Neighbour rides to the rescue of ponies after owner's death
They were in an awful state after being left alone when their owner died.
Dirty and malnourished, 19 ponies were in a desperate need of some tender loving care.
Enter Donna Bowen, who has taken on caring for the ponies since they were found neglected at her neighbour's stables.
Donna says she was shocked by the state of the animals, some of whom were close to death.
But after weeks of care, they are now back to health – and she says she is now being inundated with offers of help.
More than £1,200 has also been raised toward their upkeep, but has almost all gone already, she said.
Donna, 23, is looking after the ponies with parents Wayne and Trudy Bowen, as well as brother Rhys and his partner Megan Cottrell.
She said she is still awaiting a decision by the authorities on the ponies' fate.
"We've got loads of offers of homes waiting for them, but we can't do anything until they are signed over," she said.
"Also we want to check them all and make sure they're suitable. These ponies have been through a lot and will need a lot of care."
The animals were discovered in the village of Halford, near Craven Arms.
Their hooves were overgrown and their stomachs full of worms.
The animals were standing knee-deep in their own faeces at a farmstead two fields up from where Donna lives.
She was asked to take care of the horses while the authorities sorted out the estate of the previous owner, as she has horses of her own and has had experience with rescue animals before.
But the task has proved a challenge for Donna, who also has a 13-month-old daughter, Kyra, to look after – not to mention the whole family battling seasonal illness over Christmas.
She said rehoming was proving a complicated and frustrating process with no end in sight.
"It's a bit of a nightmare at the moment, it's just a waiting game really," she said.
"We seem to be going around in circles."
She said that in the meantime the ponies were consuming about three big bales and 10 small bales of hay a week, so it was just as well local farmers, horse-lovers and fundraisers had been so generous.
If you would like to donate to the ponies' upkeep, visit www.gofundme.com/iuziv4
