A tug of war using Shire horses was cancelled by Royal Cornwall Show following complaints on social media.
George, a 7-year-old Shire stallion from the Lizard Stallions company, was used in bouts against rugby players on last week (7 June).
A picture of the horse taking part in a tug of war with players from the Cornish Pirates was posted on the H&H Facebook page by Rachel Steadman (not pictured above).
She wrote to the organisers of the show to ask them to stop the display. Another horse lover described the picture as “disgusting.”
Royal Cornwall Show’s Steve Michell said: “We recognise some people thought it was inappropriate and didn’t want to upset anyone.”
He added that Lizard Stallions “was mortified” by the thought that anyone would be offended by the display.
George continued his demonstrations in the main ring, but was pulling a carriage, rather than a team of rugby players.
