SIMPSONVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Race-winning horse War Envy, alongside 12 other horses, we’re discovered earlier this month in a ‘mud-pit where they’d been without access to food and water for far too long,’ the Kentucky Humane Society said in a social media post.

The horses, which now reside at Willow Hope Farm, we’re found to have been once ‘very well cared for,’ with many being registered and microchipped.

“War Envoy was one of the first horses we identified, and we were shocked to learn he’s been all over the world, winning hundreds of thousands of dollars for humans, only to end up in knee-deep mud with other horses who had also been left behind,” the humane society said.

According to the post, recovery for the horses will take months, many of which experienced severe malnutrition and neglect.

“War Envoy has likely been in multiple hands since his racing days,” the post went on to say. “The reality is that many horses of many breeds end up like this. We, as a community, must ask ourselves how we can better stand behind War Envoy and horses like him as they retire and seek out new careers.”