Primary school teacher cleared of animal cruelty over clip of her striking a horse is now working at another school and ‘happily getting her life back on track’

• EXCLUSIVE: Sarah Moulds, 39, is ‘very relieved’ to have been found not guilty 
• The mother-of-two said parents at her previous school have been ‘supportive’

A primary school teacher who was cleared of animal cruelty after she was filmed striking a horse has told The Mail on Sunday she is ‘happily getting my life back on track’.

Sarah Moulds, 39, added she is ‘back teaching at another school’ having been sacked over the incident and is ‘very relieved’ to have been found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to her protected grey pony, Bruce Almighty.

The mother-of-two also said the parents at the school she used to work at in her rural village of Somerby, Leicestershire, have been ‘supportive’.

Footage of her slapping and kicking a horse went viral in November 2021, and education chiefs swiftly carried out an investigation. The video was shared by the Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs campaign group, which claimed it was evidence of ‘violence running through the veins’ of those hunting animals for sport.

After the RSPCA brought a prosecution against her, she was bombarded with hate-mail and death threats, and was forced to temporarily flee her home.

Sarah Moulds, 39, was cleared of animal cruelty after she was filmed striking a horse in November 2021

The mother-of-two told The Mail on Sunday she is ‘happily getting my life back on track’

Speaking last night after organising a charity pony show which raised £1,000 for cancer research – to which she lost her mother to shortly before the ordeal – she revealed: ‘The online abusers are back. At the time it was horrific and I had hand delivered letters to my home.

‘They are unhappy with the outcome of the trial. The hate from hunt saboteurs has started all over again.

‘I’m rebuilding my life, and happily getting it back on track.’

She was this week cleared of animal cruelty by a jury of 11 men and one woman after a three-day trial at Lincoln Crown Court

Outside court Ms Moulds wept as she hit out at the RSPCA for failing to engage with her, claiming that their case would have fallen apart had they visited Bruce to inspect him sooner.

Footage of her slapping and kicking a horse went viral in November 2021, and education chiefs swiftly carried out an investigation

The rider also slammed those who conducted a ‘trial by social media’ after the footage, filmed during the popular Cottesmore Hunt.

Ms Moulds claimed the footage that was shared, showing her kick the grey pony in its chest and then slapping it across the head, was a ‘snippet of video taken out of context’.

The RSPCA, who brought the prosecution, argued her actions would have caused the 12-year-old horse ‘fear and psychological suffering’.

Following her acquittal, she released a strongly-worded statement attacking her vilification online.

However, the reaction to Ms Moulds’ acquittal suggests her words are unlikely to convince critics.

One message posted online read: ‘It’s sick she got away with this – scum of the earth.’

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