Horse Over-Driven.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 3, 24 April 1914, Page 5

Horse Over-Driven.

CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. "LEFT ALMOST EXHAUSTED." John Fairfield was charged at the Court this morning with having cruelly ill-treated a horse on April 21st by over-driving it. He pleaded not guilty.. Harry Cannon, stableman, employed by A. J. Davey, said that on April 21 st he hired out a horse and yig which was returned to the stable about TV p.m. by defendant and another man. The horse was thoroughly j exhausted, and sweat was dripping from it as if it had just come out of the river. There was no doubt in his mind that the horse had been overdriven. The horse was one of the best horses in Stratford, was corn-fed and was in good condition. He could go to New Plymouth and return quite fresh, and go out again next day. It had never previously been returned in such a condition. It looked as if it had been galloped for a considerable distance. Defendant said he had come from Eltham. The horse was taken out about half past three, the man who hired it saying he was going to Ngaere. The horse had not been used since. The following morning the horse's legs were puffed up. To defendant: The distance from Eltham was seven miles, and a reasonable time for the trip in a gig would be forty-five minutes. There was no whip supplied with the gig. There were no whip marks on the horse. A speed of eight miles an hour would not constitute galloping. The horsse was not soft when it was sent out. Witness: You admitted to me that you over-drove the horse. Defendant: I did not. Witness: You offered to pay me extra. Defendant: That was only for ex- ' tra time. Defendant further said that he had left Eltham before the mail train, which leaves at 6.10 p.m., and that he had brought the horse along at his own pace. John Brannigan, who was in the stable at the time, said he had never seen a horse in worse condition. It was sweating from nose to heels, and was blowing like a pair of bellows, continuing to blow for half an hour. Defendant: Would it not be possible for the horse to get in an exhausted condition by coining along at his own pace. Witness: The horse coidd trot from Eltham to Stratford in half an hour without being troubled. Witness: It was raining that night, and that might suggest to you that he was sweating hard. Witness : But it wouldn't make him boiling hot insido and make him steam. Walter Hock, who was also in the stable at the time, said Cannon scraped fully a bucket of sweat off the horse, which looked as though it had been galloped for a dozen miles. It was a cold night, and if the horse had been driven properly it would not have turned a hair. To defendant: The grade on the road was not such as to distress a horse.

Defendant: I could not have got the horse in that condition without a whip? Witness: You could saw its mouth and jerk the reins. They get pace out of trotting horses in that way. Defendant: Would it surprise you to know that I was an hour on the road? . Witness: I would be surprised, iv looked as if you had come through in a quarter of an hour. Wieland Gredig said that on the night in question he was in the vicinity of the Courthouse, when he heard a gig coming from the south. The horse was going as hard as it could gallop. Ho came towards town, and saw the horse being unharnessed in Davey's stables. It could hardly blow, and could not have been wetter if it had just come out of a river.

Sergeant McNeely gave evidence that at about 7.10 p.m. on the day in question he went to the stables as a result of a telephone message. The horse was led out from a box. It could hardly stagger out, and was smeating heavily, there being even sweat on the main. At about 11 o'clock he saw the horse again, when it was still wet with sweat, although a large quantity had been scraped off. About 7.30 he saw defendant, who said: "You know what young fellows are—let her go the last mile or two." Defendant expressed surprise that the horse had got into such a condition.

Defendant: Couldn't the horse knock himself up by just taking his head ? Witness; I hnve ridden behind the horse in question. From 10 a.m. on© day it was taken through Rowan, Kaponga and Eltham and back to Stratford, finishing at 3 p.m., without getting distressed. Defendant: Couldn't the horse distress itself at a speed of six miles an hour? Witness: I have cycled from Eltham to Stratford in half an hour I myself without turning a hair. Defendant desired to call two witnesses, but they made no appearance when called. He elected not. I to give evidence on oath. The S.M. said that the statements made by defendant showed that he was an hour on the road. He may |or may not have stopped on the I road, but whether or not, he must | bure gone dead slow at the start and up at a great speed. Defen-

'dant said he was not used to horses, but a person with ordinary common sense would not treat the horse as defendant had done. A sentence of three months' imprisonment was provided for such an offence, and in some cases he (the S.M.) felt inclined to send the offender to prison, but in the present case defendant would be fined £3, which was a light sen tence in the circumstances. Costs total Hug £1 5* were allowed