Fears over deepening horse crisis as West Yorkshire named as the worst region

The RSPCA was called out to 136 equine incidents in West Yorkshire since restrictions were put in place, which was higher than any other county in England and Wales.

This included the sickening incident in which a dying foal was simply thrown onto a path in Sharlston Common last month from the back of a truck. It later had to be put to sleep.

The RSPCA is warning that a financial recession could plunge the country into a second wave of the equine crisis, and is appealing for vital donations to prepare for the influx of horses and ponies desperately in need of help.

The current horse crisis is thought to have been sparked by continued overbreeding, coupled with falling demand for some types of horses, which left a surplus of unwanted animals which have been left dumped, sometimes extremely sick or dying, leaving equine charities bursting at the seams with abandoned animals.

Christine McNeil, the charity’s National Equine Inspectors co-ordinator said: “This is a truly worrying time for equine charities - we still haven’t got a handle on the repercussions of the current horse crisis, and it now looks like the worst is yet to come.

“In April 2011, before the effects of the financial recession had hit, the RSPCA had 290 horses in its care, already more than our official stables could house.

"The following year, the impact of the crisis really began to hit and our officers were called out every day up and down the country to neglected and abandoned horses.

"By May 2012, the number of horses in our care had leapt to 600. Fast-forward to today, and we’re caring for 927 horses - that’s three times the amount since the crisis hit, and we strongly fear that the impact will be even worse this time round.

“With such a huge number of horses in our care, and so many in private boarding, at great cost, we have already had to adapt how we try to help as many horses as we can."