THE future of 16 horses at the centre of a cruelty case which left half of them lame, still hangs in the balance today, although their owner has started a prison sentence.

The Horses and Ponies Protection Association charity, of Burnley, wants to keep the horses, which are now slowly getting over their ordeal at the hands of former racehorse trainer John Robert Muir Layland, 61, of Demesne Farm, Newsholme, in the Ribble Valley.

The emaciated animals were discovered in February up to their hocks in manure and infested with lice. In one cabin a decaying carcass was next to live horses.

So far, HAPPA has spent more than £26,000 to keep the horses at its Briercliffe farm. But farm manager Muriel Brynes said the charity would bear the cost if it could keep the horses and secure their future.

On Monday, Blackburn magistrates jailed Layland and banned him from keeping horses and dogs for life.

They refused an order for him to forfeit the animals but also dismissed as "an artificial contrivance" a document claiming he had sold the horses to his girlfriend Christine Green for £12,400. Now the Official Receiver has been brought in and the animals, national hunt and point-to-point horses, some of which cost up to £9,500, have been seized as assets.

Mrs Brynes said: "We are now in limbo. If this had been a child cruelty case, the child would have been immediately taken into care and never given back. These are living creatures but we don't know what is going to happen. I'm distraught.

"I don't think selling the horses would realise the amount we have so far spent on keeping them.

"The horses had been left to rot. When we brought the animals to the farm some of them just wanted to die. I sat up all night with one trying to give it the will to live. We had temporary cabins put on the car park so we could stable the horses individually and staff spent eight hours cutting muck off one of the animals while lice were marching off the horse and on to us."

This year marks the charity's 60th year helping animals and currently the formerly London based organisation runs two farms and a head office.

There are about 130 horses and ponies on the two sites and weekly running costs are £8,000. The organisation is funded entirely by voluntary donation and subscription and the farm is open every weekend from 2pm to 5pm.

A spokesman for the Official Receiver said they would be getting in touch with the charity shortly to discuss the matter.

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