A HORSE owner from Ferndown has issued a desperate plea to walkers asking them not to feed horses when out in the countryside.

Foster carer Gail Hunter-Warburton, 57, was devastated when she discovered her five-year-old miniature Shetland pony Hamish unable to move in a field after being fed a roast dinner by passers-by.

Although Hamish is on the road to recovery, Gail is urging for changes to be made.

She said: "People seem to think they have a divine right to feed your horses, yet there is a big sign by my field asking people not to feed them. We need to educate people and tell them that if it’s not yours, don’t feed it.

"When the emergency vet arrived, she thought he was dead. Whilst Hamish was at the vets I was gobsmacked to find a tin foil covered plate in the field, full of the remains of a roast dinner.

"It needs to be a criminal offence to feed horses that don't belong to you and there needs to be some deterrent. This has cost me £5,500 all because people want to feed a pony that doesn’t belong to them.

"There would be uproar if I walked up to someone’s dog and gave it food it shouldn’t have."

Since the incident on March 3, Gail has moved Hamish and her other horses into a more private field to try and prevent people from feeding them.

Gail said: "This is the most awful consequence of what people do. One time, a woman came to my field trying to feed my horses apples and carrots.

"She said that I’ll never stop people touching or feeding my horses as people enjoy it, to which I said I am asking you not to feed them. But how on earth can you compete with an attitude like that?"