Four-year-old Harry, who had just returned to his home in St Mary after undergoing two months of treatment in the UK on his knee joints, was left needing medication for severe swelling following the incident.
His owner, Rebecca Hefford, is now calling for tougher laws which would mean anyone wishing to hold a private display would need permission from the relevant parish Constable.
Miss Hefford (63) said she had spent tens of thousands of pounds on Harry’s original treatment and is now concerned the money has been wasted after a vet confirmed the fresh damage to her horse’s back legs. Harry has been given a course of anti-inflammatory tablets to combat the swelling.
Miss Hefford, who lives next to the stables, said the firework display on Saturday lasted 20 minutes and she had no idea it was going to take place. She was unable to enter the stable to calm her horse down because, she said, he was ‘like a giant’ and she was scared for her own safety.
‘I don’t want to stop people having firework displays – I just want them to be careful and warn people before they go ahead,’ she said. ‘I want there to be a law that means people have to get permission to be able to have private firework displays.
‘If animal owners know something is planned then we can take precautions to make sure our animals are safe.’
She said that she could have purchased tranquillisers for Harry and turned the radio on in an effort to calm him down, if she had known about the display.
Miss Hefford also has two ponies, which were in the field at the time, and were also ‘terrified’, as were her dogs, which had to be looked after by her son while the display was happening.
She said: ‘People do not realise what damage they can do to animals by not warning them such things are happening.
‘I have to try and do something to stop this happening again. I am going to talk to my parish deputy and the Home Affairs Minister to see what can be done.’
Anyone wishing to hold a public fireworks display must obtain a public entertainment licence from the Bailiff but no permission is needed to hold a private display.
