Tamara Ecclestone is accused of animal 'abuse' after posting picture of 'unicorn' horse with its mane dyed pink

Tamara Ecclestone has come under fire for a photograph posted to her Instagram account of her 3-year-old daughter Sophia riding a horse dressed up as a unicorn.

The British socialite, who shares her daughter with husband Jay Rutland, captioned the image 'We believe in unicorns' before sharing it with her 227,000 followers.

But despite a number of her followers remarking on how "lucky" the 3-year-old is, many more felt uncomfortable about the animal's treatment.

Sporting a pink dyed mane and unicorn horn, one Instagram user went so far as to call Ecclestone out for "abuse".

"That poor horse. That is abuse. Dressing him like that", wrote one user, while another pointed out that the horse "looks like it's been drugged".

Others called for Ecclestone to "Have a heart for animals" and to "Stop this absurdity".

Despite the controversy, one of Ecclestone's fans took to the site to acknowledge the 33-year-old as a "wonderful woman and great mother", before pointing out that she "wouldn't be doing this if she thought the horse was being subjected to any type of cruelty or neglect."

"It's probably looked after better than most. If she wants to give her daughter a unicorn then why not!!! No harm was done other than to make a little girl happy."

Representatives for Tamara Ecclestone declined to comment.