David Anthoney Boyd, 50, Nicole Lee Boyd, 46, and Paulo Antones Pires, 60, were each found guilty in September in the Burnie Magistrates Court of three counts of animal cruelty, and three counts of continued cruelty to animals.

On Monday the court heard RSPCA prosecutor Malcolm Caulfield had applied to have each of the parties banned from owning horses as part of sentencing orders.

Mr Caulfield had initially applied to have them banned from ownership of horses and livestock including sheep and cattle, but following submissions from defence lawyers Hannah Goss and Stephen Wright he acquiesced to a potential ban only pertaining to horses.

Mr Wright submitted Ms Jago had found his clients, the Boyds, guilty of the charges but not of direct involvement with the cruelty and neglect of the horse, Pebbles, he said.

"Their culpability arose out of the fact they hadn't unambiguously disposed of ownership," Mr Wright said.

Ms Goss said her client, Pires, would not oppose an order banning him from horse ownership, but she was concerned about the risk associated with the term ownership as it pertained to livestock, because Pires had informal arrangements to agist other people's livestock on his property.

"The evidence presented doesn't establish that there is any danger to Mr Pires having ownership of other types of animals," Ms Goss said.

She also said horses required specific care and maintenance, and the concerns of this case were not readily transferable to other animals.

Ms Jago agreed.

"The evidence I have available to consider... related only to horses. The most concerning aspect to my mind is the state of the hooves," Ms Jago said.

She went on to say she would need to see further evidence if she was to order a blanket ban on all other livestock.

"There's a big difference between a sheep and a Hereford," Ms Jago said.

Mr Caulfield amended his application and sought an order disqualifying each of the defendants from owning horses for a period of five years.

Ms Jago adjourned the matter to consider the application and will sentence the parties on Wednesday morning.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: