Police investigate suspicious deaths of two horses in Borders

Mrs Wilson says she checked the five horses staying in the field on Christmas Day but grew concerned when she received a series of calls on Boxing Day telling her people were in the field.

“We were inundated by people on Boxing Day telling us that there were a lot of people in our fields petting the horses, and going round them,” she said.

“The field is padlocked, and so they shouldn’t be in there. There are signs to say don’t go in and don’t feed the horses, but we’ve heard that people were lifting their dogs over the gate and letting them run off the lead.”

When Jennifer returned to the field on Boxing Day, she was stunned to find two horses lying dead on the ground with blood around their eyes, nose and mouth.

“We knew instantly they had been poisoned. Horses don’t just die in the field for no reason, and not in such a horrific way,” she said.

“It’s heartbreaking for all involved. One of the owners had just come down to see their horse, Ronan, at Christmas, and the other, Buttons, was owned by an 11-year-old child, so to tell her that was, just heartbreaking.”

Mrs Wilson says they are unable to tell whether the poisoning was deliberate or accidental.

“I don’t think people understand how you can kill horses, simply by feeding them the wrong thing, or from them eating something toxic in dog poo. We found bags of dog poo left lying in the field,” she said.