WOODINVILLE, Wash. -- At a secret location in Woodinville, 13 horses are in hiding. Rescuers brought them here in the dark of night after they were seized from a Pierce County home late Monday.

"They all look better than they did yesterday, just purely from drying out overnight," said Jenny Edwards with Hope For Horses. "They were all so caked in mud. When it's compacted mud and feces, it's like cement. And it takes a long time to get all of that out of their coat."

Pierce County Animal Control officers, deputies and volunteers took the horses from a home after years of complaints from neighbors that the horses were standing in feet of mud and manure, without food or water.

The nose of one horse was rubbed raw from burrowing into mud and feces, looking for food.

Before animal control finally stepped in, neighbors video taped the deplorable conditions the horses were in and posted the video on YouTube.

Last night when authorities were removing the animals, the owner showed up and insisted that the horses were fine.

Asked if she though the horses were in perfect health, she replied, "Other than the fact that they might have soft hooves, but yes, health-wise."

But when Dr. Heather Stewart examined the horses, the rotten hooves and skin problems were not hard to spot.

Her report will go to the prosecutor's office to help determine if any criminal charges will be filed.

"Oh, your foot is just rotten. Yep, there's your abscess," she said to a nervous young horse. "That makes it really hard to walk on, and I'm hoping that's why he's lame. That he has this infection under his foot here."

At least one horse had been gnawing on a wooden feed box.

"That's definitely a sign they're starving," said Edwards. "They won't eat wood unless they have nothing else to eat."

She said the horse is probably 200 pounds underweight. "You can see her whole backbone, which you should never see. You should never be able to see her hip bones."

Volunteers will nurse the horses back to health and say that after years of neglect, there's much to be done. They've asked that the location where the horses are being kept remain secret out of concern that the owner may try to take them back.

Hope for Horses is asking for hay donations to feed the animals. Instead of sending money, they're asking people to buy hay from Dayville Hay and Grain (360-568-5077) or Bothell Feed Center (425-481-8882) and say the hay is for the rescued Pierce County horses. Hope for Horses volunteers will pick up the hay.