The six-month-old foal was in a pitiful state. Dumped on the side of a busy road outside Southampton, emaciated and riddled with worms, he was shivering pitifully in the January chill and clinging to life by a thread. His rescuers called him Rupert: a teddy bear name for a teddy bear temperament. Despite what he has endured, Rupert is a loving, affectionate soul who likes nothing more than to have the back of his head rubbed. To see him today, three months on but still unsteady on his feet, it seems heartless beyond belief that anyone could leave such a vulnerable creature to die. Sixteen-year-old Elise, from Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, is just one of the many people finding that they can no longer keep up with the financial costs of keeping and looking after a horse . But, sadly, stories like Rupert’s are all too common. Across the country, horses, ponies and donkeys — many of them once much-loved family pets — are being abandoned in record numbers and left to fend for themselves or tied up on busy roadsides in the hope that someone will rescue them. Animal welfare charities, meanwhile, are full to capacity, leaving them increasingly helpless in the wake of the hundreds of calls they receive every month about neglected or abandoned horses. Earlier this month, in desperation, the RSPCA launched an urgent appeal to rehome some of the hundreds of horses in their care. Their three sanctuaries, with capacity for 640 horses, are full, with 500 other horses being kept at huge expense in private boarding stables while they wait for a place. Three thousand more, meanwhile, are estimated to be at risk, although the real number could be much higher. Last year, the RSPCA alone took in 1,500 horses, many of them former family pets. Little wonder that the word RSPCA workers are using to describe the situation is ‘crisis’. As Anna Hemmings, centre manager at Lockwood, one of their three animal centres, puts it, trying to provide care for the ever-growing numbers of needy equines is a ‘constant battle’. ‘The moment we rehome a horse another one steps into its place,’ she says. ‘I have been here for four years and every year the problem has got worse.’ Sara Cooper, 33, a trainee agricultural assistant from Wiltshire, says that since an accident which hurt her back she can no longer ride her horse Pip, and as a result can't afford to keep him either . It’s hard to argue with the numbers, which all equine welfare organisations say have risen steadily in the recession, and continue to do so, despite the economy improving. Dene Stansall, a horse consultant for campaign group Animal Aid, says that many people remain unable to afford the minimum £3,000 cost per year to keep a horse — a sum that can soar if there are veterinary bills. Yet those who bought a horse years ago and are now struggling to afford it, find they have no one to sell to. ‘There is no demand or buoyancy in the market compared with seven or eight years ago,’ says Dene. ‘People might afford a new TV, but they can’t commit to the long-term care of an animal.’ Sara's horse Pip (pictured) is one of the many family pets who find themselves either being sold on by owners who can no longer afford to keep them, or abandoned by those who fail to find them a new home . Reluctant to sell their horses to abattoirs, many owners mistakenly believe that leaving them to fend for themselves on a patch of land such as a roadside verge — a common practice known as fly-grazing, which is illegal — is the better option. In reality, however, most horses cannot survive for long without human care. The problem is that more and more owners are taking on horses without preparation. Mother-of-four Teresa Christie, from Eaton Bray, Bedfordshire, is the first to admit she was naive about horse ownership — and as a result has been left frantically trying to find a home for her 16-year-old daughter Elise’s Irish cob Beau, without success. ‘None of us realised the financial commitment of owning a horse,’ says Teresa. ‘We didn’t have any land so found him a field and stables which cost £80 a month.’ Then there is Beau’s food and hay, which can cost up to £100 a month, and the regular £30 charge to keep his hooves trimmed. ‘We’ve at least been lucky that he’s been healthy, so the vet bills have been low, but vaccinations are still £260 a year,’ she says. ‘It began to get more and more of a stretch to care for him.’ Sara's back pain forced her to give up her beloved horse Pip (pictured together left). 'On average, I was paying £160 a month to rent a field and a stable. It was £10 for a bag of feed which lasts two or three days' The situation reached crisis point last summer — by when Teresa had taken a part-time cleaning job to help fund Beau’s care, while Elise had started work as a trainee hairdresser to help out, too. ‘But it still wasn’t enough money. I thought: “I can’t do this any more” — I’ve got four children and there are other priorities,’ says Teresa. ‘It’s been a difficult decision, but the truth is Beau is a luxury we can’t afford.’ So, earlier this year, the family made the reluctant decision to put him up for sale. Yet months on, there still have been no takers — though the family is adamant they will not abandon him. Teresa’s experience chimes with that of Sara Cooper, 33, a trainee agricultural assistant from Wiltshire. The mother-of-two has always loved riding her 20-year-old horse Pip, but last year had to stop after being kicked by a cow, leaving her with back pain. ‘Riding now exacerbates the pain and I simply can’t afford to keep a horse that I can’t ride,’ she says. ‘On average, I was paying £160 a month to rent a field and a stable. It was £10 for a bag of feed which lasts two or three days.’ Long-time rider Melanie Maddocks, a 54-year-old self-employed carer from Barnstable, Devon, says rocketing costs drove her to give away her beautiful 14-year-old cob, Connie . And so, like Teresa, she had to make the painful decision to get rid of Pip, selling him to a family in Buckinghamshire. The price of hay has risen far beyond inflation, with some farmers putting up a bale by £5. It is a cost hitting busy animal sanctuaries harder than ever. Fiona Oakes, who runs Tower Hill Stables Animal Sanctuary in Tillingham, Essex, is overseeing 50 abandoned or neglected horses. ‘We have had them left tied up outside the Sanctuary gates,’ says Fiona, 48. ‘We’ve found horses in such a pitiful state that it makes you want to weep.’ Like the beautiful Palomino pony, found in a coal shed, skeletally thin, cast aside when she was too old to be ridden. ‘She would have been every little girl’s fantasy in her prime, but once she had outlived her usefulness she ended up in this appalling state,’ says Fiona. ‘It was heartbreaking.’ Melanie found it so difficult to find a buyer for horse Connie, at one point she considered having her put to sleep. 'The thought broke my heart, but I didn’t know what to do,’ she says . Long-time rider Melanie Maddocks, a 54-year-old self-employed carer from Barnstable, Devon, says rocketing costs drove her to give away her beautiful 14-year-old cob, Connie, who she couldn’t afford alongside her other horse, Flossie. At one point last year, she became so overwhelmed that she contemplated having Connie put to sleep. ‘The thought broke my heart, but I didn’t know what to do,’ she says. In the end, after many frantic phone calls, Melanie found a local stud farm, who took Connie to breed from. ‘I was lucky, although it was devastating. But a lot of people abandon their horses as they don’t know what else to do and think it’s the kinder option.’ Well-meaning or not, fly-grazing is now heartbreakingly common and many owners do not comply with laws requiring them to microchip their horses, making tracing them impossible. So it is left to animal sanctuaries to take in the poor creatures — if they are discovered in time to save them.
Increasing costs mean few owners can keep up with looking after a horse . With dwindling buyers more horses than ever are being abandoned . Last year, the RSPCA alone took in 1,500, many of them family pets .