Facebook seller mis-sold me a horse that kicked my daughter in the head

When her teenage daughter was lying motionless on the floor after being kicked in the head by a horse, Fiona feared the worst.

"For a moment, I thought she was dead," she said. "I thought she had broken her neck."

The horse Fiona bought six weeks earlier via Facebook was marketed as a "teenager's dream" but during a riding lesson, it bucked and bolted with her daughter partially on it before kicking her in the head.

Now Fiona, whose name has been changed to protect her daughter's identity, is one of five women who have told the BBC they were mis-sold horses that were either unsafe to ride or had life-limiting conditions by horse seller Tasha Lee Hopkins.

Hopkins has been contacted for comment.

Fiona's 13-year-old daughter was rushed to hospital in an ambulance with concussion and spent about two weeks recovering at home from her injuries after the incident at a riding arena in south Wales.

"You could see on the side of her helmet, the hoofmark where she got kicked in the head," said Fiona.

"I was thinking, 'oh my gosh she's going to be paralysed.' It was just awful."

Fiona witnessed the "terrifying" moment and was "absolutely horrified" to later discover she had been sold a horse that had never been sufficiently trained to ride.

"I trusted Tasha. I believed what she said and she sold us a horse that wasn't fit for purpose, it wasn't fit for a child to be riding," added Fiona.

A leading horse welfare organisation has warned of "too many cases" where horses that cannot be ridden are given away or sold "until they end up in a really poor situation".

World Horse Welfare said unlike other animals such as dogs, there are no regulatory or voluntary industry standards for horse trading, so it is "vital" that sellers and prospective buyers do their due diligence.

Fiona bought the 14-year-old horse from Hopkins in December 2024.

It had been advertised on Facebook group CT Sports Horses, which is run by Hopkins and another person, and describes itself as selling "safe sports horses" that have six-month warranties.

"We went to view the horse and met Tasha and she seemed lovely, it all felt very genuine," said Fiona.

"It wasn't until the horse arrived back at home that it all started to unravel."

After the incident, Fiona tracked down the horse's original owner. They said they had owned the animal since it was two - and during that time the horse had not been ridden.

Fiona claims Hopkins didn't disclose this information when she bought the animal.

The BBC has found this was not the first time Hopkins, from Neath near Swansea, is alleged to have mis-sold a horse in the last seven years.

While five women have claimed they were mis-sold horses by Hopkins, another two have told us they had concerns about her operation.

One buyer alleged she was sold a horse for riding by Hopkins that had an undisclosed broken back.

Another claimed Hopkins sold a horse for showjumping which had such severe arthritis, a vet had previously recommended it should be put down.

That horse, Otto was bought for £6,250 by Kayleigh Sweet in March last year after the 37-year-old saw an advert on Facebook and was told by Hopkins it had recently been checked and cleared by a vet.

"[Hopkins said] he was a 'perfectly sound five-year-old'," recalled Sweet.

But within a week of owning him, Sweet noticed Otto - a warmblood breed that was about 17 hands tall - had gone lame and was struggling to walk.

When she looked at his medical history, she noticed there was "no history, no vaccinations, nothing, and that's really unusual".

She then tracked down Otto's original owner, who told her that as a three-year-old he had been diagnosed with chronic arthritis in his leg.

Sweet said she was told the horse had been operated on but it had not improved enough for riding - and the vet had advised them to put the animal down.

Sweet said the then owner gifted him as a companion horse instead - meaning he would be kept as a pet. But Otto ended up being sold and ultimately owned by Hopkins.

An examination by Sweet's own vet confirmed the diagnosis but when she told Hopkins, she said she refused to honour the six-month warranty.

Otto's arthritis diagnosis was devastating for Sweet, who'd previously had to have another horse put down due to the exact same issue.

"I just had to relive it all over again and it's horrible," added Sweet, from the Vale of Glamorgan.

She took legal action and earlier this month Hopkins appeared at the County Court in Swansea where she was ordered to pay Sweet £11,000 in damages and expenses, which had been due in October 2025.

During the legal proceedings, Otto was returned to Hopkins. Sweet doesn't know what has happened to him since.

Another person, Hayley Vaughan bought a horse called Bonnie for £1,400 from Hopkins for her 16-year-old daughter Amber after seeing an advert on Facebook in 2019.

But the 55-year-old said her daughter only rode her once before they had to call the vet.

"She looked really uncomfortable, we decided to get her x-rayed," recalled Vaughan from Haverfordwest.

Scans showed Bonnie had a serious back injury and a painful spinal condition.

"The vet said there was no way she could ever be ridden," added Vaughan.

After the horse kicked out with both hind legs in the stable - a sign that it was in pain - she said the vet told her "don't you ever let your child ride that horse".

Vaughan contacted Hopkins after the discovery.

"She [said she] would take the horse back but not give me my money back."

"There was no way I was giving that horse back to her. I wish I'd had the courage to take her to court."

Vaughan found Bonnie a retirement home to ensure she could live out her life in the right conditions but says she lost all the money she'd spent on the horse.

The BBC put all of these allegations to Hopkins but she did not respond to our questions.

The BBC also asked Facebook's owner Meta about the CT Sports Horses Facebook group and associated adverts on the site - and it said it has now "removed the content brought to our attention for violating our policies".

The five women who claim they were mis-sold horses by Hopkins told the BBC they viewed the animals but didn't have a pre-purchase examination by a vet.

World Horse Welfare recommends to all prospective buyers to view the horse in person, get it checked by your own vet and ride - if appropriate.

"Just be really vigilant, do your homework, go through the passport," added Sweet.

"You've got to do your research."

She is now calling for horse passports to be made digital because some buyers have said the paper format can lead to key information about the horse's medical history being undisclosed during the sale.

"I don't think I'll ever find peace until there's some underpinning security for animals and for people when it comes to processes like this," said Sweet.

"People should have the truth from day dot and things aren't masked, because you can quite easily get a replacement passport for a horse that has nothing in it."

The Welsh government said: "While paper passports remain a legal requirement, we recognise the opportunities digital technologies may offer to strengthen equine identification records."