‘Wholly inappropriate’: Excessive Court docket dismisses attraction of farrier who punched and kicked pony 

A choice to take away a farrier who punched and kicked a horse from the skilled register has been upheld within the Excessive Court docket.

Andrew Bagnall had appealed the choice of the Farriers Registration Committee (FRC) disciplinary committee, that his behaviour had amounted to severe skilled misconduct and that he must be struck off, however Mr Justice Eyre dismissed it on 17 July.

The disciplinary committee had heard a criticism in opposition to Mr Bagnall final October, concerning the incident in October 2022. Mr Bagnall had been on the house of Mr and Mrs Davies, trimming the ft of their 13-year-old daughter Sophie’s pony Shakira.

Sophie and her mom had been there when Shakira bit Mr Bagnall’s head. It was alleged that Mr Bagnall punched the horse, then “adopted that with an additional assault by which he kicked the horse a number of occasions and punched her once more”. The farrier denied punching or kicking the horse, saying that apart from the trimming, his solely bodily contact with Shakira had been as he lifted his elbow to guard himself when she bit him.

The FRC committee discovered the primary allegation of punching was not established however the second, the kicking and punching, had occurred, and that this was severe misconduct for which the suitable sanction was removing from the register. Mr Bagnall appealed the discovering of misconduct and the sanction, however Justice Eyre discovered that “there isn’t a substance within the grounds whether or not thought-about individually or cumulatively and the attraction is to be dismissed”.

Mr Bagnall had instructed the FRC committee that the ache when he was bitten was “excruciating”, and that he had “instinctively responded” by elevating his arm, which caught the horse on the jaw. He denied punching or kicking Shakira.

However the committee thought it “extremely inconceivable” that Mrs Davies and her daughter would “collude to provide a wholly false account of the respondent kicking the horse a number of occasions after which punching the horse”.

The panel additionally famous that Mrs Davies referred to as a vet “virtually instantly” after the incident, to say the horse had been punched and kicked, and a vet acknowledged that the proprietor was involved about potential trauma to the horse’s stomach. It was additionally agreed that Mr Bagnall had left the yard with out in search of cost for any of the work he had accomplished, which the committee discovered “signifies acceptance on his half that issues had gone flawed throughout this appointment”.

The committee took under consideration the actual fact the incident got here after Mr Bagnall had been bitten, which “triggered an entirely unjustifiable however impulsive response”, and accepted that he had proven perception in accepting the discovering of significant misconduct “with out additional argument”. They famous he was “clearly a extremely expert farrier”, revered by purchasers and different professionals. However they discovered the irritating components outweighed the mitigation.

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H&H information editor

Eleanor is an skilled journalist who spent over eight years working for native and nationwide newspapers earlier than becoming a member of H&H as information editor in March 2016. Obsessed with equine welfare and exposing the reality, Eleanor has reported on all points of the trade, from Brexit to anti-bullying campaigns, and from dressage guidelines to mules. Her sport of alternative is showjumping, by which she competes her personal horses, and he or she additionally enjoys reporting at native leaping reveals via to worldwide championships.