22 year old horse rider, Charlotte McPherson of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, who posted selfies while she rode her seriously underweight horse has been banned from keeping the animals. McPherson took a selfie with malnourished ex-racehorse Thor and posted it on Facebook , sparking dozens of complaints to the RSPCA (Animal protection agency).

One disgusted horse-lover who saw her ride Thor at an event accused McPherson of hiding the protruding rib cage of the horse by putting a blanket over it.

The RSPCA, responded to the complaints and took McPherson to court. They said:
'you could pretty much see every bone in his body' and the animal would have been in extreme pain with the rider seated directly on his spine.

McPherson admitted to two counts of animal cruelty and was disqualified from keeping horses for 10 years by Birmingham magistrates.

She was also handed a 12-month community order, ordered to carry out 160 hours' unpaid work and pay £300 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.

The 10-year-old horse, who was known as Hoare Abbey in his racing days, is now recovering after the animal charity intervened