A pervert caught red-handed as he raped a pregnant Shetland pony has been seized by police in Germany.

Horrified owner Walter Wohlleben, 62, and his 31-year-old daughter Laura caught him in the act after investigating what was making their dogs bark so furiously.

When they turned on the stable lights, according to local media, they found a bald man with his trousers off, sexually abusing the 13-year-old pony named Leni.

Police in Sonneberg, Thuringia state, arrested the man after he had been seized by the furious family following the attack on 26th December.

Walter said: “We grabbed his arms and held him on the ground until the police came. Then he threatened to come back.

“Now we are all afraid that he will burn our farm down or kill Leni as soon as he gets free.”

After searching the stable, the family found a red sex toy in the straw that they believe had been used on Leni.

He said that the arrest helped solve a mystery of open gates and other things that had moved around in the night previously.

He said: “I believe the man had probably assaulted the pony on previous occasions as well.

“The fact that Leni is such a calm horse was her undoing, but probably saved her life because she probably didn’t fight back.”

A vet has now been asked to examine the pony and to check whether there was any damage to her unborn foal.

The attacker is currently hospitalised after apparently injuring himself when falling as he tried to escape.