A WEST Hull teenager has been banned for keeping horses for ten years after he was filmed striking a pony across the face.
Aiden Harrison Taylor, 19, was prosecuted by the RSPCA when CCTV images showed him hitting the animal.
Taylor, of Edinburgh Street, west Hull, had been using the pony to carry scrap metal which he was collecting to sell for cash.
He tethered the animal to a lamppost, but it got stuck when the pair tried to leave.
Taylor then climbed down off the cart and struck the pony in the face.
Taylor, a former student at Sydney Smith School, pleaded guilty to cruelty charges.
Sentencing Taylor, magistrates' chairman Graham Barnett said: "We cannot determine whether you tapped or punched the horse.
"But what we are certain of is that you did strike the horse with a significant amount of force."
Taylor also admitted breaching a previous court order banning him from owning or keeping horses for ten years, made after Taylor abandoned two horses without food or water in Priory Road, west Hull, in July 2011.
A fresh order, banning him from owning or keeping horses for ten years from today, has been put in place.
Philip Brown, prosecuting, said: "Taylor took the decision to take the animal out on his own.
"He had sole control of the horse and this was a breach of his disqualification order.
"He also clearly strikes out at the horse, causing it to react. His actions were disproportionate and unnecessary and he did nothing to control the animal."
He said Taylor had owned horses for years and was "very experienced" at handling the animals.
Mr Brown said: "Inexperience was not an excuse for his actions."
Taylor, who works at a fish wholesalers, said he was trying to do a favour for his friend who owns the pony.
He said: "The horse didn't have any reins, so I tapped it on the nose to say 'go back'.
"It's not like I jumped out in front of it and smacked it on the nose."
Taylor was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 100 hours' unpaid work and costs of almost £1,000 at Hull Magistrates' Court yesterday.
