THREE horses found abandoned in the grounds of a Cornish community school are being cared for by a Dartmoor-based equine protection group.
The yearling cobs which have been named Tolgus, Cathy and Ruth are being brought back to full health on the moor before they are rehomed.
South West Equine Protection founder Maureen Rolls has been inundated with calls from people offering to take on the animals which were discovered last Monday morning as teachers arrived at Redruth Community College.
?They had obviously been put there over the weekend by either someone wanting to get rid of them or a kind member of the public who found them roaming the area and put them there for safety,? she said.
?My feeling is that they have been roaming for a while because they were very hungry and thirsty and had been eating rubbish like crisp packets and sweet foils.
?Redruth has a large problem with loose horses because of the gypsies living in the area.?
School staff isolated part of their expansive grounds for the horses until such time as it was clear no-one was coming forward to claim them.
?By Wednesday we had no response despite lots of publicity so we removed them and now they are under our protection,? said Mrs Rolls.
?They are not emaciated but they need quite a bit of care to bring them back to 100 per cent healthy.?
The protection society, founded in 1996, owns 160 moorland horses which have been rescued, with the majority of these loaned out to good homes.
Tolgus, Ruth and Cathy, named after the areas where they come from and a kind teacher from Redruth Community College respectively, will share the same fate.
Anyone wishing to provide a new home for the horses can apply to South West Equine Protection on 01822 890668 or log onto the website: http://www.swep.org.uk">www.swep.org.uk