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A man and horse known to ride through downtown Dunedin were separated after a video was posted online showing the man hitting the horse.
Mike Herzog had become known for bareback riding Jay, a 15-year-old gelding, through the streets of Dunedin.
The couple loved traveling from their home in Dunedin’s suburb of Pine Hill to St Kilda Beach for a swim.
But their relationship ended this week amid accusations of cruelty.
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Herzog admitted that he struck the horse and agreed to pay the SPCA a $ 500 fine last week.
“I took full responsibility,” he said.
Mike Herzog / Supplied
Mike Herzog riding Jay, a 15-year-old gelding.
“You are no longer allowed to hit an animal in the face.”
He claimed that he used to beat horses in this way when he was a rider, but did not know that the practice had ceased.
A video of Jay being beaten appeared on social media this week and was sent to the SPCA.
An SPCA spokeswoman confirmed that an investigation was underway, but declined to comment further, citing privacy.
“Until I hit my horse on the head that day … no one could blame me,” Herzog said.
Jay’s former owner saw the video and paid Herzog $ 970 to get it back last Thursday, although Herzog said he wanted to find a way to get the horse back.
Mike Herzog / Stuff
Jay, a 15-year-old gelding, has been recovered by his former owner.
Herzog said he had had horses with his former partner and missed them after they broke up.
After being kicked out of the meadow, he took Jay home to Pine Hill in early November.
He said he was visited by the SPCA, his landlord and the city council, and allowed to keep Jay at home “because he had enough space and I said I would feed him like a racehorse.
Herzog said Jay, a former jogger, gained weight and became “relaxed and calm” after not having to use a bit in his mouth.
“I was rewarded because I rewarded him.”
The horse needed regular exercise, so the pair toured downtown Dunedin regularly, Herzog said.
They sometimes attracted the attention of the police, including one occasion when a patrol car followed them home.
It wasn’t illegal to ride horses through a city, but the couple had some close calls with road users, he said.
“Yeah, people got too close to me and wiped their mirrors trying to scare my horse.”
Herzog said he would miss taking Jay to St Kilda Beach, a five-hour round trip.
” Once he got used to the water, he loved it.
“My heart is broken. I miss that boy so much.”
