*Warning — upsetting images below*
A petition has been launched to ban Kate Greenhalgh from competing at British Eventing (BE) and British Showjumping (BS) competitions following her conviction for leaving four horses in her care to starve and suffer unnecessarily.
One of the horses, a two-year-old gelding named Kai, died and a broodmare belonging to Olympic event rider Gemma Tattersall lost the foal she was carrying.
At sentencing, Greenhalgh received a 12-week suspended prison sentence, 120 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay compensation of £3,650 and £878 in costs and charges. She did not receive a ban for keeping horses.
The petition has been set up by Georgia Cochran and its statement says: “Allowing [Kate Greenhalgh] to continue to compete brings BE and BS into disrepute, allowing someone who has neglected horses to continue to compete makes people question how much BE and BS care about animal welfare.”
Greenhalgh is from Pulborough, West Sussex and runs KG Equestrian. She failed to take action when four horses in her care became unwell and were malnourished. A member of the public reported their concerns after seeing one horse collapsed in a field.
‘Zero remorse’
Natalie McGoldrick, a vet who owns and runs South Coast Equine Vets and who attended the rescue, described the sentencing as “hugely disappointing”. 
“In March 2020, I was called by the RSPCA to attend a case in which a horse had died overnight, collapsed in a muddy field, and others were on the verge of doing the same,” she said. “Kate Greenhalgh had offered winter livery. However, it appears she thought it wasn’t necessary to actually provide these horses with any food at all, despite them being either in foal broodmares (owned by Chris Stone and Gemma Tattersall) or youngsters.
“She showed absolutely zero remorse on the day. In fact, in my many cruelty cases, I have never seen anyone show zero remorse until this day.”
‘He couldn’t bear weight on one leg’
RSPCA inspectors Becky Carter and Kate Barnes, and World Horse Welfare’s chief field officer Claire Gordon, arrived to be told that two-year-old Kai had already been put to sleep and his body removed.
Inspector Carter said: “When we arrived we checked over the horses at the site and found two of them, Adelaide and a young colt, to be in very poor body condition.
“A third horse, Val, was totally emaciated. Adelaide and Val were also suffering from really severe mud fever and rain scald — they had a lot of hair loss and sores on their coats and legs.”
Inspector Carter added that the young colt, thought to be a Chilli Morning clone, was “so lame he couldn’t bear weight on one leg and could barely walk. He had a very elevated heart rate indicating he was in significant pain.
“The vet discovered he had an abscess in his foot which he predicted had been in this condition for over a week, as the infection had traveled up the horse’s leg and had to be drained of a large amount of pus.
“They certified all three horses to be suffering and the police agreed for us to remove them.”
‘Severely traumatised’
Kai’s owner Nikki Cochran said the loss of her horse has been shattering. 
“I was proud to have bought a foal with such special breeding. So standing in that field, watching my dream horse die, was almost too difficult for words,” she said. “I have been severely traumatised by what I witnessed.”
Ms Cochran said it has left her in anguish and struggling to trust people because of Greenhalgh, adding: “She turned our dream into our nightmare.”
Following the judgment, Inspector Carter said: “This was such a sad case to investigate as the poor health of the horses could have been avoided with appropriate care, and by following vet advice.
“These horses were under the care of Greenhalgh, who is a competition rider, as part of a professional arrangement through her business KG Equestrian, where she would take on horses on livery for backing, competing and sales.
“It’s particularly sad for the horses’ owners, as they were under the impression their animals were being looked after.
“Thankfully, Adelaide, Val and the young colt were returned to their owner and have made a good recovery.”
The petition can be found here.
