Horse shot and dumped in family's front garden in Yorkshire village

The owner of the field it was staying in said it was 'humanely' put down

The A40 has been closed after a woman died (Getty Images)

A horse has been shot and dumped in its rider’s front garden in an alleged dispute over livery fees in a Yorkshire village.

Beckie Warner, 26, had just put her children to bed on Wednesday night when she heard a JCB and looked outside to find her thoroughbred former racehorse, Kit, on the lawn.

“I cannot get my head round what has happened, that someone could do something so evil,” she told the Yorkshire Post. “It’s unreal - it’s like something you would read about.”

In scenes echoing The Godfather, the animal was loaded into the bucket of a JCB, driven to the house and left dying on the grass.

The seven-year-old horse was being leased by Ms Warner, who lives in Raskelf, near Easingwold.

Local reports suggested that the killing may have been related to a small £30 unpaid livery debt but a spokesperson from the field where Kit was kept claimed he had to be “humanely put down”.

Edward Harvey Johnson, owner of the GG Centre, told the York Press he tried to contact Ms Warner in recent weeks and had failed in attempts to load it into a horsebox and leave it in her garden.

“It was kicking out and rearing up and we couldn't walk up or approach it without being hurt,” he added.

"We removed the destroyed horse for them to dispose of in the correct or legal manner, as is the responsibility of the owner.

“We are satisfied it was handled in the best possible way and we fulfilled our obligations for the safety and well-being of the general public.”

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: “Officers were called to an address in Raskelf at 9.40pm on Wednesday 15 October 2014, after a report of a horse having been shot and left in the property’s garden.”

A 36-year-old man has been arrested and bailed in relation to the incident as police continue their investigation and another man arrested at the same time, aged 53, has been released without charge.

An RSPCA inspector also attended the scene on Wednesday night to work with police and the charity said it would be offering assistance "where required".