YOUNG mum Donna Bowen has enough on her hands with a 13-week-old baby but that has not stopped her taking on a new ‘family’ of 19.

She came to the rescue after an elderly lady who owned horses died leaving them in fields and stables in Craven Arms with no-one to look after them.

Now Miss Bowen, aged 23, is going out every day with the help of her family to tend to the horses some of which are in a poor condition.

But it is not easy as caring for the horses has to be fitted in with looking after little daughter Kyra who was born just three months ago.

“When we heard that the lady, who I believe lived in the Leominster area, died we went to investigate,” she said.

“Some of the horses are in a very poor condition and although they have thick coats they are very thin and some have problems with their feet.

“I have been around horses all my life and we could not just leave them. Fortunately, there is a lot of support from the family and we are doing this together.

“As well as not being in good condition some of the horses are very shy and nervous and so we have to try and win their confidence.”

However, the commitment is open-ended as the elderly lady does not appear to have any next-of-kin and the ownership of the horses has still to be determined.

“It is a very difficult situation as we do not own the horses and therefore at the moment we cannot find them new homes as they are not ours,” added Miss Bowen.

"This is frustrating as there are people offering homes but I just have to tell them to hang on.

“Our hope is that we will be able to save all of them although one of the horses is giving us serious concern. We are hoping that having put her in a stable we can feed her up and get her well again.

“In the longer term my hope is that we can get the horses signed over to us and then we can get a vet to give them a full MOT so that we can find them good homes.”

“I think that the youngest of the horses is between six and eight-months-old and the oldest probably early teens.”

There is a mix of mares and colts as well as a stallion. Eight of the horses were kept in stables and the rest of them in the neighbouring fields.

The horses are being fed and exercised. A vet and a farrier are being engaged to check the condition of the animals and deal with the feet problems.

Friends and people living in the area have become involved to help raise money for the care of the animals.

To donate to help with the upkeep of the horses visit www.gofundme.com/iuziv4