Kent horse shelters have reached full capacity

Horse sanctuaries in Kent claim they are reaching full capacity because owners are finding it unaffordable to keep them.

The sanctuaries say the cost of owning a horse is around £400 a month, and these costs are set to rise further as feed and insurance premiums are on the up.

Stella King, from Canterbury Horse Rescue, said she was turning away unwanted horses. She told the BBC: “That's the hard bit, turning round and saying to someone 'I really would like to help you but I can't physically take them' because the charity cannot support more."

Owners do not want to consider putting their horse down even if it is the animal's best option, according to Ms King.

She said: "They say 'we'll pass it on, it might have a couple more years somewhere else' but they don't realise that that might not be the best thing for that particular animal."

Mr Catterall, whose stable is in Woodchurch, also told the BBC: "The VAT rate has gone up, the farrier rates have gone up, price of feed more importantly has gone up.

"Our dealer for our hay has put his prices up and up just to compensate for the price of diesel."

Mr Catterall added that people were buying animals cheaply at auction without knowing what they were taking on.

"You don't know why they're only £300. It could be because they're lame and they're drugged up so they don't look lame when they're in the auction arena."

Photo by Paul Tomlin