. Only the flap of the whip had been us'ed when the animal was struck across the ears. The horse had been known to come ba'ck on riders, and there was a risk of a man being killed in such cases. It was a notorious outlaw. Other witnesses for the defence gave evidence that to 'hit a. rearing horse between the; ears was the only thing to be done. At the conclusion of the case His Worship dismissed the information, but suggested that as the animal in question apparently demanded such' measures in* order that it could be controlled, it should be destroyed. It was, he said, practically a wild beast, ;and he advised the police to see whether they could not take action for keeping such' an animal.