Horses shut inside boxes in Shropshire stables row
An equestrian centre in Shropshire is embroiled in a legal battle which has left nine horses shut inside their boxes waiting for their owners.
The owners have been given 96 hours to provide proof the animals are legally theirs, and face paying vet and livery fees before they can reclaim them, a window which ends today.
A protest was due to take place outside Tedsmore Hall near West Felton last night over the dispute.
The situation follows a dispute between the Tedsmore Estate, owned by Rev Robert Parker and his wife, Gina, and a former licensee of the equestrian centre on the estate, Frank Sheridan and his former girlfriend, Dana Zamecnicova.
Mr Sheridan said that after they were given notice to vacate the equestrian centre they contested the notice through legal channels. The matter came to a head earlier this week when he alleged that bailiffs moved in and impounded his truck and equestrian equipment, and the horses.
"We continued to pay the £1,600 a month for the centre through May and June," he said. "The horses are now confined to their boxes, they will be distressed not knowing what is happening."
Riding instructor, Lisa Ambrose, has a gipsy pony cob called Twinkle at the centre and says she is desperate to get him and the others out.
"I went there on Monday night with a horse trailer and asked to be allowed to take all the horses away. I had homes for them all. But I was told that they could not be released until I had the horse passports and that the vet and livery bills for those 96 hours were paid."
"Each day costs £100 per horse and the vets bill is £80 per horse for each visit."
"We have been told that if the horses are not claimed one of the options is that they could be shot."
However, that claim has been refuted by a spokesman for the Tedsmore Estate.
The spokesman said: "The horses will not be destroyed. There is a 96-hour window to prove ownership, after which they become the property of the freeholder. But absolutely no horse will be destroyed.
"Our main aim is to get the horses to their rightful owners. If people can prove ownership and pay the cost of detainment they can take them. This is not about money this is about the more aim to return the animals to their owners.
"This position is because of an ongoing dispute with a previous licensee."
