Neglected and starved: the animal victims of the recession Nicola Elstow, 45, of Salisbury, was convicted of three counts of failing to ensure that an animal's welfare needs had been met. She was ordered to pay £520 costs and banned from keeping animals for five years. Charities warn that such cases are on the rise, with a huge increase in the number of animals abandoned. Cressida is now ready for a new home, but when she arrived at HorseWorld, a rescue centre in Bristol, she was 18st underweight, had ringworm and was infested with lice. Staff said that on a scale of one to 10, with zero being dead, she was 0.5. To put on weight Cressida was put on a special diet. Initially she was only fed hay as too much food too soon could result in colic, which can be fatal for horses. After a short time however greater variety and bulk was introduced, including high-calorie conditioning cubes, which contain vitamins and minerals, and then energy releasing conditioning flakes and sugar beets. She is now a healthy 572kg (90st). Kayleigh McLeod, 24, a trainee groom at HorseWorld who helped look after Cressida, said: "All her bones were prominent, you could see all her hip bones and she had no muscle on her neck or belly. We think she was probably not fed for between five and six months. They don't go downhill very quickly, this was a protracted, long-term starvation. The rescue centre only found out about her links to Desert Orchid when they were contacted by her first owner, Alexia Cameron, who had tracked down her much-loved horse. Miss Cameron, from Essex, had bought Cressida - or Polly as she was then known - in January 2008, training her and entering her into show jumping competitions. She had also traced her heritage, discovering that Cressida's father, Albrex G, was distantly related to Desert Orchid. But Miss Cameron then found out the horse had kissing spine - a disease which leads to the vertebrae rubbing together and means they can no longer be ridden - and decided to sell her as a broodmare, a mare used for breeding. She sold her to Miss Elstow and initially, the two women kept in contact via email. But when Miss Elstow stopped the communication, Miss Cameron went to the stables where Cressida was being kept and found she had been seized by the RSPCA. She said: "The horse meant everything to me. I only sold her as a broodmare when her injuries meant she was no longer rideable. I never thought for a moment that the person I sold her to would neglect her to the extent that she did. Jerry Watkins, HorseWorld's equine welfare manager, said: "We were surprised to see such a quality horse of such good breeding could end up in this irresponsible home. Usually we find low grade scrub ponies that would be passed on for little or no money, quite unlike Cressida's sort. Mr Watkins, a former captain in the Army Veterinary Corps, said Cressida was now bright and alert - completely different from when she was first bought in. "Very often in these circumstances when you find these neglected animals they do become physiologically and spiritually depressed - you find they are lethargic and indifferent and not possible to stimulate," he said. Now she is an alert girl, her ears are forward, she is dashing around. Cressida's remarkable recovery may owe something to her bloodstock, her rescuers believe. Cressida's father, Albrex G, was a descendant of Prince Chevalier, a French stallion born in 1943. Prince Chevalier also sired Desert Orchid's grandmother, Fair Inez, a thoroughbred born in 1958. Desert Orchid, who died in 2006, became the first horse to win the King George VI Chase four times, in 1986, 1988, 1989 and finally in 1990. He has since been eclipsed by Kauto Star - who has won it five times - but remains one of the most successful, and best loved, race horses, winning 34 of his 70 races, including the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1989. Mr Watkins said: "Cressida's determined mindset may have come from her famous cousin and has helped her on the road to recovery. I met Desert Orchid and he was, of course, a remarkable horse, a very determined steeplechaser, extremely athletic, very bright, hugely competitive and I think there is a little bit of him in her. Mr Watkins warned that there had been an increase in cases like Cressida's with more and more horses being abandoned, largely due to overbreeding in Ireland, followed by the country's economic collapse, making horses cheap to buy in Britain. "I think the rise is due to a number of factors," he said. There is undoubtedly a financial factor involved but it is also because horses are now considerably cheaper than they used to be, the country is awash with them. We see people going out there and buying animals without thinking about the consequences and without thinking about the additional financial implications. We are even seeing situations where kids are swapping an animal for a remote control computer game or cars and this sort of thing. Miss Elstow has appealed against her conviction and sentence. She said she did not want to comment but added: "It is now going to Europe, I am fighting the RSPCA on a number of issues I am very anti-RSPCA."