A young horse lies dead on the side of the Kilkenny to Waterford Road, near the Kilkenny Rugby Club grounds after an accident in a sulky race. The young horse was still alive after the accident but had to be put down by the vet. Photo: Pat Moore.

A YOUNG pony had to be put down after suffering horrific injuries in a head-on collision with a car during a sulky race.

The injured animal, believed to be two years old, was abandoned in terrible pain at the side of the road after the sulky drivers fled the scene on the Kilkenny to Waterford Road, near the Kilkenny rugby club grounds.

One witness described the scene as "horrendous".

"Thankfully the car driver wasn't injured – but the guys on the cart were gone by the time the gardai arrived.

"The pony had come away from the trap, ran across the road, and hit the oncoming car."

The incident has sparked outrage in the local community, and there have been renewed calls to ban the use of sulky cars altogether.

Dr Andrew Kelly, chief executive of the ISPCA said: "Driving horses and ponies flat-out at excessive speed on Ireland's busy roads, often by children as young as 10 years old, is risking the lives of innocent road users, and the people involved."

Irish Independent