Prince Harry was accused of animal cruelty yesterday after his horse sustained a nasty injury during a polo match.

Pictures of Harry riding a bleeding pony wounded by his spurs sparked an informal investigation into the event by a senior official of the sport’s regulatory body, the Hurlingham Polo Association.

According to accounts, Prince Harry was playing the second half of a charity match when he saw Drizzle was having difficulty. Drizzle died of a heart attack only minutes after being retired from the game.

According to a witness, the 25-year-old prince proceeded to ride his horse despite the fact that blood was evident on its flank.

Animal rights activists have accused Harry of being “heartless.”

The horse was wounded during a match in July at the Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park, Berkshire, but photos of the event have just recently surfaced.

Hurlingham’s chairman of pony welfare, David Morley, said he was looking for answers to a list of queries and hoped to have them answered by next Monday, when the association’s 54 clubs are scheduled to address the situation at its fall welfare meeting.

“It’s something that’s bound to come up at the meeting,” he added, adding that the organization was looking into the matter.

“I don’t at all think ‘What is all the fuss about’, because we are very hot on the welfare of ponies.”

Drizzle’s death is being portrayed in the media as just a sad occurrence. “It was very lucky that Harry rode her off because we were spared the gruesome spectacle of watching the pony die,” a spectator at the event told The Mail on Sunday.

The Daily Mail cited Andrew Tyler of animal protection organization Animal Aid as stating, “It was a heartless and utterly selfish thing to do.”

‘Prince Harry comes from a background of hunting and shooting which is at odds with the vast majority of the British public,’ he said.

“Prince Harry is cruel. If a rider uses their spurs in a way that injures a horse then that is cruel,” claimed Tony Moore of the Fight Against Animal Cruelty.

“Prince Harry was wearing regulation footwear (round-headed spurs) worn by many polo players,” a spokesperson said.

Play was halted as soon as the injury was discovered, and the horse was appropriately treated. The horse was in perfect condition and was immediately returned to the pasture.

“Prince Harry takes the welfare of his horses incredibly seriously and has been riding this horse for many years. He has nothing but the highest respect for the polo ponies and would never knowingly do anything to cause the animals distress,” he said.

The third in line to the throne is unlikely to face any disciplinary punishment and is anticipated to be cleared of using the spurs excessively. Mr Morley maintained that the evidence pointed to the wound being caused by a collision with another rider after speaking with the vet who checked the horse immediately after the event on July 11 at Guards Polo Club in Windsor Great Park.

“My gut feeling is that something has pushed the spur into the pony. It was only on one side of the pony. If it had been caused by excessive use of the spurs, you would have expected to find it on both sides,” he said.

While the brutality of horse racing is increasingly being criticized, little attention has been given to the condition of polo ponies, yet Drizzle’s death is by no means an unique occurrence.