Hampshire brothers banned from keeping horses
Two brothers have been banned from owning and keeping horses for five years after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to two animals.
Matthew Twigg, 56, of Walworth Road in Andover, was also given a jail sentence of five weeks, suspended for 12 months.
David Twigg, 49, of the same address, received 65 hours of unpaid work. They also had to pay over £2,800 in costs.
The RSPCA said the two ponies had "grossly overgrown hooves" and could not walk. They both had to be put down.
The charity visited the house on 9 September 2013 after concerns were raised about the ponies, a 25-year-old male grey Shetland called Merlin and a 15-year-old female grey Shetland called Hobby.
Basingstoke Magistrates' Court heard that when the horses were examined by a farrier and a vet they were in such severe pain, they had to be put down.
RSPCA inspector Will Hendry said: "The situation for the ponies when we got to their stable was hopeless.
"They had been suffering chronically for up to five years and yet nobody, either within the family or without, thought to get them any help or pain relief."