Pony owner devastated after Shetland was killed in stab attack

Lucas on the left with his friend William in their field at Vine House Farm

Police are now hunting the yobs who killed seven year old Shetland Lucas with stab wounds to his neck.

Lucas’s mother Matilda, 24, had come to his rescue in during the attack in Lea, near Preston, and has also suffered gashes and stab wounds to her neck and body.

“I found my Shetland on the ground dead, stabbed to death,” said Khrystinea  Farnworth, 24, who said she was in a state of shock on discovering Lucas at noon on Sunday. “The wound on his neck was about an inch and a half wide.

“I have another Shetland, who was rescued, and she has now got gashes all over her neck and hind as well.

“The Shetland that died was her son - she’s obviously gone to protect him.”

Police have said that the “deliberate attack” left both ponies with “wounds consistent with being slashed or stabbed around the neck and hind areas”.

Matilda came to Khrystinea as a rescue animal while pregnant with Lucas, after being left emaciated in a field.

Khrystinea, who takes care of nine Shetland ponies at Vine House Farm, said: “My Shetlands come to me to live their days out as happy as Larry.

“I’m just fuming. Whoever’s done this makes me sick.”

The attack on the two ponies took place between the early hours and midday of Sunday, August 20.

Police are urging equine owners to be vigilant and report suspicious activity.

Officers are also appealing for information following the incident.

Email PC Magee at [email protected] and quote log reference LC-20170820-0693.