YOBS terrorised a pony by throwing sticks at the animal and shouting abuse at its owner.

A group of 15 teens, aged between 12 and 14 years old, shouted and hurled items at seven-year-old Blue before chasing after the horse down Burches Road in Thundersley.

Blue’s owner, Lauren Summers, 19, has warned just one incident can have an impact on a horse’s confidence.

Just days later, a dog walker also hit the pony in Common Lane, Thundersley.

Lauren said: “Me and my friend took Blue out on Burches Road. We’re getting him used to leading a cart.

“I shouted out to the group to be quiet as we passed to not scare the horse.

“They were throwing sticks and stones and shouting at him. My pony in the cart bolted up the road.

“They were then running alongside him while still shouting at him. Some of them were on electric scooters.

“We asked them to be quiet and stand still until we passed but they started shouting at us.

“He was scared. He was that scared that we had to get the cart off him so he didn’t cause anymore damage.

“The shaft of the cart went into the back of me and my friend as he bolted.”

Lauren insisted that better education on horses would help people be more respectful.

She added: “I think better education would help for people to see how to respect them and when they could be in a position of being injured.

“As lovable as they are, horses are flight animals.

“It takes a lot to build up their confidence but it only takes one thing to shatter it.

“We haven’t taken him back out in the cart so we don’t know the impact this has had. It’s not safe on that road.

“We can’t take the risk of other people, ourselves or the horse.”

Blue was chased by the yobs on Thursday before being hit by the dog walker on Tuesday.

Lauren added: “There was a man walking his dog who had the hump we were on the land.

“He started running towards us and he tried to hit my friend’s horse who is a 27-year-old sanctuary rescue.

“Timmy has already been in that position of being hit. He had flashbacks.

“He did hit my horse on the shoulder. We weren’t harming anybody. We were both really angry. It can be extremely damaging.”