AN ANIMAL-LOVING mum-of-three has saved two ponies abandoned and left for dead.

The animals had been moved to a small field near Larks Hill Park in Warfield by quick-thinking residents after they were found dumped near Tesco, in County Lane.

However, a 14-day notice requiring the owners to remove them from the Bracknell Forest Council land had been issued and was due to expire this week.

With the ponies facing an uncertain future, Lia Vincent has claimed the young equines and taken them to her Ascot home.

She said: “They couldn’t have been sold because they weren’t micro-chipped so they might have had to be put down. That would have been a tragedy.

“I think a lot of the community were feeding them and everyone tried their best to look after them but no-one could give them a permanent home.

“I have two horses and two dogs already along with three children and we couldn’t see them not be safe.” The ponies were originally dumped in County Lane on Sunday, February 9.

But a group of residents from Quelm Park took them to the nearby field as a short-term haven.

Anna Bracher, from Quelm Park, was among those who helped move the ponies. She said: “It would have been awful if they had ended up being euthanized as they are friendly.” Josie Herd, who lives in West End Lane, had been feeding the ponies while they were at Larks Hill and was delighted they will now be looked after.

Ms Vincent said she planned to take the ponies to a vet to have them looked over and was optimistic for the future.

She said: “They will be different horses once we have had them cleaned.

“I’m pleased to have saved them and it will be a brighter outcome than what could have happened.

“They are about one or one-and-a-half years old and we will try and get them used to the children quickly.” Ms Vincent’s children – Summer and Cameron, both nine, and Mya, six – were joined by their friends Emily McDonald, 11, and her seven-year-old sister Lucy in coming up with names for the ponies.

They have christened them Paddy and Spirit after they collected them on Friday.

Bracknell Forest Council said the ponies would have had to be removed from the field after 14 days but it would have looked to find an alternative home for them.