Investigators were shocked when they visited a Manhattan, Ill., farm last month and found two starving horses without access to hay or water.

Sheryl Willis, 52, was told by Will County Animal Control investigators on March 23 to remedy the intolerable situation -- "an emaciated aging mare quarter horse and a younger quarter horse ... in a mud pen," the Southtown Star reported.

"There was no hay on the farm," Animal Control boss Dr. Lee Shield said, "The horses were both very skinny, but the older mare was in very bad shape."

Animal Control investigators gave Willis 24 hours to attend to the animals and she told them she had hay coming that evening.

But when the investigators returned a day later, "There was still no hay," Shields said.

The horses were seized Friday and taken to a sanctuary, and Willis was ordered held in Will County Jail on bail of $10,000.