'Anti-English attack' hurts horse

Alison Hayes described the attack as "incredibly cruel"

A horse's nose was cut and anti-English graffiti daubed on a stables owned by a Cardiff woman who had moved to a village in west Wales.

Alison Hayes, who was born in the Welsh capital, found her seven-month-old pony with a wound to its nose.

As she helped the animal at her land in Tegryn, near Crymych, Pembrokeshire, she also noticed anti-English graffiti written in garbled Welsh.

Dyfed-Powys Police are investigating the attack.

Mrs Hayes and her husband moved to the area last year with the intention of opening a riding stables.

But she was shocked when she discovered their pony, Hope, with a bleeding wound on her nose.

"It is awful, she is very frightened," she explained.

Graffiti was sprayed on the stables

"I just can't understand it - I'm from Cardiff, I was born there. My mother and father are both Welsh - what's going on?

"This is a Welsh-speaking area and they might have mistaken our Cardiff accents for English, that is all I can think," she added.

"This was an incredibly cruel thing to do. Hope is a beautiful, friendly animal and she was slashed across the face and mouth.

"The motivation of these people was ridiculous and to take it out on an innocent horse was wicked.

"Hope loved being around people but now I can't get near her. She is terrified."