Horses generally only kick and bite in certain situations in which they see themselves in danger as prey animals.  Even though this is a pony, he still has the weight and strength to out manoeuvre this woman and double barrel her but he doesn't view her as a predator.  He didn't because his situation did not make him feel sufficiently threatened in a way that an equine would assess things, which is not as we might.  He would not have understood that he was being 'punished' simply for breaking free (probably from the younger girl) to make a beeline for the grass on the verge.  I guess the woman's foul temper had been aroused mostly due to the antihunt presence and she took out her temper on the poor pony.

I could assume that she has done this in the past, but not enough to make the pony irrevocably dangerous, or he would not have been a safe ride for her daughters anywhere, let alone out hunting.  I hope this would not have a long lasting effect on the pony, especially if steps are taken to remove him from her 'care'.

I have owned and trained competition horses for most of my life - and still do.

A good competition horse usually has a huge personality, oozing with attitude - they can be quirky and very 'opinionated' at times and my patience is often tested to the absolute limit…but in 45 years of working with horses, I have never kicked a horse, or punched one in the face…I wouldn't dream of being aggressive towards my horses or show them such disrespect.

I think it is disgusting that this woman, who probably claims to be a horse-lover, could abuse her horse like that, no matter what he had done, or how angry she was…there is no excuse for her behaviour.

As far as the horse is concerned, I don't think that he suffered any great physical pain and was more mentally harmed by the abuse - he looks totally confused about what has just happened and clearly has no idea why he was punished.

However, horses are very forgiving animals - too much so at times - and although the horse will be very wary of that woman in future, he will not associate the abuse with other humans and will continue to trust those who have earned it…as for her, well...she deserves all she gets.

edit - I have just seen Veems post and agree with all she said.

In simple terms, a pony is a horse measuring up to 148cm to it's wither (the highest part of it's back) - anything bigger than 148cm is a horse.

...but in France they have a 'double poney' category, which can be up to 150cm...and miniature horses, no matter how small are classed as horses! LOL!

I would guess the animal in the video is about 14hh (148cm) and if I'm correct, it is a pony...even though I have referred to it as a horse.

FFS...I bet you wished now that you never asked!

To buy a good pony you'd need more than five hundred pounds.

I once read that a horse will see an open hand like the claws of a tiger or lion or other predator ready to tear its gut open. This hunt horse (I can't be sure it is a pony as it is difficult to claim it's height as there is nothing to compare it to in the film) has been abused by an open hand and will always shy away from that even if offered a snack from the hand. It will be difficult to reward it for doing good things if it is persuaded that way, hence, I suggest that it's value as a trained horse is over and it would prefer to be out to grass away from the open hands. My own experience with horses and donkeys that have been struck at one time is that they never forget this and show wariness of humans, just watch their eyes as you approach them, you can tell their attitude from that alone.