Shetland pony becomes second horse to die at Appleby fair as RSPCA reveals growing concerns over animals being overworked in acts of cruelty at the historic festival

The RSPCA has expressed more concerns about horses being overworked in acts of cruelty at the historic Appleby horse fair after the heartbreaking death of a tiny Shetland pony.

The animal welfare charity revealed tonight that the pony which had died on a campsite on Sunday at this year's event had 'showed all the signs of exhaustion'.

The pony was the second horse to die at this year's historic horse fair which attracted 10,000 travellers and up to 30,000 other visitors.

The RSPCA earlier revealed that a three-year-old stallion had been 'worked to death' on Wednesday just before the fair officially got underway on Thursday.

The horse was found to be covered in sores and had a high temperature after it collapsed and died beside Jubilee Bridge in Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, where the fair is held

The fair which has been going for hundreds of years started with travellers buying and selling horses, and has grown into Europe's biggest traditional gipsy culture event.

Horses are allowed to be ridden through the town up and down hills, and also pull buggies which can be piled high with passengers.

MailOnline witnessed repeated scenes over the weekend of RSPCA staff, accompanied by police, checking over horses to make sure they were not suffering.

In some cases, owners were ordered to unhitch their buggies from their horses to allow the animals to rest from their exertions.

Away from the public roads, MailOnline also saw young traveller children racing around the fair's campsite's and market on tiny buggies pulled by small horses which could have been Shetland ponies.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Rob Melloy said: 'There are a lot of wonderful people and animals at the Fair, who it's really enjoyable to meet and get to know.

'You only need look at the Appleby Horse Project's Best at Appleby Awards, which celebrate horse health, happiness and horsemanship.

'Unfortunately, there is also an element of people who think it's okay to drive horses to the point of exhaustion, and disappointingly we've seen the most serious results of that this week.

'Everyone knows about the horse who died at Jubilee Bridge on Wednesday, but we had a Shetland pony who died in the residential section at the back of the Trade Field on Saturday too, which showed all the signs of exhaustion.

'We believe a lot of overworking was happening at night, though it was not being reported, and we had to deal with the consequences the day after.

'In the case of the Shetland, we were called to the stallion early in the morning, and suspect he was overworked in the evening.

'A lot of our warnings and interactions were about exhaustion and if the weather had been a little bit hotter we may have been talking about more than these two deaths.'

The RSPCA recorded 438 interventions by their officers during the event which officially ends on Wednesday this week, although most travellers had left Appleby on Sunday or early today.

The charity said it had issued nine warnings to people in connection with animal care connected with the fair.

It added that six equines, one dog, one puppy, one kitten, one canary cross bird, one wild caught goldfinch and one wild rabbit were currently all in RSPCA care.

The RSPCA is among nine animal welfare charities which attended this year's fair, providing an 'experienced and committed team of charity and private practice vets, logistics experts, enforcement and education officers'

The stallion which died last Wednesday was a three-year-old skewbald trotter, measuring 14hh.

The RSPCA has issued CCTV images of a man wanted in connection with its death which is said to have been as a result of an act of 'inexcusable cruelty'.

The RSPCA;s Chief Inspector Molloy said last week: 'The horse's temperature was very high, and he was covered in rubs.

'He had been worked until he dropped. This was an inexcusable act of cruelty. This person has let themselves, their family, and of course, this poor horse down, who undoubtedly suffered before he died..

Leaders from the Traveller community Billy Welch and Bill Lloyd have expressed their deep sorrow and anger over the incident last week, urging anyone with information to come forward.

They said in a statement: 'We are fully supportive of the efforts of the RSPCA and their partner charities to improve the standards of horse welfare, and this is a body blow to all our efforts.

'Appleby is one of the greatest celebrations of the horse in Europe and this tragic event is a stain on the fair that will be hard to wash out.

'The standard of horsemanship among Gypsy people is usually high and they are often among the first to report abuse at the fair when they see it.

'We do not yet know the identity of the person responsible and if it was a Gypsy, we will condemn them even more strongly and loudly, but please do not leap to any conclusions until we know the facts.'