Fury after school teacher caught 'kicking and punching horse'

A woman is being widely condemned and an investigation led by the RSPCA has begun, after a video of her kicking and hitting a horse emerged on social media.

The video was filmed by the Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, an anti-hunting group in the UK and it was shared on Twitter on November 7.

The woman in the video filmed hitting and kicking the horse was a member of the Cottesmore Hunt, which according to the hunt's Twitter profile, is "one of the world’s longest-established foxhunts".

"Violence running through their veins," Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs remarked on Twitter alongside the video.

At the start of the video, it appears the grey horse refuses to get into the back of the vehicle, someone then grabs the horse's reins and passes them off to another woman.

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The woman then kicks the horse between its front legs and begins to repeatedly slap it across its face as the horse tries to back away.

The Cottesmore Hunt addressed the incident on Instagram, acknowledging one of their "followers" had "mistreated" the horse when they were on their way home.

"The Chairman and Masters want to make it quite clear that they strongly disapprove of any such actions," the statement said.

"We would also remind everyone that we remain in the public eye at all times and that you must conduct yourself accordingly."

The Times, along with several other UK media outlets have identified the woman as a 37-year-old teacher at a primary school and a director of a pre-school.

The BBC reported the Cottesmore Hunt said it will deal with the matter "seriously" and "in an appropriate manner".

The RSPCA was tagged in the responses to video shared by the Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs and said the organisation was aware of the incident depicted in the video and was monitoring social media.

The RSPCA added in another response it was getting thousands of messaged about the incident.

The BBC reported the RSPCA described the incident as "really upsetting" and urged anyone with first hand information about the incident to contact the RSPCA on 0300 123 4999.

Several people on Twitter who said they have had horses themselves called the actions in the video "shameful" and "unacceptable".

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