A gran was hit with a restraining order after she kept feeding carrots to a retired racehorse.
A rare court ruling gave chestnut gelding Nelson legal protection from overfeeding by Margaret Porter.
She felt sorry for him after seeing him in his paddock so began feeding him, despite his owner Suzanne Cooke explicitly asking her not to.
Mrs Porter, 67, told magistrates: “I thought he looked quite sad. The fields were frozen at the time. I passed six or seven times a day and didn’t see his owner once.
“I began speaking to people about my concerns in the hope someone would take it on board and try to get her to look after the horse properly.
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“I decided to give him a few carrots, I just didn’t want him starving to death.”
Mrs Cooke, 50, spotted dozens of carrot tops in the paddock in Scruton, North Yorks, and pointed out to Mrs Porter that there was a sign on the fence asking people not to feed him.
But Mrs Porter continued to sneak carrots to Nelson. Mrs Cooke saw her and warned she could poison Nelson, or give him colic.
An RSPCA inspector then called at Mrs Cooke’s house to carry out a welfare check on Nelson.
Mrs Cooke was in no doubt who had reported her, but Nelson – known as You’redoingwell in his racing days – got a clean bill of health.
Parish councillor Trevor Howe said Mrs Porter called him “at least 10 times” saying Nelson was unwell.
Mrs Cooke reported her to police and Mrs Porter was arrested.
She denied harassment but was found guilty by York magistrates who imposed the order and fined her £180, with court costs of £310.
