Horse abuse in 'Wife Swap' episode

A nine-year-old girl is seen beating a horse with a rake in an upcoming episode of Wife Swap.

In the programme, to be broadcast this Sunday on Channel 4, the reclusive Wroathe family swap wives with the Martins, who run a strip club.

Jennifer Wroathe - home-educated by her parents - introduces her new mother Tori to her horse, Tappy, who is described as being "old, but not dead though".

She is then seen hitting the horse three times in the neck with a rake after it gets in her way, while Tori watches on, open-mouthed. Later the girl mounts the horse by using its mane for leverage.

"As we haven't yet seen the programme, we cannot comment specifically about what is shown," said a spokesperson for the RSPCA. "However, an appalling message is sent to viewers if an adult is shown watching a child ill-treating an animal and that adult does nothing to help the child understand that such behaviour is unacceptable. We believe it would be irresponsible to broadcast material showing animals being ill-treated as this could lead to copying."

A Channel 4 spokesperson said: "Neither Channel 4 nor RDF condone the ill treatment or mishandling of any animals. Jennifer has been bought up with horses and spends time with them on a daily basis, with adult supervision. During the filming of this Sunday's episode of Wife Swap a horse handler, who regularly works with the family's horses, was present."