NEW owners are being urged to come forward to rehome horses, ponies and donkeys.

In the last three years the RSPCA received 69,410 calls about such animals in England alone – with more than 22,000 calls last year.

The RSPCA says it is at capacity with the numbers of horses in its care and desperately needs to find homes for them.

In North Yorkshire, the RSPCA received 585 complaints about badly-cared-for horses in 2014. Out of the 585 incidents, 1,515 horses were said to be involved.

Two of the horses to have suffered are Twix and Minstrel, both six. They were found as a group of ten tethered horses in Thornton-le-Clay in June 2013.

Some of the horses were escaping on to a road, some were unable to reach water, some had tethers that were too short and were grazing on weeds and one was lame.

Twix had a head collar on so tight it was cutting into his face and tests later revealed all of the horses were so infested with worms that their livers were not working properly.

Their owner was prosecuted and found guilty of failing to meet their needs.

Rachel Duffy, a groom in the equine yard at RSPCA Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street, Co Durham, where they are both being cared for, said: “Twix was a very nervous horse who was scared of his surroundings. He was even scared of a rug.

“He is still fairly green so will need a competent rider to bring him on but, less than a year later, he’s unrecognisable as the sharp, scared horse I first encountered.”

The number of calls received by the RSPCA about horses in North Yorkshire in 2014 was 585, down from 905 in 2013. In East Yorkshire in 2014, the figure was 391, up slightly from 361 in 2013.

Cathy Hyde, the RSPCA’s national equine coordinator, said: “Many of our horses have suffered terribly so please think about taking on a rescue horse and giving them a second chance.”

The RSPCA is holding some horse rehoming open days. Visit rspca.org.uk/homesforhorses for more details.