EQUESTRIAN TRAINER CONVICTED; MAN FOUND GUILTY OF ANIMAL CRUELTY.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

Equestrian trainer Tom Valter faces up to five years in prison after being found guilty Friday of four felony counts of animal cruelty for abusing a horse at an Agoura Hills stable.

Valter, his wife and a packed courtroom listened attentively for more than an hour as Malibu Superior Court Judge Lawrence Mira - who heard the case without a jury - laid out the reasoning behind the verdict.

``(Mira) gave the evidence from the people's point of view as well as the defense's point of view and settled the issues of (witness) credibility,'' said Deputy District Attorney Yvonne Dodd. ``He came down on the side of the people's witnesses.''

Valter, of Santa Monica, was found not guilty of three other felony counts, including witness intimidation and abusing a horse named Dominique.

Defense attorney Michael Artan did not return phone calls.

Valter was convicted of animal cruelty for using an electric cattle prod and a whip with a nail on its tip to train a horse named Zoolog in dressage, a equestrian gymnastic event. The crimes occurred from March to September 1995 at C.T. Farms in rural Agoura, prosecutors said.

Valter testified that he used the electric prod only once or twice, then substituted a fake prod in order to condition the horse.

The trial dragged on for five weeks as prosecutors and defense attorneys called a string of witnesses and presented a total of 80 evidence exhibits including photos, diagrams and videotapes.

He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 8.