A HORSE was shot dead and then dumped in a garden after an alleged dispute with an equestrian centre.

Two men have been arrested over the incident at Raskelf, near Easingwold in North Yorkshire, and police investigations are continuing.

Police and the RSPCA were called to a home in the village, at about 9.30pm yesterday (Wednesday, October 15) after a woman reported the horse she leased had been shot and killed.

It is understood it had been killed and driven to the property in the bucket of a JCB before being dumped in the garden, and local reports suggest it was over a small unpaid debt.

The horse was a seven-year-old thoroughbred ad former racehorse called Kit which had been leased by mum-of-two Beckie Warner.

"I am absolutely devastated. I still cannot think straight. It's like being in a trance,” she said.

“I cannot get my head round what has happened, that someone could do something so evil. It's unreal - it's like something you would read about."

She said she had heard a JCB in the street and, having just put her daughters to bed, went to put the rubbish out when she saw a shape in the garden.

She said: "I walked over and used the torch on my phone and saw it."

The owner of the Raskelf-based GG Centre, Edward Harvey Johnson, said the horse had been left with them in a DIY livery field owned by the centre, at a cost of £10 a week.

He said the centre had tried frequently to contact Ms Warner and had told her they would tether the horse in her garden if she did not contact them.

He said attempts to get the animal safely into a horse box were unsuccessful so the horse had been put down humanely by a licensed specialist in the field and then transported to Ms Warner's garden.

Mr Johnson said: "We removed the destroyed horse for them to dispose of in the correct or legal manner, as is the responsibility of the owner. We are satisfied it was handled in the best possible way and we fulfilled our obligations for the safety and well-being of the general public.

"In this business you have to make these kind of decisions and they are not always pleasant or easy, but they have to be made. The buck has to stop somewhere."

Police have confirmed a 36-year-old man from Raskelf and a 53-year-old man from York were arrested on suspicion of criminal damage at about 12.30am today, October 16, and currently remain in police custody.