RESCUED elderly horses were left cold and shivering after their rugs worth around £3,000 were stolen.

The 10 horses which are kept in a field in Saltbox Hill, Biggin Hill, were wearing three rugs each but every rug was taken off their backs leaving them exposed to the elements on December 7.

Owner Michael Innes believes the thieves struck between 8.30am and 3pm.

He said: “The weather was awful so all the horses were left shivering in the rain.

“I just went into panic mode because I had to try and dry them up and then get back home to get some light-weight blankets to keep the rain off them.

“I really felt physically sick and I think it is disgusting.”

The 25-year-old said the most expensive rug was £325 and the cheapest was around £75.

He said the horses were moved to Saltbox Hill in October and in the first two-weeks their feed was stolen.

He said: “I did not report this but this time I could not just let it go.”

Mr Innes who lives in Eltham, has saved some of the horses, the oldest 27-years-old, from being slaughtered and has given homes to horses who have been starved and neglected.

He added: “One of my geldings is an ex-race horse and he was so cold and could hardly stand.

“Because they are rescued the horses tend to be very frightened so whoever stole the rugs would have needed help to catch them.”

Mr Innes has owned the horses for around eight years and he spends all his time caring for them.

He said will struggle to replace the rugs and is worried that anything new may also be stolen.

Some of the rugs included Mr Innes’ name and they were also marked with some of the horses names which were Coral, Chrisma, Baby Gal, Octavia, Logan, Jazz, Percy, and Lugar.

He said the rugs vary in colour including bright pink, dark blue, purple, burgundy and blue checked.

Anyone with information should call the police on 01689 891212.