Quentin Ship, 72, left two-year-old Whiskey lying in a field for three days before dragging the starving animal to shelter, South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court heard.
Ship, of Yaxley, Suffolk, had previously been banned from keeping livestock for life due to a string of animal cruelty charges but had not been barred from keeping ponies.
The emaciated piebald cob, which Ship had propped up against a car tire when moving it to the shelter, had to be put down after the RSPCA were alerted to its suffering, the Ipswich court heard.
Ship had been due to stand trial yesterday for three animal cruelty offences but, when an abuse of process argument failed to get the case dropped, he admitted them all.
He was jailed for 23 weeks by Judge Celia Dawson after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to a pony by failing to provide necessary veterinary care and attention for a prolonged period between February 1 and February 8 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of failing to ensure the welfare of an animal between January 18 and February 8 last year.
The court heard Ship failed to protect Whiskey from suffering and disease after the starving pony lost weight and failed to provide adequate treatment for the pony's worm infection.
An RSPCA vet and Ship's own vet said Whiskey was in such poor condition after he was found that he had to be put down.
Judge Dawson said the case, along with his previous history, meant he would be banned from owning any animal again for the rest of his life.
She said: 'The animal had been unable to rise for a week, was left lying in an open field in February, before being dragged to a shelter where he was propped up by a car wheel. Any caring owner could and should have sought proper veterinary advice and treatment.'
The court heard Ship had been before a court four times in the last 12 years for similar offences and had been jailed before.
'He shows absolutely no remorse or willingness to accept responsibility for his actions now or in the past,' said Judge Dawson.
Nicola Throne, spokesman for the RSPCA, said the prison sentence was 'wholly appropriate'.
She said: 'The thing I found the most disturbing is that the pony collapsed probably less than 100 yards from Mr Ship's kitchen window, so he could see it every day.
'When he came out of the house the pony was collapsed in the field. After three days he dragged the pony into a shelter, but could still see him lying there.
'It was shocking really that somebody who has already got a number of previous convictions for similar offences appears to have done nothing and could still walk by that animal suffering every day.
'I feel the prison sentence is wholly appropriate in the circumstances. Mr Ship did not accept guilt or show any remorse for what had happened.'
(Daily Mail - Jan 16, 2014)
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